I don’t know about you, but I am firmly in post-vacation let down mode. If I hear the Mark Twain quote about New Years one more time I think I’m going to vomit. In case you were under a rock today, and didn’t here it, allow me to share ONE MORE TIME:
“New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” –Mark Twain.
Here are some of my vacation pictures:
So I was going to write a trite article about how important it is to take vacations. Like, Duh. Water the root to enjoy the fruit. Don’t we all know this by now? Vacations increase creativity, increase productivity, reduce stress, and basically make you live longer.
But let’s face it, if I was to go on and on about how awesome my vacation was, you would probably just think, “blah, blah, blah good for you, you spoiled brat.” So I’ve decided to do something a little different, and perhaps more fun. I’ll call it Molly’s 5 worst moments of vacationing in Mexico.
1. Here’s something that seriously sucked: Waking up at 2:00 AM on 12/24 to catch a 6 AM flight.
2. Did I mention that every single night a mariachi band played LOUDLY at 10:30 PM. And then, just when they ended, the pirate ship would very LOUDLY announce its arrival into dock (our hotel was literally right next door to where it docked) by playing electronic dance/party music night, after night, after night, after night.
3. My brilliant husband knocked over the giant ceramic urn that was decorating the cafeteria. And then laughed about it. So we got to pay for it. That was awesome. Here’s a picture:
4. Did I mention that my 5 year old was barfing in the middle of the night on day 5? That was (not) super fun.
5. Sorry, but last I checked El Salvador was NOT on the way to Los Angeles. But we took a detour through it on our way home.
Come to think of it, I sound even more ungrateful for complaining about my awesome vacation. Try as I might to be negative, I can’t help but smile as I write this, and I do feel grateful, blessed, relaxed, happy.
My mother was almost in tears when she bid us goodbye this morning. She played Santa Clause for the entire week, and gave my boys special toys appropriate to each day (balls to play on the beach, kites, etc.) My boys were basking in the love and affection.
My brother, a high powered lawyer that reads magazines like The New Yorker and The Economist (and regularly uses big words like plethora, hegemony, post-lacanic, etc. in his speech), found his alter ego after meeting some hot Brazilian girls on day 2. He said to me, without a hint of irony, and with a big smile on his face, “I now realize how much I have a stick up my butt most of the time.”
But watching my father (Bapa) melt in the hands of my boys was probably my very favorite thing about the whole week away. “Bapa, will you play water tag with me,” Brett pleaded with him. Bapa was about to excuse himself and go have some quiet time, but he couldn’t resist my sweet 5 year old. Soon afterwards I heard squeals of delight coming from the water.
Moral of the story, of course, is this: Take a vacation. Get away. It puts priorities back in order.
So I lied. I guess I did write a trite post about the importance of taking vacations. Because the thing is… Even though our flights kinda sucked, and the hotel wasn’t glamorous, and there were hiccups along the way, the closeness of a week spent together was truly amazing.
Wishing you a prosperous, healthy and happy 2013!
