Shame, shame, shame!

Oh, shame on me for not visiting this space in such a long time! Shame, shame, shame!!

Succinctly, January and February were FULL of activity. Some developments at work (I got a promotion! Woo hoo!), some family drama (mom got her hip replaced, sister is nearly to term with a high-risk pregnancy), and some of our general fun-finding (a divine gala at the Mississippi Children's Museum, lovely nights out with friends and family, etc.) have kept me busier than usual.

There's no use in trying to catch up, really, so I'll just forge ahead with today's story.

Months and months and months ago, hubs and I decided to take a trip to Rome this spring. We booked plane tickets. We found an apartment to rent in the historic center of the city. We booked it and began the long season of anticipation. I bought guidebooks and highlighted them obsessively. I began trolling fodors.com. We got some Berlitz DVDs and started rolling our r's.

Then, my sister got pregnant, and there were major complications. Then, my mom discovered that she'd have to have her hip replaced, and mom's visits to the hospital never seem to be routine. In the face of all the family issues swirling about, hubs and I realized there was a good chance we didn't need to be going anywhere.

So, we stopped planning. Stopped looking at guidebooks. Stopped making reservations. Stopped learning Italian.

And then, about two weeks ago, we noticed something. Our family issues were not ending in disaster. In fact, they were progressing nicely towards positive resolutions. Which meant . . . which meant our trip to Rome was imminent, and we couldn't speak any Italian other than "sorella" (sister) and "jurisprudenza" (law). We also hadn't make a single reservation, not to tour the Vatican, the Colosseum, not to eat anyplace special, not to do . . . anything.

Sooooo, in the past week, we have been a veritable storm of productivity. We've alerted our banks and credit card companies that we'll be traveling. We've converted money. (Good night, the exchange rate is HEINOUS.) We've bought suitcases (Hubs got me a darling little red Samsonite! I love it!) and made reservations. We've blown the dust off the guidebooks.

The only things we haven't done are to learn some Italian (which I intend to do in haste) and start getting excited! We have ten glorious days in Rome planned. It's the first time we've been overseas since little man came along, and I intend to savor every moment!

Comments

Ginger said…
Have a wonderful time, Nicole! I gather little man is staying home?
Nicole Bradshaw said…
You betcha. Two sets of grandparents will spoil him while we're gone.

Incidentally, did you ever hear a response regarding the matter we discussed via phone a while back?