California or bust

Since we had such an extraordinary vacation last year we decided to tackle another one. Or rather Darcy did. It has been "her life's dream" to travel to California. When I asked her what she wanted to see in California she told me "Disneyland", and I promptly put a large X in the vacation category. Seriously? Disneyland? We live less than two hours from freaking Mickey Mouse Kingdom. The Empire of all things mouse. The largest Disney of them all and she wants to see Disneyland? It wasn't a trip that counted high on my list. So Darcy does what she always does when I say 'No". She turned to her father.

I understand. I did the same thing and in the very manner that she herself turns. I would wait until we were alone, perhaps watching television together or riding in the car, and then I would casually mention what I wanted and a discussion would happen, and then somewhere after he agreed it was a good idea I would mention that my mother didn't agree with us. He would pooh pooh that and tell me he would handle it, and he did.

But Darcy's father isn't like my father. He isn't someone that always says "yes". He isn't someone who sees your side right away and agrees. He is a thinker. He has to take something, roll it around, chew on it quite a bit, and savor it before he makes a decision. That can take anywhere from 3 days to a week. Sometimes longer, and then the answer isn't always the one you wanted; the "yes". So Darcy casually discussed the idea with her father, and he immediately said "yes" which thrilled her to no end. But here is the thing. If, on those rare occasions, Tom says, "yes", good luck getting him to make it happen. It just doesn't. Not right away. Because he didn't properly go through his routine. So he told Darcy they would go at spring break, and spring break came and went without a trip to California. This is usually the point where I give up, but unlike me, Darcy persists and she does it with guilt. Eventually, with some help from me, he relented.

It took his work longer than a month to sign off on the vacation which left us somewhat in limbo, but when the word of acceptance was delivered the trip was a go and plane reservations made. We are going on a vacation to California. We will be staying with Tom's brother and husband in their beautiful home in the hills outside of Los Angeles where they will entertain us extravagantly and shower us with kindness, love, and daily homemade breakfasts in bed. I just know it.

In preparation for the time spent away from a computer, I am planning ahead with various entries I have found while cleaning out bins, The Condo, closets, drawers, and my ears. I will try to post entries while on vacation, but just in case that doesn't happen until I get back I want to leave my readers with something. Rest assured I have your back. Even if I'm forced to spend a day in Disneyland.