I'm not dragging out the big guns right off that bat and detailing my family's EPIC #summervacation.
And I'm not even going to immediately launch into a bragfest about my EPIC new job which my friend informed me is not really a job at all because I'm not getting paid. Apparently, that makes it "just" a hobby. It feels like a job though, and since I haven't collected a paycheck (except for $25 from Blogher) since 1999, anything that occupies my brain and body on a regular basis outside of my house and away from my kids is a JOB to me. I now work in an arena about which I am extremely passionate, so it's not about the money, people.
First, I am going to share a race report.
 |
| Blurry person in the blue tank top...me at the starting line of my first race that day. |
 |
| Not blurry but also me about 10 seconds later. |
This was a great regatta. It's all small boats...one person or two people per boat. All ages. All genders. All sizes. When you submit your entry, you guesstimate how long it will take you to cover the course and that determines your initial seed. The organizers weight the entries and create a handicapping system that theoretically levels the playing field. Each boat races 3 times; in each race the competitors get regrouped according to speed in the previous race. I went into it seeded 25th out of 51 and finished 23rd or 24th. That means I was pretty accurate regarding my guesstimate! It was fun even though it was crazy choppy and windy. And I was scared out of my fucking mind because I haven't raced a single scull in 15 years...and even back then it always scared me. I guess that's not really a race report, but fuck it. It was a whole two months ago. In sum: It was hard. It was windy as fuck. I did okay.
A week later I took my kids to Europe.
The plane flight there and the first week it was just me with my four kids. It was hard. It was hot as fuck. I did okay. Then my husband arrived with no luggage and a bad-ass case of jet lag. The idea had been for me to go early with the kids and get them over jet lag. My husband would work an extra week and then arrive to an adjusted family, and being a grown-up, he'd be able to hit the ground running and cope with his jet lag in an adult way. Let's face it...jet lag SUCKS no matter how old you are. And it's going to get you. You can't "trick" it. Suffice it to say, it was a stupid idea.
 |
| Jet lag. Sleeping until 2:30 pm every day for the first 4 days. And up until 6:00 am. |
My pictures of the trip were all over Instagram for a month. Seriously, about 25 a day. I was that person. Switzerland in general was the entire family's favorite part of the trip, hands down. You should totally go look at my pictures and pretend you were there. Except the pictures of my six-year old losing her shit in various amazing locations. Be super glad you weren't there for those parts.
 |
| Tantrumming in lovely Varenna, Italy. Note: concerned bystander. I guess it's kind of horrible to exploit my kid like this. But #pageviews = #worthit |
 |
| She must be joyfully running through the alpine meadows... no. She's screaming at her brother to wait because SHE is supposed to be FIRST. Ugh. |
 |
| I loved this part of the parade in the little village where we stayed. Guys with huge bells...what's not to love? They even let me touch them. And they made so much noise I couldn't hear anyone whining at me or screaming at a sibling. |
The end.
PS...I am so bummed that Janae stopped doing rainbow questions. Since the world needs more RAINBOW, I will continue to do them. Perhaps it will inspire her to start doing them again.
How much do you think those bells weigh? The biggest ones? If you guess close to right you will win a prize! NOT KIDDING!
Have you or a member of your family ever gotten sick when you were traveling on vacation?
If you have kids, do they ever fight and/or have tantrums? What was the worst? Are you glad they are back in school?
