And Now I'm Too Tired To Go On Vacation

Much like you never realize as a kid all the labor your mother goes through to make the holidays happen, you also do not realize that leaving on vacation takes WORK. We're leaving for Ohio tomorrow to hang with my family for awhile, then detouring to Niagara Falls on our way home.

Yeah, that's a 1000 mile road trip. Each way. With kids. One of whom is prone to car sickness. It's going to be a par-TAY.

We had a narrowly averted crisis this morning, when we realized that Tom's laptop has no DVD drive, and mine has no working headphone jack. I.e.: no movies in the car to help the kids pass the time and prevent them from killing each other with fast-food sporks out of boredom. Believe me, I was as upset as they were. Then, in what I can only attribute to a Christmas (in July) miracle, with the kids pleading for me to try the headphone jack one more time, the damn thing suddenly worked. Uncle Awesome swooped in with updated DVD-running software (this probably has a more accurate name), and WE'RE A GO FOR MOVIES IN THE CAR. Yay!

This morning, I've:

-mowed the lawn one last time

-baked road trip cookies (which I realize some of you may consider optional, but I do not)

-baked road trip muffins (see above)

-packed toiletries and medicines

-double-checked the kids' suitcases (so as to ensure that we don't arrive in Ohio only to realize that Child #1 has no underwear and Child #2 has 25 shirts, but only one pair of shorts).

-cleaned the ice-chest in preparation for stocking it with drinks tomorrow

Now I'm actually thinking I might have time to pack my own suitcase, although I'm going to have to evacuate the cat first, who has decided that my suitcase makes the ideal napping spot. Then I'll have to vacuum the cat hair out of it. At which point, I'll probably need to stop and have a cup of coffee.

We leave at 6:00 a.m. We are not morning people. This promises to be just all kinds of fun.