Back to reality

It's hard returning to reality after vacation. I was so relaxed and enjoyed my time in Florida so much, I didn't want to come back. It didn't help the weather was sunny and going to be 26C on Saturday when we loaded the van and started the trek back to Canada.

Of course, since the weekend marked the end of March Break in Ontario and a few states, the highways heading out of Florida were jam packed on Saturday morning. (Next time, I'm staying until the rush back is over.) The drive took a few hours longer than anticipated, my father-in-law ate an off sandwich and got food poisoining, and we saw a doozy of an accident around midnight in Georgia.

We returned very tired around noon yesterday to a chilly house (11C) and a furnace that didn't work. But my laissez faire attitude I'd recaptured during vacation allowed me to react fairly calmly. Luckily, we found out this morning some strong winds last week went down the chimney and turned off a safety switch. So, it was an easy and fairly inexpensive fix to the furnace.

I have great memories of the trip to Florida. The house was beautiful and we spent at least four hours in the pool and hot tub most days. We sipped our morning coffee while looking at the stars in the morning and quaffed a cold beer in it in the afternoons. It was perfect.

On Thursday, the six of us hit Epcot to experience the joys of the Walt Disney World. It's been one of my mother-in-law's dreams to experience Disney with her grandchildren. We were there early to ensure we got the volunteer certificates converted into tickets and get a good spot in line. Being early certainly paid off for us. The approximately 200 people in line were all selected for a Disney Magic Moment. Around 8 a.m. we were escorted to Soarin', the most popular ride in the park, and rode it twice before the park even opened. It kicked off an awesome day the right way.

We were going to hit the beach on the way out of the sunshine state, but the traffic was crawling bumper to bumper, so we decided to skip that experience and start on the long drive back. It's something to do NEXT time we go.

Even though I went to bed at 8 p.m. last night, I'm still tired today. I'm sure it'll take a few days to catch up on the missed sleep.

But it was worth it! And I seem to have gotten over the fear of planning for the future because now I'm dreaming of my next vacation . . .

Tina