Things I Learned On Vacation

All last week I was in Palm Springs, on a vacation with my sisters and my mother. My older sister is pregnant with her first child (my mom's first grandchild!) and my twin sister is getting married in two months, so this was kind of our last hurrah. We spent most of the time shopping (is there anything better than outlet malls?) with a decadent spa day thrown in for good measure. We had a lovely time, and I thought I'd share a few of the lessons I learned along the way with you all.

1. It's Cruel to Take a Pregnant Woman Shopping.

I should preface this by saying that my older sister was a total trooper. She kept up with us and never complained once, despite the heat (42 degrees Celcius!), the long hours and the cement floors. But I think you see where I'm going with this. It was ridiculously hot and she was walking around with a furnace on her stomach. We shopped all day (and I honestly could have gone longer), so she was on her feet, in the heat, for way too long. Despite how well she hung in there, I don't think I'll subject her to it again any time soon.

2. Never Separate a Bride From Her Fiance.

Again, I'd like to preface this by saying that my twin was a fantastic travel companion and really kept the sighing and mooning over her fiance to a minimum. But it wasn't the same as when we used to travel. She was constantly distracted, and I'll be honest, I seemed to irritate her to no end. I may as well have been an itchy sweater she was forced to wear for a week. It shocked me, as we're very close and we've always made excellent travel companions before. But what can you do? She's in love and about to be married. There's no substitute for a fiance when you're head over heels in love and, in fact, anything else is just insulting.

3. Do Not Attempt to Write Your Blog Posts Ahead of Time.

When I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation. I don't bring a cell phone, I don't bring a computer. I'm on vacation from my life. So, I didn't want to have to worry about my blog while I was away. I wrote out my blog posts ahead of time, typed them up and showed my husband how to post them for me while I was away. The problem? Blogger sucks. Instead of showing the date of your post as the date it was published, it sticks to the first time you typed it. So, even though my husband posted them in the right order, they showed up in the order I'd typed them. Very irritating. And they all showed the dates I'd worked on them, instead of the date they were published. I was busted!

4. Don't Put Too Much Pressure On Your Vacation.

A few days before we left, I was talking to my older sister and couldn't help but ask if she was as excited as I was. She responded with a hesitant, "yes, but I hope we can all get along for that long." I was flabbergasted. The thought never even occurred to me! These were my sisters, my mother! How could we not get along? We got along famously. But her comment hung with me, and ended up creating a self fulfilling prophesy. Although we didn't fight, there was an undercurrent of tension through the whole trip that didn't let up until we were in the airport and on our way home. Suddenly, we were getting along the way we were supposed to the whole trip. If we hadn't been so worried about getting along the whole time, I think we would have had even more fun than we already did.

In the end, we did have a great time, and I have a whole lot of cute new clothes to show for it. But I think it's important to look back on our experiences and see what we can learn from the experience. These are the lessons I took away. What have your vacations taught you?

You Golf, I Sit

Today turned out to be a really great day. Today was Family Day (at least in Canada anyway), so we did just that. My husband and I joined the rest of my family at a golf simulator and played a virtual round of golf. It was a blast. The weather was great, there were no mosquitos, and there were no long walks from hole to hole. In fact, between shots we lounged and chatted in big comfy club chairs. Yep, if I have to play golf, that's the way I like to play.

I think what I enjoyed most was how different it was. We got out of the house, did something fairly active and it was an entirely new experience for me. Not only have I never played virtual golf, I've never played real golf. What a refreshing way to spend the day. If I'd stayed home, my day would have been a marathon of TV watching that left me with a headache and a feeling of regret. Instead, I went out, spent time with the family, and tried something new.

And I learned one thing: I suck at golf. Seriously, it was pathetic. I will admit to having a few semi-decent shots here and there, but overall I was terrible. Which was fine. I've never been especially athletic and I'm okay with that. I'm not a competitive person (usually), so I don't mind being the hopeless one in the group. Unfortunately, my family - being the group of thoughtful, sweethearts that they are - were worried I was feeling rather defeated. So they decided to cheer me on and try to make me feel better every time I made a bad shot. Which was a lot. Now, don't get me wrong. I appreciate that they care whether or not I'm having a good time. But the more they attempted to cheer me up, the more pathetic I felt. Because they must have thought I was doing pretty terrible to try so hard to cheer me up.

My husband was the worst. Not only did he try the hardest to cheer me up, at one point he started rubbing my shoulders and trying to get me to 'relax'. Eventually I had to shoo him away, telling him to shut up before we had a care bear moment. I was worried that at any moment he'd drop down on one knee and start explaining that everyone is good at something and we're all special in our own way.

In conclusion, I had a great time. Despite how bad I am at golfing, I enjoyed giving it a try. But next time, I think I'll spend more time lounging in a nice comfy club chair and less time swinging repeatedly at a golf ball without ever actually hitting it. Although on the plus side, I did relieve a lot of stress.