5 Things I Learned in Mexico

1. I stood out more because I was wearing a (shudder) swim dress than I would have if I had been wearing a bikini.
2. No one cares what anyone else looks like (see #1).
3. My kids are awesome travelers.
4. *Steve is replaced by Esteban as soon as he hits Mexican soil.
5. It doesn't have to be a romantic trip to feel the love.

*This is invaluable and must be tested on other soils.  Does it work in Spain? Stefan in Germany?  Stefano in Italy?

Sweet are the Uses of Adversity

When I was young, maybe in middle school, I entered a writing contest sponsored by Penn State.  The prompt was the quote from Shakespeare's As You Like It and we were supposed to talk about what it meant to us.  I have no bloody idea what I wrote specifically, but I do know the quote has stayed with me ever since.  (For the record, I got an honorable mention and got to go to main campus for a very glamorous luncheon and received a handshake from the chair of the English department and a certificate.  It was cool.)

Anyway, while packing for a trip tomorrow, a trip unlike any my little family has ever been able to take (like, a fancy trip), the quote came to me again.  And it couldn't be more appropriate for how I feel about taking this trip at this time of year.  I'm not being dramatic when I say that last year at this time was the start of a  pretty horrific year for us and if someone had told me that our family would be happily taking this trip a mere 8 months later I would not have believed it.  So, in short, this trip is even more precious than it would normally be.  And though I am not ready to say (and will never be) that having Last Year happen was worth it because of how precious this feels, it does put things into a pretty wonderful perspective.  And I am grateful.

Resolute

Every year I make the same resolutions everyone else does---exercise more, lose weight, save money.  Blah blah blah.  This year I'm trying something new.  New because it used to come easy to me but has become really really hard.  

This year, I will try to be positive.  Positive not only in my professional life (easy) but also in my personal one (hard as of late).  I will decide to not react to some things and to react in a different, more positive way to others.  I will be kinder to myself and not immediately assume fault.  I will look to the many wonderful things in my life when others seem not-so-great. I will try not to think of those that I love as assholes even when they are acting like one. 

I will try.