“Did you miss me, did you even know I was gone??” or alternatively “Now you Know How Mad We Are. Part one. Although I may change the title for the second bit”

I have always wondered if I was Spontaneous. It sounds romantic right, like in pretty Woman when Julia Roberts character Vivian describes herself:

“No I’m not a planner. I would say I’m a kinda fly by the seat of your pants gal, you know moment to moment. Yeah that’s me.”

Of course she was referring to a conversation about suddenly bringing home a prostitute and I would never do that but I have wondered, if an opportunity arose would I take it or would I let it slide by.

Take holidays for instance. When you are travelling anywhere with four kids, especially long car trips, you need to put a lot of effort into planning the journey right. How will you keep them entertained in the car? what if it rains the whole time? should you bring boards games? Do you know the fastest route to the local hospital so that when one of them inevitably falls and splits their head open you can get them there before all the blood drains out of their tiny bodies?

You can’t just wake up one morning and say “hey let’s go on holiday”?

Well yes actually you can.

We did.

Glenn had a wonderful opportunity to go to some massive nerd fest called Tech Ed. He was very excited. I tried to understand what he was going on about. That part had been planned for a long time only he was going to be flying up with work colleagues and we were all staying at home.

Then all the kids got sick, starting with Lani and going in an anti clockwise direction around the car.  Which of course meant that the day before Glenn was scheduled to fly out it hit me.

And this one was a doozy I mean the whole aching joints swirling mushed up brain juices, concrete squirted up your nose and drizzling down the back of your throat sickness. My head throbbed, my throat hurt, and every breath ached the bones in my chest from the strain of breathing lung-fulls of custard. I don’t like custard.

Glenn felt really bad about leaving us alone.

We couldn’t even ask Mum to help because Dad was a week off having a hip replacement and getting sick now would mean another year on the waiting list.

I hate it when Glenn goes away at the best of times, a week alone like this seemed impossible.

I may have laid the guilt trip on a little too strong.

I may have said please don’t go and left of the Ha Ha only joking.

He may have felt a little like I couldn’t cope because on the morning that he was meant to fly out, after I grumpily dragged myself out of bed, he said. “I don’t think I’m going to go and I’ve already told work.”

Whoops.

I’m going to get him fired one day.

NO you have to go. I almost had a yes there too till he remembered a conversation we had had ages ago when the whole flying away first came up. It went along the lines of “why don’t we all go, we could drive up, stay together somewhere make it a holiday”

“Do you want to come?”

“What?”

“If we found a place, do you want to come with me?’”

Not being alone, happy not crying after their daddy children, warm air hot sand (did I mention he was going to the Gold Coast) “YES.”

SO that was that then. A mad tension filled ten minutes ringing around looking for a room at the inn followed by a slightly surreal and majorly sped up bag packing dog delivering to Mum and Dads and begging the neighbours to do their best to stop the cat from starving.

In two hours we were on the road.

I think it hit me when we stopped for lunch. I really hope I packed everything.

Update: Now read on with part 2, “Get me to the conference on time”