A Girls Weekend Away - Canceled

It proved to be too difficult. I'm writing with great sadness today as my life long gal buddies and I are not going on our annual 5 year trip together. It's really a challenge to get all 4 of us, with kids, husbands, jobs, brownies, dogs, school, careers, travel, and not to mention the financials, in order and on the same page. May as well have the moon and Jupiter align too on the same day that Mars turns cherry red.

We planned for the Toronto Film Festival in 2009, but I opted not to go since one of our gals couldn't make it. The other two would still like to go. Perhaps I should join them. But for me, I can't justify the expense in this economy... I write about fun stuff here, but truthfully, we are so strapped right now. We live a good life (of course I want more and bigger and better all the time) but we've outgrown our home and wont be able to purchase a new one for quite some time. I think it's time to start knocking on doors (begging for money) so-to-speak.

Then we tried to hit up my cottage in Door County. It's so beautiful there and it would have been so nice to just have the 4 of use together drinking coffee watching the waves cozy up to the shoreline. But that didn't work either as one of us could not get off from her job during the week the rest of us could go.

In any case, I'm not too blue as I will still be able to head to Switzerland this fall with Hubby and Toddler Boy. I'm sort of excited, yet, not so much, since Switzerland is prolly the most expensive country to visit and for a shopaholic such as myself (in remission) I'm not able to spend like I'd like. Sticker shock will keep my hands in my pockets and my brain out of the stores. We'll hike through the mountains, but I'm not sure how much hiking my body will be able to take unless I spend some money beforehand on a decent pair of good-looking hiking shoes. Those mountains are pretty steep. Have you seen them lately? They are actually easier to walk up than down.

Last time we went to Switzerland, I must admit, I was completely bored out of my mind. I hate to have a repeat of that. My husband's mother worked each day. She'd send us into different towns each day to shop. So we shopped. And shopped. And shopped. There wasn't a single thing we could afford (and there was no recession back then!). As a last ditch effort, on the last shopping day before we left, at 4:59 pm when the stores closed at 5:00, I was stood in line to buy a sweater cape (and now I'm glad I have it). I paid an unreasonable amount for it, but I just could not leave the country without just one item to take back with me.

I hope this time it's different.

Funny thing about myself. I never want to go on vacation. Never. But each time I do, once I'm there, I'm so glad I'm there! That's too quirky even for myself to understand.