I suppose I really shouldn’t compare my last day of vacation to that of someone on death row. The comparison is highly unfair to the condemned. But to the vacationer who is forced to spend their last day knowing that in the morning it will be back to “business as usual,” the comparison seems all too similar. Not that I would compare my day job to the electric chair—it’s not nearly that exciting—but I’ve really, really enjoyed being on vacation. And as they say…my vacation has gone out with a bang!
I went to bed at quarter to two in the morning, unable to fall asleep with the knowledge that this would be the last night I could stay up late without consequences…the last morning I would be allowed to sleep in with no regrets…the last day of complete and utter freedom from constraints, rules, and schedules!
And I woke up promptly at seven!
The sun was shining in my eyes, and the nose licking cat had been let into my room when my husband left for work (I am convinced this was done on purpose out of simple jealousy as he was forced to go to the office.) So, I battled with a combination of bright lights and wet tongue, and two geriatric dogs that were all too well aware that I was no longer asleep, much as I tried to pretend. In other words…I was up for the day.
As usual, I had a barrage of texts and emails begging for my attention in the Blackberry (which is always tucked beneath my pillow,) so with my eyes barely open I began reading through the messages while the dogs took their morning constitutional.
And the animals and I weren’t the only ones awake. My teenage daughter was dressed and ready for another adventure.
I actually have two sixteen year old girls, but because they were both given the choice between public and private school this year, and because they each chose a different path, I have had the pleasure of having but one of them to keep me company this week. Alexa is the one with the nontraditional schedule, and she has taken full advantage of that fact during my vacation.
Today we were going to see a morning movie—an adventure in IMAX—Alice in Wonderland (I recommend the film highly.)
Of course she drove—she has been set on acting as my personal chauffer all week—which means that I in turn was expected to carry out her typical role. It was my job to dispose of the paper cups from yesterday’s adventure into the parking lot trash can. She pulled up to the curb and I jumped out with cups in hand. Well, jump may be an exaggeration. I stepped carefully out of the car, cups in hand and threw them into the can. I decided that this would also be a perfect opportunity to rid my car of the hundreds of Halls wrappers while I had the door open and the trash can so close at hand. So I scooped up a large handful of wrappers in each hand and proceeded to turn toward the trash can to dump them. That’s when things went a little south. I twisted too quickly and caught my foot under the car and against the curb. I couldn’t pull it out fast enough to right myself and I started to fall. As is typical, my self-preservation instincts kicked in and I struggled against my trapped foot until the weight of my body falling toward the pavement ripped my foot clean out of my shoe and sprained my big toe. At least I hope it’s only sprained. I can’t quite bend it, and it really hurts. I had to reach under the car for my missing shoe, and I managed to get my foot back into it, but I’m afraid to look to see if it’s turning purple or swelling.
To her credit, Alexa didn’t laugh once.
My mother did. As a matter of fact, she laughed loudly when I called and told her what had happened. She seems to think my toe is probably just sprained. I appear to have pretty tough bones.
The rest of the morning went by fairly event free, but then again, most of it was spent sitting in a movie theater, so I can’t really take credit for that. I did get myself tangled in my jacket and my purse strap leaving the theater, but because I managed to stay on my feet the entire time, I consider that a success!
I spent the middle of the day writing in a coffee shop, with no internet access, which forced me to focus on the task at hand (after the first twenty minutes which was spent trying to diagnose my connection problem.) Lucky for me my husband is an engineer and he was able to quickly fix the problem. At eight o’clock this evening! Needless to say, I did a good bit of writing, and very little surfing.
I wouldn’t say I did anything overly exciting today, but I did have a really good dinner, which is customary on the day before…you know…the death walk. Oh, I’m sure it won’t be nearly that bad. I’m sure I’ll be overjoyed to see all my work friends again. But in the back of my mind, I’ll be daydreaming about my days as a lady of leisure.
Until the next time…I’ll be counting the days until my next vacation!