…self-sufficient children and third row seating.
My job (as a high school teacher) can be stressful and overwhelming at times, but thankfully, I get long holiday breaks to recover. And with Thanksgiving this week, I was able to travel with my husband and two girls to Kentucky for a visit with the grandparents. Vacation lasts for six days; the trip took four. And though I enjoyed the mountains and the deer and other enchantments, this trip wasn’t without some calamities. So, here it is…
The Magical–
So grown. So good.
My children are finally old enough to be self-sufficient. They can get their own snacks and entertain themselves by playing electronic Yatzee or watching a movie on the portable DVD player. Sure, I miss them being small and the excitement they felt as we got closer to our destination, but with the excitement came the impatience, the whining, and the fifty stops in the last fifty miles. Now they sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery whizzing by. Or they listen to Spotify and zone everything else out.
The Mundane–
The ride (11 hours with stops)
Riding for eleven hours from Yulee, Florida to Somerset, Kentucky. The ride itself isn’t bad. My honey drives, and we leave early enough that the girls go back to sleep in the vehicle. But between breakfast and lunch I decided to trade seats with my youngest and ride in the third row. I thought I’d get some writing done, and I suffer from poor circulation and needed to prop my feet up. As I was climbing in the back, I hit my knee on the half-inch metal hook that catches the lock of the sliding door. I thought I’d broken my patella; instead, it is just bruised and achy. I did get about 400 words down before we started the winding ascent through the Pisgah National Forest on I-40. Weaving back and forth at 60 MPH didn’t sit well with my stomach and, boy, was I relieved when thirty minutes later we straightened out and stopped for lunch. Needless to say, my youngest took her bench back and I postponed writing until later that night.
This Thanksgiving I am so grateful for family, good health, and minivans with third row seating. What are you thankful for?