There is something about going away for vacation... You are forced to take a break from a lot of daily life. Things like laundry, dishes, and household cleaning are not in the picture, even if only for a brief time. Right now, I'm missing vacation. I'm missing California.
It seems like I'm stuck on this crazy conveyor belt that is moving at insane speeds, rushing me from one task to the next. Truthfully, everything has been a whirlwind since Jason came home. My email box is full, my desk is overflowing, my laundry room cries out to me four times a day, and the kids require my love and attention. And somewhere in there I'm sure Jason wants some time with his wife. Maybe.
I've been schlepping back and forth to occupational therapy for my finger and orthodontist appointments. Every time I get things running smoothly, we have to go run some errand and I find myself struggling to catch up again. Can't I just get a day or two for time to stand still so I can just breathe? No? Well, let me know if any of you figure that out.
Our trip to California was such a breath of fresh air! The kids needed that time to reconnect with Daddy after the long separation. We spent days playing together, traveling together, sightseeing together, and of course living in close quarters together.
While in California, we stayed a few nights in Monterey and saw our old house. We visited Jason's school where he learned to speak Farsi. I even got to meet a blogger that lives in the same town where Joshua was born. Jenn was so sweet to bring her family to hang out at the park with us, even though she was (still is?) very pregnant. 
While In San Diego I was able to spend a night hanging out with an old friend from high school. (Dad, remember Kristy?) She and I used to be inseparable and it's a shame that so many years have gone by and that we sort of lost touch. I laughed and laughed with her as we remembered old times and caught up on the last 10 or 15 years. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures and although I'm tempted to post an old photo, the only one I have handy is of us in bikinis. Good times. 
All in all, we had a great vacation. It was a great time for Jason to "recover" from the deployment and it was nice to get out of our house (which is 99% unpacked, except for our office.) A vacation with 6 kids is never really a "vacation" but it's still fun. Now we are settling back into our new "normal." Jason's leave is over and I'm gearing up for the holidays. Someone please convince me to drag out our Christmas decorations, because if it's up to me, I'll procrastinate until December 24th. Is it really November already?
