Vaca Here We Come

We are leaving tomorrow to head to Colorado. We are meeting Bret's parents at their cabin for a long Memorial weekend. His sis and her husband and a few other family and friends plan to stop by while we are there.



Bret and I were talking last night and we haven't looked forward to a vacation this much in a long time. We love Colorado, can't wait to see his family, but mostly because we need a break. His parents have talked about different things to do but really we are looking forward to having help with the kids, stealing a little us time, and having fun without the stress of work.



You might have noticed but my almost daily posts have all but stopped lately. I have written a million posts in my head but have just not had a moment to spare. The kids are in full force with summer knocking at our doors. With the weather getting warmer they are begging to spend every waking minute from sun up to sun down outside playing. To a certain extent this has been fine cause we have wireless internet so me and my laptop can sit outside and watch while working. However sometimes I just need to buckle down and work efficiently and outside is less than ideal.



Work for me has been crazy. As part of the recent health bill legislation there were a lot of changes for the financial aid world too. We are in the middle of making major changes and the system software is dragging us down. Processes that took 5 minutes before is now taking HOURS. Everyday there is way more to be done then there is time to get it all done. I have been going to campus more and more often because of the process meetings with other departments that I need to be present for. I could try and skype but it doesn't make that big of a difference cause the point is I need to be seated and present.



Bret is starting to take more and more chief duties on and is starting to feel it too. Last month and this are two of the easiest rotations for him but because of all the other duties he is swamped. Home late all the time and stressed about all the drama going on at work. I laughed out loud last night at dinner because he was complaining that over the weekend he got over 60 work related emails. He never gets more than one or two a day. People are turning in vacation requests, policy issues, blah blah blah. I laughed partly because it was funny to see him a little stressed over email but also because 60 emails is a quiet day for me.



Surprisingly we have been doing fine through all of this. No fighting or snapping at each other. We have gotten a babysitter on a few weekends to get away from the kids for a while and spend some quality time together having fun. We have spent more time with the kids going for walks, to the park, reading, playing, etc so they are not feeling our stress. I have been working out regularly which helps me process the stress and keep my energy levels up. I think it shows how far we have come from three years ago. We have learned a lot of coping techniques to handle this type of stress. We recognize the signs of it which is a big part of it.



As part of that we realize that a vacation is EXACTLY what we need and it can't come soon enough. I told MIL that by the time we get to Colorado I am going to need a stiff drink. It wouldn't be us if the day we are leaving we have a million things going on too. Bret is on call tonight and I have a can't miss meeting first thing in the morning. So I have to have everything packed and ready to go tonight. The babysitter is coming first thing so I can leave for work. Bret gets home mid morning and will load up the truck with car seats, luggage, kids, etc. As soon as I get home from work we will run like hell to the airport to catch our flight. Keeping our fingers and toes crossed that our flight is on time we have 45 minutes to catch our connecting flight in Atlanta. After 6 hours of flying with three kids I think Bret and I will have earned that drink :)