What I Learned On My Summer Vacation

I wrote this on our trip to Maine this summer and saved it to Word with the intention of sharing this with you. I had so much fun there! Lots has happened since then that I want to tell you. My life is crazy right now but I have good intentions of getting back into this world of blogging. Maybe I'll be better at following through! At the moment I am taking an evening college theology course, working a 3 1/2 week temporary full time job to help out a friend and running a nonprofit that is expanding its territory across the nation, while directing a chapter of my Bible study here in my hometown. It's crazy-busy!!! But, I miss you guys.

This vacation was a hoot, though...before all of this activity. A total hoot! Here's my "term paper" LOL:

My family and I recently spent time together vacationing at Acadia National Park…a delightful park making up a large portion of Mount Desert Island, Maine. Besides the fact that I’d NEVER been that far Northeast so the whole “harbor town” and “lobster 24/7” was new to me, I managed to learn a few things while we were camping.

I learned to let myself be old. Oh, I know that’s socially incorrect,(old=bad, right?) but with vacationing comes an attitude – a relaxed “Who cares?” kind of attitude…and it’s a good thing that this attitude had permeated my system by the time I woke up old. Yes, you read that right. There aren’t a lot of mirrors around when you’re camping in a tent (Hallelujah!), so this may have happened sooner, but a few days into our trip we were on a dock in Bar Harbor (Baa Hah Buh to the Eastern locals) watching the lobstermen empty their traps. I slipped into the public restroom at the end of the dock, and while washing my hands, I glanced at my reflection….YIKES!!!! No, not because I was such a fright! (hmph!) I had sun spots (albeit, age spots) on both sides of my face. Let me rephrase that…I had sun spots that had huddled so close together that they were almost two blotches with a few flesh colored holes that covered each cheek. No joking. Being in the vacationing frame of mind, I shrugged my shoulders and thought that I’d have to purchase the fade cream I had heard about but never needed. Hmmm….

I learned to let myself be young. Okay, I always let myself act this way. ;) But, we did a whole lot of playing as a family. Gosh, I really fall in love with my husband and children all over again when we get this time to play together and see them at their playful best!

I learned that some people are drawn to me and my personality. I don’t say this to sound arrogant. You’re probably the same way if you’re outgoing. J My husband was always amazed at how long I took every morning in the bathroom facilities, but almost EVERY MORNING Bridgette and I would meet an interesting woman from a different state or province of Canada and get to talking or meet up with somebody we had met previously and catch up! And, when we’d go to other places…the same thing; what is it about women and bathrooms that makes it so easy to chat?

I learned that not everybody is drawn to me and my personality. Again, I don’t say this to sound arrogant. I always knew that not everyone loves me. I get it. I was just REMINDED. ;) I've previously told you in other posts throughout the years that I was a storyteller. I have a voracious love of reading, extreme-amateur photography, and listening to music. So, I always have some kind of story idea, photo op or song playing in my head at all times. (It’s pretty noisy in this head of mine!) Actually, I usually have one particular song playing in my head. Mostly, because my kids found out I was singing it one day and thought it was such a stupid/funny song from the past (“That’s Not MyName” by the Ting Tings). Actually, it’s one my friend Cathy always chants. But, it’s contagious. So…I was making breakfast at camp on our camp stove, cracking eggs, oven mitt on…and, of course when I saw my kids watching me bee-bop to the song in my head and grinning, I had to put on worthy performance (that always gets me in trouble, btw…).

I started singing into my spatula like a microphone, changing the lyrics to pertain to me:

“They call me her,

They call me Pinky…

That’s not my name, That’s not my name…

They call me Momma, they call me P-Dog “

(NOTE: our friend Bart was a youth pastor and thought it was funny to call me P-Dog instead of Pennie)

“That’s not my name, That’s not my name…”

Well, the kids were ROFL as I vine stepped into my hubby, who  I didn’t hear walk up behind me (He is never as impressed with this immature side of me as the kids are…. Sigh.)

And then he reminded me that it was EARLY in the morning and that “P-Dog should keep it down until the neighboring campers are up.”

Oh, yeah. He was totally right.

Oops!!!!

I learned that things aren't always what them seem...some even make a great story! Okay….guilty on this one, too…I’ve known this for quite a while. Travelling with my family is enjoyable. We’re a fun group. I guess I am voted Queen Clown.

There were no showers at the campground we stayed at. (I hate that!) So, we had to find a pay-to-shower place. (All National Parks have some place like that real close to their exit to make a few bucks, it seems.) The showers were little (I do mean LITTLE) rooms with a shower & changing area, and place to put your toiletries and of course the slots for the quarters! ($2 for 4 minutes/10 gallons of hot water….amazing , but 4 minutes does the trick!)  The showers were co-ed, which didn’t bother me because they were all their own separate stalls. After I showered , I brought my stuff to this little room where Mike and this other person (couldn’t tell if the person was a teenage boy or girl?) were preening in front of the sinks and mirror/counter. Mike and I conversed a little while he finished his shaving and then just when I was going to take his spot (there was only room for two at the mirrors), Aaron swooped right in, from out of nowhere, and took my spot!!!

I looked at my pretentious little teenager and said, “Aaron!”

Mike told Aaron that I had been waiting for that spot and it wasn’t very nice to muscle me out like that.

Aaron looked kind of patronizingly at me and said, “Well, Mom, this IS the Men’s Room!”

The boy (now I knew it was a teenage BOY!) next to Aaron looked at me, eye to eye. *Gulp!*

I grabbed my stuff, and laughing, ran out of the “little room” that I did see was clearly marked “Men’s Room.”

I ran into the Women’s Room and plopped my stuff next to Bridgette, laughing.

Seeing me laughing with a twinkle in my eye, she asked “What did you do?”

Laughing, I told her…and the lady from Australia next to her listened in….

….and we took WAY TOO LONG having a jolly old time: Bridgette, me and our new friend from Australia….in the Women’s Room.

Let me tell you ladies, it’s way more fun in the Women’s Room than the Men’s!

(That’s probably the main lesson I learned on my summer  vacation.)

Bwahahaahahhahhahhahahaha….Funny, but true!!!

And, of course, we took an obscenely (no pun intended) long time in the ladies room because we were chatting with our new friend, and our boys were waiting in the parking lot. And when we got to the car Mike looked at me and said, "So, you took awfully long in there? Who did you meet this time?" And, with a twinkle in his eye he said, "You didn't go back in the men's room to meet more friends, did you?"

What a brat!