The Best Laid Plans…

Well I really went and did it this time. I went and ruined our spring break plans. I really didn’t mean too. I thought it was just a sinus infection. Nope – official flu. Ugh. And so our plans to head down to my parents’ beach house were canceled. It was suppose to be a working trip. A chance to finally move all the furniture in, decorate and do all the zhushing to the place after storm Sandy forced them to tear it down to the studs. But we were going to fit in lots of chowder, good meals, walks on the beach hunting for sea glass and bike rides. Talk about feeling guilty – I felt like I let everyone down. My parents are going to have to wait even longer now, my kids were totally bummed (but pretended they weren’t for my sake) and my husband really was looking forward to just unplugging for a few days. So, after a few days completely down – we have tried to make the best of the what was left of the week. And guess what? It has been really nice.

We took a drive north of us and hit a bunch of the Hudson Valley towns we always hear about but have never gone to. We had nice meals, lots of laughs and my teenager even took a selfie with me and it was her idea. Made my heart happy. She took it when hubby stopped on the side of the road for me to take the picture of the cool tower. She was taking pictures of me taking pictures – but mostly she was taking pictures of me climbing a big rock to get the shot I wanted. All the while she was laughing hysterically. I chose, for your sake, not to share those pictures. And as we drove through a state forest area, hubby sighed with delight at the views and the sun setting – and he had a little bit of a unplugged moment. And then, with hubby’s good ideas and planning, we took the girls on their first horse ride. Nothing fancy, just an hour long guided walk through some trails not too far from home. Peanut’s face in this one is too much. She really just wanted me to stop turning around and snapping a picture. Can you tell at all from the angle how huge my horse was? I guess they thought tall lady, tall horse? But she really did enjoy herself and relaxed after just a short while. We so lucked out that the wind died down and it was just a lovely ride. And so I guess this week was reminder of several things. There are things you just can’t control and there is nothing gained in dwelling on it. Never underestimate the good times that can be had in your own neck of the woods. Great family memories can be made not matter where you are. And through all of it, I have been very mindful of the fact that we are so lucky. Dana is home with us for spring break. He is not at work in an office, he is not traveling. He is with us. So even if I had been stuck in bed all week instead of just a few days, it still would have been better than any other year. And now we are off to catch up on Easter meals and such. There is not a single jelly bean in this house. I hope the Easter Bunny has his act together this year, because I certainly don't. But I wanted to take a minute during this beautiful time of the year to wish a season full of grace and blessings. And as always, thank you for reading.