Vacation - Part I

The word "vacation" normally conjures up visions of happy, sunny, carefree days...days that magically roll into each other with ease...and a general state of calm. Out of the 52 weeks in a year...the vacation week is one that is supposed to be full of those things that one is not allowed to do during the normal course of life...a time when memories are made and family ties strengthened. A collective sigh of relief should refresh our spirits.

Well, that would be what happens to normal people on vacation. Unfortunately, I am apparently not normal.

I spent the first part of the week having a wonderful time visiting with my sister and her beautiful, precious children. This has been the good news.

And then there's the bad news...for instance...rain. Yes, I know we need it. Yes, I know it rains a lot in the summer. But is it entirely necessary to rain during the exact times that I want to be out doing other things?

The last time I shook my fist at the sky and then begged for mercy was in May 2006 in Europe. After three rain soaked days in London...three FREEZING COLD rain soaked days...I finally began official "sackcloth and ashes" mourning over the vacation. Day 4...as we were leaving...blue skies. Seriously, all that was missing were the animated birds circling my head and cute little Disney animals carrying my luggage on the tube during rush hour in London. Which would have been helpful considering that WE WERE CARRYING LUGGAGE ON THE TUBE DURING RUSH HOUR IN LONDON.

And then there's everyone's expectations. Everyone expected that their summer schedule would be exactly what they wanted it to be. Family time? Not happening.

My expectations for my week of vacation were simple. Hold cute children. Enjoy cute children. Talk to sister when cute children were asleep. Photograph cute children. Read to cute children. Not that demanding, right? Well, not exactly.

See, everyone in my immediate family went AWOL on me. Which left meal preparation, pet maintenance, basic services, and cleanup firmly in my camp. Jill went to the beach for three or four days...Friday through Monday. Brian was either asleep the entire time he was home since he is apparently growing or suffering from narcolepsy...or was with friends. Big Dave was working...and then had his first Sunday duties at church (5am - 1pm). Mom and Ralph left for Phenix City on Sunday afternoon. That left me, Dixie and Rebel as the Entertainment Committee.

Fortunately, Dixie - our shih tzu - was about as perfect a babysitter as you can imagine. Even though Tara wanted to hug, pet, feed, carry and dress the "doggie" she patiently stood there for most of it...or quietly skulked away to hide. This very doggie had sent Tara into fits of terror as recently as last November. Dixie deserved every one of those 63 treats that Alex and Tara fed her...and she is SO not getting yelled at for anything she does this week (as long as it doesn't involve a "gift" of any kind...)

Did I also mention that I have been suffering from a serious caffeine headache since Monday? Yes. I am definitely a candidate for caffeine rehab.

So, yesterday, amid all of the exhaustion (which I have NO idea where it came from), frustration, and PAIN, I logged onto Twitter and saw where a teenaged or early 20's kid was mocking Sarah Palin.

And something just snapped.

I made a comment. Me...Miss Non-Judgmental. Miss You Are Entitled To Your Opinion. Miss I Know That Liberals Are Good People Too (because I'm related to a number of them).

And then someone who has something like 25,000 followers checks me because I do so. Says I'm supposed to complain about the issues...not the person. Really? You mean...it's okay if a young person complains about Sarah Palin, but I'm not allowed to state that I think that it is idiotic that young people just follow the crowd? Really, lady?

Well, up I climbed onto the stump, assumed the crane position, and tried to defend my position with this lady. She seems like a nice person and writes "hugs" after all of her posts. All gazillion of her posts. I mean, I don't know what she actually does for a living since she is on the computer 24/7, but I'm sure that she's productive...at least on Twitter. People seem to like her. She just picked the wrong day to tell me to behave. It was about as effective as telling someone with PMS to just calm down. And about as pretty.

Did I mention that she said something about taking a poll about whether I was right or not? A POLL? OH, and the girl who made the asinine comment was the DAUGHTER of this lady...a fact that I actually knew and figured was the reason for her comment back to me. So, now I don't really care what her opinion is...but I also totally understand why she took exception with my comments. The only difference between the two of us...since we're about the same age and both mothers of daughters...is that I think that my daughter has to invest the time to formulate her own opinion before she broadcasts it to people that are older and smarter than she is. She needs to be able to support why she feels the way she does...or keep her piehole shut and her ears and mind open...until she can. Just throwing one's opinion out there without being able to defend it is brainless at best.

Ten minutes and about thirty tweets later...we parted ways by blocking each other. Works for me. A fine testimonial for Christian, patient, mature, adult behavior.

And yes, I do know that it was all my fault. But you know what? Since I quit following this lady...I am actually enjoying Twitter again. I can check it infrequently and not miss much. This totally works for me.

So, we'll see how the second half of the vacation week goes. I'm trying to be more realistic and not be such a whiner. And yes...I'm expecting things to improve. Here's hoping...stay tuned...