by steph_egan | personal
Where did you last go on vacation?
Was it last week? Last month? Yesterday or five years ago?
Do you remember the feeling leading up to it? Counting days, big X’s on the calendar to mark time as it ticked by… never wanting to wish the days away, but only wishing a certain day closer. What to pack, what to wear. Maybe a full itinerary to work on, or day dreams of mornings that turn into evenings with little to nothing filling the time yet feeling complete as you end the day.
The vacations I most looked forward to were those summers we spent camping in the back woods of Maine. “Twenty miles in on dirt logging road” as my parents always described it to people. The middle of nowhere, and oh so beautiful. I was just six when we started going.. and made lifelong friends during that first visit. Each of our family’s would return for the same weeks each summer, and as we ANXIOUSLY waited for our bikes to be taken off the cars, it was like minutes had passed since we were last there, and not an entire year. Hand-written letters filling the days until we’d see each other again… telling tales of different hometowns and friends at school.
Our days were filled with nothing but racing our bikes around the campground, swimming, and boat rides up the lake.
So simple, and yet so much anticipation to get back there again.
And once there, once any of us are anywhere on vacation… we pray for time to stand still. We silently see the days slipping by, never marking them. Not wanting to count. Not wanting it to end. How did it go by so fast?
And so the anticipation of vacation begins again.
One of my first vacations: Lake Champlain, NY:
by jenn_davis | weekly specials
This week’s focus is on vacation.
When I was a little girl some of my fondest memories were when my parents would pack up the car and take my brother, sister and me to the beach for a week. Looking back, it was such a simple trip; scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast as mom packed a cooler of drinks and sandwiches for the beach. We would all hop on the golf cart and ride through the camp ground where we would spend all day playing in the ocean and building sand castles along the water. There was never anything particularly extravagant about our family vacations….there was never the need. We made memories out of our time spent together and the older I get the more I long for times like that.
Now, as a mother, vacations and trips to the beach are never as relaxing as they once were. I imagine it will be many years before that happens again. The beautiful truth to what vacations have now become lies in a cooler filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tiny sandcastles along the shore.
xoxo,
by jenn_davis | featured guests
introducing Emily from Beware the Kudzu….
I was so grateful when my friend Jenn asked me to pen a guest post for her new collaborative endeavor Sunny Slide Up. I was extra excited when I learned that this week’s focus was on the subject of humor. Humor is held in pretty high regard in our family. In fact one of my favorite quotes is:
“Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that’s a real treat.” – Joanne Woodward
It’s true. I tell people all the time how the hubs laughed the panties right off of me and we’ve been together ever since 😉 It would seem our daughter has inherited the family funny bone. Her comedic timing is uncanny; to the point where she will begin a maniacal laugh at just the right time during some highly inappropriate programming.
I hope that she stays funny and dare I say it, cultivates her comedic abilities. While most mothers have dreams of their children growing up to become educators, doctors, or the first female president I have much loftier ambitions for my darling girl. I desperately want her to join the ranks of Tina Fey, Mya Rudolph and my beloved Amy Poehler. Yes, I want my daughter to be a cast member on SNL. Ms. Fey’s book Bossy Pants, much like the complete works of Judy Blume, needs to be required reading for all girls before graduating high school if for no other reason than it teaches the lessons “Do your thing and don’t care if they like it” and “Bitches get stuff done”.
And before all you Kristen Wiig fans get up in arms about her absence from my list ~ the only reason I didn’t include her is because she is just coming into her own. She’s a baby compared to the holy trinity mentioned above but it’s only a matter of time before she fully joins their ranks. And I bet her mama is damn proud of her girl!
So if some day in the not too distance future Quinn comes to tell her dad and I that she is moving to Chicago to join Second City I’ll support her 110%. Or more so because I’ll probably be sending her rent money each month. I hope her spirit is adventurous enough to allow her to live her life in a YES, AND fashion and that the fear of failing never stops her from trying. And if she goes after her dreams with a heart full of gusto only to fall short, I hope she has a healthy sense of humor to see her through the harder times life has to offer. Because we all get knocked down throughout our journey and the next best thing to making the world laugh is the ability to laugh at yourself.
~ Peace
Em xoxo
