I've Been Busy

I haven't written in a while, but things have been kind of chaotic around here. We had Patrick's 40th birthday party on Saturday and there was a lot of prep work for it - shopping, cleaning the house, ordering some of the food, etc. The party was a lot of fun and I loved that I was able to see my family, although it was difficult to actually sit down with them and chat since I was running around like a crazy woman.

This coming Saturday we will be back in Chicago for Reese and Vann's birthday party - she turns 7 years old today and Vann will be 4 on Saturday! I will get the chance to sit and relax and talk to my family this time - looking forward to that.

Patrick, Duncan, and I also are in the midst of planning a vacation. In all our years together, the three of us haven't been on a "real" vacation together. Patrick and I have been on our honeymoon and a couple of other trips, and we've gone overnight with Duncan , but not a true summer vacation. Actually, Duncan has never been on a "real" vacation (he always stresses the word real which is why I keep saying it). We've decided to go to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This was my family's vacation spot when we were kids/teens. Absolutely beautiful! We're shooting for the second week of August (I just need approval from my boss, which I don't think will be a problem). We're going to fly to Norfolk, Virginia, and drive out to the NC coast. Patrick and I did this in 2001 and 2002.

I don't know what our lives will bring in the next year. In all honesty, with my stopping the pill here very soon, there is a chance I could be pregnant next summer, or we could even have a baby. This is one reason we decided to just go for it this summer. Another reason is that we plain felt like we deserved it after being so careful with our budget for two and a half years while we tried selling the house. Believe me, a trip to NC is not as expensive as , say, Disney World, so we're still being mindful, but we really thought it was a good time to go.

We're trying to finalize plans this week, but we're all very excited - can't wait to see Duncan's face when he sees the ocean for the first time: