Travel Time

Ok! Where do I begin?

I don't travel much. I really don't fly. Not because I am scared, but just because we don't go anywhere and when we do, we drive. So here is the story.

My husband got a new job last summer and he comes home a few weeks ago and tells me that he has to go on a business trip. In the 11 years he worked for his old job, he did not travel anywhere at all. So this is a bit new to us. We start talking about that fact that it would be great if I could go along. Then reality hit me. I have a 7 1/2 year old in school, I carpool the neighbor children, I work at home, I have a 2 year old, I am in charge of our Wednesday night program for the 1-3 graders at our church, blah, blah, blah! You get the picture.

So I just put it out of my mind and planned for holding down the fort for 5 days. I was dreading it. Days without a break. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Then a miracle came. Her name was Tina, AKA Golden Goodness. Tina works for me on Tuesdays and last week she says, "You should really go on the trip."

*Back story-Tina's husband travels alot and she trys to go with him as often as possible. Sometimes they even make it a family event. However, she nows what is like to be stuck at home with two kids for several days, even weeks. She's a good mom.

So back to the story.
I say, well I don't know. I have this and that and that other thing. She then says, I will watch Rachel, just find someone for Benjamin. REALLY! You want to add a 2 year old on top of already having a 2 1/2 year old and 4 year old at home. WOW! So of course, I start planning.

For those of you who don't know me very well, I am a little OCD and I was very concerned about making sure I didn't over pack for the kids, but had everything in order. I had lists for everything. People who know me will be surprised that I did not type out all these lists and make spreadsheets. I didn't. Came close, but didn't.

Fortunately, my mother said she would watch Benjamin and even stay at our house. So, I did not have to pack all of his things, but I did want it to be as easy as possible for my mom, so of course, I made lists for her as well and set out all his uniforms and made sure all the laundry was done before I left. She also offered to take over my carpooling duties and take Benjamin to his swimming lessons. Thanks mom.

Okay, now Rachel. Packing her stuff is a whole different story. You have to think of everything that they would possibly need. Fortunately, like I stated before. Tina has kids, so I didn't worry about the Tylenol or toys or even a bed. It worked out great. Rachel didn't even care when I left. She was so excited to be at Evan and Ella's house and all their toys. I had to beg for good-bye love.

Now on to me. My husband left after church on Sunday morning. We packed as much as we could into his bag, but I ended up having to check a bag as well. I also had to pack everything for my work. I work at home on Monday and Tuesday compeleting payroll for a company. This is the first time that I was going to try and do it somewhere other than my office at home. I decided not to train anyone else to do it because I am a little of a control freak. Did I meantion I have a little bit of OCD?

Did I also tell you I don't like to fly? I am not scared, just anxious because I don't fly very often. I flew once last year, but it was probably 8 years before that. So, I got to the airport two hours early, like they suggest. It took less than five minutes to check in and go through security. So I had almost two hours to wait. Finally got on the plane and of course, I have the only seat with someone else. Everyone else had two seats to themselves. There was a lot of turbulance, but fortunately the flight was only about an hour. Got to Atlanta, GA, found the baggage and shuttle and off to the hotel.

And here I am, done with my work (completed it this morning), no kids, no schedule, no laundry, no appointments, no school pick-up, no nothing. I am really going to have to enjoy this and soak it all in.