Friday, July 29, 2005

The Wait Is Over

Decisions have been made, fates are sealed - at least for the immediate future.

VacationGirl has gone through a myriad of emotions today - fear, concern, sadness, relief, happiness, guilt - but she knows that all of these feelings will even out over time. Right now, there is just an overwhelming feeling of relief that the wait is over. If you know VacationGirl, there are sure signs that stress has overtaken her life - signs such as fogetting to take the vacation money out of the credit union before leaving work. Fortunately, she has a loving, understanding husband that will make trips much out of his way home from work to bail her out!

This has been a sad week - each time another co-worker provided personal contact information, a tear was shed. It's hard to say good-bye to something that people have poured their hearts and souls into. But eventually all good things come to an end and one must look forward.

So after VacationGirl returns from the land of lighthouses, mountains, and bridges (yep, she's added a new category), she'll move forward to ERA with anticipation of learning something different. One chapter closes, another one begins.....

Bridges - VacationGirl was recently reminded of the many beautiful bridges that exist for her viewing pleasure in the land of lighthouses, mountains, and bridges. How these structures escaped her pre-planning frenzy is astonishing, inconceivable, and unimaginable. <gasp!>
However, by accessing another universe filled with bits and bytes floating around, she has been able to acquire information about these magnificent, majestic structures. VacationGirl thinks that she'll keep this new-found knowledge to herself and spring it on her unsuspecting family when the time is right. (like when they're on the highway, driving to another **must see** sight.

***WARNING - Adding anything to the list of "things-to-do" may cause heart failure.***
This is a warning that should be added to all vacation related materials. VacationGirl may need to seek counseling to stop the complusion to add, add, add to the list of "things-to-do."

And now that the career speculation and waiting is over for now, VacationGirl must begin the process of "getting ready" and shop for "can't-do-without" items.

and remember - "When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly." - Edward Teller
Have faith, dear friends!

See ya in Oregon.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Panic and Hope

It's been over a week since Vacation Girl's first blog post was entered. It seems senseless to have a blog if one does not use it, however, she is blaming her inertia on pre-flight panic attacks, career trepidation, and sheer laziness. When she reads other entertaining blogs, Vacation Girl suffers from severe intimidation - never in her wildest dreams could she ever write such captivating material. That revelation is depressing because she knows all of the same words - just not how to connect them in ways that won't cause her readers to run screaming from the room with boredom.

Nonetheless, Vacation Girl plunges onward into the deep abyss of blog discourse, hoping that the screams do not echo back too loudly!

Six more days until the Vacation Girl and family climb aboard the metal tube that will transport them away from the day to day worries into a world filled with lighthouses and mountains. There, Vacation Girl can forget about the stresses of not knowing what her immediate future will be and concern herself with only the hopes of encountering one of the many lighthouse dwelling ghosts that she has read so much about. She recently "discovered" 3 lighthouses that are within range of the planned and plotted route - much to her kind husband's dismay. However, he doesn't like to disappoint her so he and her son will cheerfully trudge along to see these towers of light in all their splendor. Of course, he also realizes that this now means that he must purchase even more miniature lighthouses to display in their home, collecting dust and dog hair. But Vacation Girl *MUST* have a miniature of every lighthouse visited - it's an unwritten rule that her husband abides by to keep her happy.

By the time Vacation Girl is ready to go, her immediate future will have been decided for her - she remains hopeful that it will be something good, something long term, and something that has her reporting to someone she respects. Her motto up until now has always been "it is what it is" but as decisions loom, she realizes that she does care what the outcomes are - more that she wanted to acknowledge. But the conclusion to this chapter of her life is beyond her control to some degree and she awaits her fait with anticipation, fear, and hope - always hope - and the belief that it will all work out - someway, somehow!

6 more days.....

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Oregon vacation - getting ready

August is nearing and that means it's time for the Couch family vacation. Planning is almost done but never quite finished - VacationGirl always finds just one more place that she just has to see. Of course, if every place that she found is actually visited the trip will last for 3 months instead of just 10 short days.

Planning has become an obsession - what if she misses something - gasp! The horror of missing something is just mind boggling! Trying to determine which maps and books and printouts of attractions to take is on-going so that an extra suitcase just for the travel books is not needed. What if she forgets the one book that describes the very special place? Will she miss it, will it be overlooked? Oh, the struggles that one must endure to ensure vacation readiness.

Oregon and all its splendor awaits VacationGirl and family. 15 days and counting.......