Attempting to have a sunny disposition

I don't know why I'm so cranky this morning. I'm sure it has nothing to do with hauling a baby away from the stairs for the forty-seventh time in a span of fifteen minutes. Or being up half the night with a still! sick! husband and various pregnancy-related annoyances. Or not having any cereal to go with the milk in my refrigerator. Or taking a good look around at my house and realizing that every single surface could use a good hosing down. Or that the weather looks crappy or I need a haircut or Phillip has to work super late tonight or I got stuck helping one of those people who hate being helped with the Easter Vigil reception or that I have heaps of laundry or gifts I still haven't mailed or ARE YOU SICK OF THIS YET?

Me too. Let's talk about Getting Away From It All, shall we?

My new Thing To Look Forward To is my fifth anniversary. Not because my fifth anniversary is especially important (Me: "Look! Five years! Go us!" Phillip: "I've had my Sting CD collection longer than I've had you.") but because we've decided to use it as an excuse to go on vacation. Turns out my husband has piles of time off that he was not telling me about. Most of it we'll use when New Baby arrives, but in the meantime we thought we could afford a long-ish weekend away for our anniversary (the last weekend in June). I've been mulling this over for weeks now, because I am the Trip Planner in my house and all I have to do is say, "We're going HERE and it will cost X AMOUNT" and Phillip packs a bag and shows up.

So I'm trying to decide between Two Perfect Weekend Getaways. We could fly to San Francisco, rent a car and drive to Monterey. Or we could save the airfare and get a swanky hotel in Vancouver. DILEMMAS!

The California trip has the potential for much nicer weather and actually feeling like we went on vacation. I've been to San Francisco a time or two but I haven't been to Monterey, which everyone says is lovely. Phillip is especially interested in sun and I would be too, if I weren't so self-conscious about being mistaken for a whale while sitting on the beach. We also heard the local news talking about a $75 fare to San Francisco (one way, I think), which makes the entire thing much more enticing. Although I haven't been able to find it online so I think the local news was LYING.

But Vancouver... I love Vancouver. I have been to Vancouver a zillion times and I still haven't seen everything there is to see, mostly because we are too busy eating Chinese food in Richmond. Vancouver is an easy drive, we could lump the "transportation" and "hotel" budget together and, biggest plus of all, I wouldn't have to get in an airplane. Also, the neurotic part of me likes knowing that I would only be a few hours away from my baby, who will be staying with grandparents.

So I don't know. I think it depends on whether I can find those cheap flights or not. And Vancouver in the summer is often plenty warm enough for me.

I've left Jack in his crib this whole time, because HE WILL BE IN BED FOR NAPTIME, OH YES and I thought he'd fallen asleep. Until I suddenly hear howling, which I ignore because Jack howling from bed means I DON'T WANNA BE IN HERE and you know what I think about that. But after ten minutes of uncharacteristic wailing I walk into his room and see that he is standing up with his pudgy little hand stuck between a crib bar and a plastic thingy we have that hangs off the side of the crib and projects shapes onto the ceiling. I picked him up and sat down and IMMEDIATELY he fell asleep. So guess who gets the Worst Mommy award TODAY?

Oh, and I totally forgot to add my Contractually Obligated Parenting.com Link to my post today, which (surprise!) concerns the nap schedule. Here you go!

Comments

[Jenny Ryan]

Hm, I think we have the same anniversary.

Is your husband an engineer? He cracks me up, because that sounds just like something my (engineer) husband would say.

[Colleen]

My hubby and I are also celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in two weeks. Our big event? Dinner out. Whoohoo. Except, I'm making DH pay for a really nice dinner - as in NOT Red Robin. Enjoy your vacation weekend, whichever trip you choose.

Oh, and we put baby gates at the top and bottom of our stairs so they were a non-issue. I was terrified the day I decided my daughter was a big girl and we could remove the gates. She's three now and hasn't fallen once! (Knock wood.)

[Redbecca]

I'm biased, but you should totally go to Monterey. Not because we named our son after it, but because it really is one of the most beautiful places on earth. You have to like to spend time in the car though because no trip to Monterey is acceptable without a drive down highway 1 to Big Sur. We would have gotten married at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park if we could have figured out a way to get down the beach part legally (and not died in the process - quite hazardous). And in Carmel, go to Johnny's Wok. Seriously awesome Chinese food - all the celebs get their food there. Unless you want something else, in which case go to the Forge in the Forest and order the skillet cookie. Yum.

[Jen]

Monterey is awesome! So is San Francisco, of course. Monterey has the really nice aquarium (Star Trek, the Voyage Home was filmed there). My favorite thing to do in Monterey is to walk along the beach and look at all the tidepools.

[ashley]

I went to SF, Monterey and other cities along the coast. SUNSHINE. LOTS of sunshine. Do it. (Although we went in July and SF was COLD. Like, wear a sweater cold.)

Vancouver is fun too, though. Such a diverse, happenin' city. :)

[Angela]

My vote is for SF/Monterey. Vancouver is lovely, but there's too much of a risk that it will be grey and rainy, and you deserve SUN and MORE SUN for your anniversary!

Oh, and I think I paid $78 each way through Southwest when I flew into Oakland.

[Lisa]

Mmmm...vacation! I can't offer any advice because I've never been to the West Coast, ever. Or Canada, for that matter, unless you count Niagara Falls, which is mere feet into Canada. My fave vacation spot is Arizona, because it is SO different from here. But only in the winter, because, talk about HOT! Phoenix is nice, Grand Canyon was great, but Sedona is by far my fave. Our honeymoon spot, in fact.