I have been on hiatus for about six months now. I got really overwhelmed and started feeling guilty about spending any time at the computer if it wasn’t for work. I ended up working 28 hours straight for the first time ever shortly before we left for Florida. So, naturally I was pretty exhausted to start our trip and then I ended up working more while we were on the trip than I really wanted to. I started feeling kind of sorry for myself, telling my husband, “my dad never had to work while we were on vacations.” Granted, technology wasn’t what it is now and he may have just come home to an absolute nightmare when we got back. While we were on the trip, I heard from the in-house position and had an in-person interview scheduled for when we got back from vacation. I just knew that was what I wanted and that life would be so much easier if I had an in-house position. Zach said he was sure I’d get the job, but he wasn’t sure that I would like losing the independence I’d had for so long. Outside of my pity parties I threw myself about work, we had a great trip. Most of the family considers it the best vacation we’ve had so far.

We stayed in Birmingham, AL the first night. I got up and took two of the kids to mass at Cathedral of St. Paul. It was gorgeous. My daughter felt out-of-place because everyone dresses up for mass way more there than we are used to at home. We’re more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of parish, but down south people dress up a lot more for church. After mass, we left and headed to Valdosta, Georgia, stopping at Ocmulgee Mounds national historical park on the way. It was pretty hot, so we didn’t explore as much as I would have liked, but the kids thought what we saw was neat. The hotel in Valdosta had a saltwater pool, which was a nice way to let the little boys burn off some energy.

The next day we headed to our Airbnb in Key Largo. It rained a lot of the drive and we hit Miami at rush hour, so we were pretty worn out by the time we got to the house but we went grocery shopping. I was able to find dragon fruit, which is my absolute favorite, but it cannot survive in Missouri apparently. The first full day at the Airbnb was a “rest day,” where I hadn’t planned anything. We did some shopping and checked out a swimming beach that was a bit disappointing (it looked like the lake back home, but with salt-water).

The next day I woke everyone up super early and we left the house at 4:00am, so that we could make it to Key West to get on a boat to Dry Tortugas National Park. I don’t think anyone except me was super excited about a 14 hour day, but it ended up being a favorite of the trip. The beach there was like nothing we had ever seen with the white sand and teal water. It was amazing! The older kids and my husband and I enjoyed the snorkeling and my youngest son enjoyed swimming and looking for rocks (he didn’t like wearing goggles). The only downside came the next day when we realized we had not properly applied sunscreen, so my husband and oldest son were very sunburned. The rest of us were less-burned, but still definitely had too much son. So, we made the next day another “rest day.”

We also went on a boat tour through Biscayne National Park and did an airboat tour through the Everglades. While we were in Florida, we went to mass at the St. Justin the Martyr Catholic church in Key Largo. It was among the shortest masses I’ve ever attended, but the church was beautiful and had a nice beachy sort of flare to it. It also had wild chickens running around.  

Other than my work stresses, it was a lovely trip and I’m glad we got to take it. While we were gone, I found out my probate paralegal was taking another job, which I thought was just another sign that the in-house position was going to be the best thing.