Vacation to MS

When I first became a stay-at-home mom (modified version!) it quickly dawned on me that I no longer got "breaks" throughout my "work" day. I no longer earned vacation time or sick time. All of the fringe benefits were virtually gone. It was a rude awakening for me, let me tell you that! The Designer and I talked about it, the adjustments and my frustration and he made an offer I have yet to hear about from any other SAHM. He told me that every year he would give me one of his weeks of vacation from work.

So, what does that mean exactly? Well, he has 3+ weeks of paid vacation each year. Often times he takes a week off to spend with us during the summer. He takes a day here or there to go fishing throughout the year. In addition he said he would take a week off (consecutively or individual days) to stay with the girls so I could take a vacation if I so desired.

I have never taken him up on his offer. But this year was different. My BFF lives in the Gulfport, MS area. Her DH is in the navy and they are stationed there. She has a son who will be 4 in October. Twin girls who will be 2 in November. And, she is pregnant with baby #4, due in November. We wanted to get together and she was not in any position to travel so I decided to head south to visit the great state of MS.

I arrived on a Friday afternoon. As soon as I landed I was informed that tropical storm Fay was due to hit their house around 1am that night. Sounds like fun! :) Fortunately it wasn't much except some mild wind and rain. After a few days the sun peeked out and I got to enjoy some extremely hot, sticky days down on the Gulf Coast. About 1/2 way through my trip her DH came home and informed us that Hurricane Gustav was on track to hit their area so we spent a good amount of time packing up her house into their 5th wheel so they could evacuate, which they did a day after I flew back home.

While I was there I was able to witness firsthand some of the devastation that still remains from Hurricane Katrina. I saw some people putting on the finishing touches on their brand new homes that they are just getting to replace from Katrina 3 years ago. It was feeling bad for those individuals as they prepared for yet another hurricane to potentially take everything away from them again. Fortunately for my BFF and her family, they had no water or wind damage. They were truly blessed.

In spite of the packing we found time to play as well. We spent one day pampering ourselves with facials, dinner and shopping. We were able to sew some. We took her kids to the children's museum. My friend works part-time as a x-ray tech and so she called her friends up at the hospital and asked if they had time to do an U/S scan on her tummy so I could see the little peanut growing in her belly. She and her husband have decided they do not want to know the gender of the baby. She did, however, allow the tech to let me take a peek so I know what they are having. It was wonderful to see that darling little baby all happy and wiggly in there.

The girls did great with daddy while I was away. Daddy did great too. He did say he would never want to be a stay-at-home dad and was so grateful that I was willing to do it, but he did enjoy himself with the girls too. Lil Bug missed me a lot, but didn't really get fussy about it until about 1.5 days before I returned. I didn't think Lil Princess noticed my absence much, but when I returned home I learned I was wrong...ever since then she clings to my...literally. I can't walk anywhere without her hanging on my leg. She wants me to hold her ALL the time.

I had a great time and I look forward to my vacation next year!!!!!! Hmmm, I wonder where I will go?

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I wanted to include some pics from during and after Hurricane Gustav but they aren't working at the moment. I'll see what I can do.