So Happy to Be Here

Yeah!  We are on our mini-vacation* before our vacation.  Yesterday was spent swimming at the pool, taking lots of pictures, and dinner along the Columbia River.  Today is the science museum, possibly more swimming, and Oak talking the state of the union with an old friend while I talk to his wife about anything but and the children play--hopefully happily.  Tomorrow more swimming and a giant bookstore.

We are having a fantastic time on our pre-vacation.  It has nothing to do with the free wi-fi actually being free so I can check my blogs and facebook (no e-mail because I never remember my password) or that we were able to get a suite so Oak and I can have the lights on after 9.  It is just nice to be together as a family and not worry about the things we need to get done at home...which is a lot.

We timed this vacation to celebrate my birthday since on my actual birthday Thursday and the 3 days following we will be camping with Oak's family.  For the most part I enjoy his family, but camping not so much.  This time I cannot decide if it is the lack of internet or hot water I'll miss the most.  Hot water.  Definitely hot water. I actually believe (intellectually not emotionally) that going unplugged for a few days will be a good thing.

Unfortunately, or fortunately because we do need to get this done, we are squeezing two visits with our homestudy case worker into the 3 days we are home between trips.  I don't know what I was thinking!  Monday we spend the day an hour north for our interviews and then Tuesday she comes to our house.  I do not know when I will be able to shampoo the carpets, dust under the beds, and wash the windows.  She can deny us the opportunity to adopt based on the size of our dust bunnies.  She can!  Oak will not believe me.  He is also denying the lack of bark-a-mulch on our freshly weeded flower beds or the uncut lawn could impact her decision.  

Oh well!  Nothing I can do about it from here!  I'm going to go appreciate the hot water before we head off to our free hot breakfast.  I feel so very blessed.


* I try to avoid saying we are away from home on the blog until we are back, but everyone knows we have a giant mean dog that our cautious local family is checking on 10 times a day.  Also, I realized any thief bright enough to trace our ip back to our home computer won't want anything we own.  The most valuable thing we have is my camera...and THAT is with us.  Ummm, our VCR might be worth something.  I think it is the last one on the planet that still has tuner inputs.  If you do break in, do you mind shampooing the carpets for us?  Also, please avoid burning it down.  My husband's home burned down when he was a teen, and my childhood home burned when I was in my twentiess (after I met my husband).  I believe we will have trouble convincing our insurance of the pure coincidental happenstance if our home burns down.