in my mind i'm going to pennsylvania

Why do I do this to myself?

In one week, I’m taking ten days off from work. That’s a two-week vacation. This is the longest vacation I’ve taken since I’ve been at the Farm and I’m just now planning how I’m going to spend it.

I’d considered flying to Oregon to see KT for a bit. It would be nice to see the Pacific Northwest, not to mention visit with an old friend from the Farm in her natural habitat. I’d love to be guided around a new place. But by the time I got my ducks in a row, all the flights were too expensive. So instead, I’ll be spending two weeks in beautiful, exotic…

Pennsylvania. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and I’m very excited to see a bunch of old friends again. I hope. The catch is that I have to figure out how to arrange all the jigsaw puzzle pieces of my trip together in order to make all that happen. Two weeks is a long time, but PA is a big state. And I know a lot of people there.

In an odd coincidence (I think the universe is laughing it’s a** off right now), the two weeks I requested off two months ago happen to be concurrent with a family reunion, a friend’s theater production, my sister’s soccer camp, a county fair, another friend’s business trip, my brother’s being in town, and VERY reasonable prices from Amtrak. So this all sounds as though the planets are aligned just right for me to get the most out of this trip. What is so hilarious to the universe, however, is that the planets aren’t just aligned; they’re right on top of each other. Four of these events happen in the same weekend. The other two involve the absence of two people I want to see for the first week of my vacation. If you could see my calendar, it would look like piles of colored bands, each its own event, stretching over those two glorious weeks of time off, all competing for my attention. iCal even had ellipses at one point because all the events just couldn’t fit on the days they were scheduled.

I also need some down time, a retreat to do some real thinking and planning. Hopefully, between my scrambles across the Keystone State, I’ll be able to take some time to sit still. I have a trip to Europe to think about, for heaven’s sake! I’d like to slow down for a bit to think about what I want, what will be important for me in the coming months. I REALLY need to cross some things off my to-do list.

Meanwhile, I’ve forgotten how much longer I’ll be living with Cabin-Fever, the Rabid Cat. I’ll probably still be in quarantine when my vacation starts.

Pennsylvania, here I come! Maybe I’ll see you there.