Reality Check

I'm not sure exactly when it hit me.

Maybe it was at the Starbucks in the Orlando International Airport when we were told they couldn't toast the bagel my husband and I were sharing. I mean, we've shared a toasted bagel at the Starbucks in the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort for the past 3 mornings.....and got a discount for being with Matco Tools....let's not break the trend just yet.

Maybe it was when the clouds parted in the sky and we opened our sleepy eyes to look out the little airplane window to see that snow had replaced all the green of the seemingly miniture landscape thousands of miles below.

Maybe it was when our waitress greeted us at the Applebees in St. Cloud for our lunch/supper stop on the way home. I couldn't even look at her. No waitress will ever be as adorable or as friendly as the one that served us poolside for 3 days in Orlando. I mean, really, how can anyone expect to be as good as someone who also works at Disney World as Snow White?

Maybe it was when the virus that my body had bravely been fighty off finally won and the near 10 hours of traveling home found me congested and coughing.

Maybe it was when my feverish, congested, coughing little boy wrapped his arms and legs around me in a welcome home hug.

Maybe it was when my little girl climbed into my lap and wouldn't let me get up.

Maybe it was when I did a horrible job of making my husband's favorite meal for his birthday. Homemade alfredo sauce is pretty boring without fresh garlic. That's what happens when you menu plan weeks in advance, I guess, and when you stick to a strict policy of "If we don't have it, we don't eat it. No more trips to the store."

Maybe it was when I had to clean up after the little boy who pooped in his undies for the second time today. (And on a side note, I often wonder if I should have anyone take a look at his....um.....stools. I mean, it's the weirdest consistency I've ever seen - and even though I didn't do patient care for an extended period of time, it was long enough to get a general idea.)

Maybe it just slowly happened over all of the above.

But either way, after a great, albeit short, vacation/business trip to Orlando, I've crashed back to reality and have the worst case of post-vacation blues I've had since visiting the husband in California during the Marine Corps years.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy to be with my kids again. The first morning of our trip after I sent my husband off for training on diagnostic tools, I went for a walk along Shingle Creek with the alligators. (I didn't actually see any, but there were signs everywhere warning me and apparently Shingle Creek is the headwaters of the everglades). The lighting was horrifically stark so I really didn't get any pictures that I would admit to taking. Along my walk less than 24 hours after saying good bye to the kids, I already missed them and was a bit unsure of how to walk without pushing a stroller. But a Tool Expo is something I would never take young kids, too...or even older kids for that matter.

I'm not entirely sure just why this trip was so great. I mean, the last time my husband and I traveled out of state.....well, I'm not a shy person......we conceived twins. And I haven't been somewhere warm during the winter for even longer than that. Even though I've been very commited to smiling and not-complaining my way through this never ending winter, it was so great to be somewhere sunny and 80+ degrees.

Maybe it was the bonding with our district, getting to know the other distributers in our area and their wives.

Maybe it was the near 15 hours I logged in at the pool.

Maybe it was because I was just so proud of the husband for making it into the Top 200 distributors of the nation.

Maybe it was the great service, the beautiful resort, the good food.......

Either way, I'll never forget our first Matco Tools Expo.

Now back to reality.  Where's my snow shovel?