Holly’s Happenings

I can’t help but think about what life was like for me when I was growing up. I grew up on a large farm, we had livestock as well as crops, and I honestly don’t remember ever thinking that I was bored and had nothing to do, even during the summer months. Life during my childhood was busy, but it also seemed very care free! I don’t remember worrying about things like predators or making sure the doors were locked at night. I do remember worrying about things like whether or not I had finished my chores and my homework while trying to fall asleep at night.

Kids today have a much different world than the one that I grew up in. We’re seeing more and more stories in the news today that detail how a child will be hanging out with their friends on the swing sets of their local playground one day, and the next day they are behind bars for crimes that they are being charged as adults for. As a parent, I can only do my best to raise my children in the hopes that one of them does not become one of these type of news stories.

My husband and I were talking this weekend about “things”. You know, those reality type things that provide the ups and downs for all relationships? Things like bills, and the reality of the fact that I need to make the decision about whether or not I’m going to continue to travel down the road of life with my beloved and trusty Honda. We always talk about this kind of stuff this time of year. Why, you ask? The answer is simple, it’s Income Tax Refund time!

Our “original” plan had been to use our refund this year to pay for a seriously over due major family vacation to the sunny state of Florida. When we first started talking about going to Florida it was because my sister had offered to let us share their time share condo with them. Since the condo was already paid for, the only thing(s) we would need to pay for would be the trip to and from, half of the car rental for the week and anything else that we planned on doing while we were there (i.e. Disneyworld, sight seeing, etc.). Now, all in all, that’s a great deal, especially when you consider that a weeks lodging while on a vacation is at least half the cost of the trip. But I honestly dreaded spending a week under the same roof with my sister and her abusive husband, as did my own husband and children.

So then we started talking about taking our own trip, especially when we discovered that the week my sister had the condo was not the week the kids were on break from school, and I couldn’t justify pulling them out of school for a vacation. I checked into a week near the Orlando area, but just wasn’t sure that’s where I wanted to spend my time. I’m more of a “kick back and relax” kind of person, than an amusement park/sight seeing person, so the thought of spending a week on a beach held more appeal to me! And when I started talking to my husband and kids about it, the beach actually appealed more to them as well.

Unfortunately, reality is kicking in and with the things that need to have major decisions made soon, my husband and I realized yesterday that our vacation simply isn’t going to happen right now. What figures is that I had just a great deal on some really nice travelpro luggage, but I might still grab that because somehow or another we WILL take a family vacation this year, so we will still need to have luggage!