Road Warrior

Each time we have a trip coming up, I become overly OCD with trying to have a clean house, laundry done, dishes out of the sink and trash taken out. Is that really too much to ask to have all of that done so that when you return home you don't have to come home to a stinky, dirty house, on top of the unpacking and unwinding to start the work week?

It's funny how a few of my girlfriends, and even today, my hair stylist, all share the same thoughts about traveling. Their husbands or boyfriends, including my very own, however, do not share this sentiment. Their priority is to worry about packing for themselves and loading up the car. You, on the other hand, pack for yourself, the kids and make lists of all the things that need to be handled before you walk out that door.

Thankfully we travel often enough that I almost have this down to a science. We have bags that have things that we don't necessarily have to unpack when we get home, so that when we do pack, all we have to do is pull the stuff out into our pile of "things to take with us."

This trip coming up, I have fulfilled part of my OCD desires, but I honestly haven't the energy to clean the house. Sure, the toys will be picked up and things put away where they are supposed to be, but taking more time to clean areas of the house that only I will see will just have to wait until next week.

In the meantime, I've gotta figure out if we can still enjoy the pristine beaches on the Gulf Coast before they completely disappear from the oil spill. I have a lot of fond memories on the white, sandy beaches, and I'm sad that our kids won't be able to make those similar memories for themselves.

For now, the house is packed and we just gotta plow through another work day/school day before we hit the evening traffic. As crazy as it always is to get out the door with two kids in tow and everything but the kitchen sink, we do enjoy our travels. They make the weekends even shorter, but the moments are ever sweeter when we get to see the brilliant smiles on their faces to see family.