It's the journey, not the destination.

"Focus on the journey, not the destination.  Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."

I'm beginning to see the wisdom of not planning a vacation or anything else for that matter.  Because as I've always heard, "We plan. God laughs."  We think we have so much control of life and yet we really don't. 

Our vacation started yesterday and right now I should be writing from somewhere in the Carolinas.  But that "plan" wasn't meant to be.  After taking in the car for a "quick" oil change, we realized the cruise control was broken.  This might not seem important, but in a family of "lead foots" (I'm not naming names), it is critical.  We quickly realized that we wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

As I've already stated, I'm a bit of a control freak, but I'm trying to change that.  I'm not going to deny that my initial reaction was a bit negative, but I quickly discovered the wisdom of reminding myself that it's not the destination....and I made good use of my Lamaze breathing from the boys' births.

So, while we didn't cover very many miles yesterday, we did cover some fun and adventurous ground.  Joe helped me set up our blog, convinced me to actually use Twitter and even got me to set up a Tumblr account.  We worked on some calculus and chemistry so he wouldn't get behind in his online classes.  Wes and I watched our favorite math teacher on DVD and laughed hysterically as his history teacher dressed up as Princess Olga from Russia.  It should have noted that his history teacher is a man.  Garland ran errands.  Now I know this is strange, but he really loves to run errands and found it relaxing.  And now we have all sorts of "extras" to make the trip more fun.

At the end of our first day of vacation, we found ourselves at home and I convinced them that the kitchen was officially "closed."  So we had an indoor picnic and watched the X-Factor.  It wasn't where we were supposed to be...and yet it was the perfect place.

Just Getting Started

Having never blogged before, this should be an interesting way to begin.  Just trying to take a vacation has been a major undertaking, but we finally found a week on the calendar and then decided to try something new...a vacation without planning.

Those of you who know me are probably realizing the irony of this already.  I'm a planner...of everything.  So, how does a type-A personality like me get herself into this mess?  Well, I was convinced by my family that this would be a much less stressful way to take a vacation.  We'll just get in the car and go.  It sounded so simple and calm.  I was lulled into the beauty and simplicity of it.  Here we go....our "Magical Mystery Tour" begins today.  Where will we go?  What will we do?  Where will we stay?  It's a leap of faith.  Let's see where it leads.