Jenn and I have friends who are jetting out of Decatur and heading to the beach. The first week of December. I mean the family just left a few days ago from Thanksgiving celebrations., right? The house is finally cleaned after the melee. The holiday decorations are out, the tree is in the stand, the Elf on the shelf rules the mornings.

There are receipts to collect from day care and doctors offices. There are last minute projects at the house/office that need to be completed before the end of the year. The car needs to be serviced and needs new tires. Leaves!! So much raking needs to be done.

And they are going to the beach …

Brilliant!! I am glad to be surrounded by friends smarter than I.

Let me count the ways this actually makes sense:

The grandparents are in town, they can watch the kids
Thanksgiving can be stressful, its time for a quick pressure release
Christmas is right around the corner and can be stressful
It just turned cold, and a bit of sun and warmth is a good reminder of fun times to come
It is a good forcing function to get some family chores done
It has been a long year, and we have not had as much couples time as planned
It is a great time to evaluate the year
It is a great time to plan out the coming month
Everybody else just completed their travel, so it is not crowded or super expensive
The best books of the year lists are out … now you have some time to read one

This type of trip did not get factored into our yearly vacation budget. And next year’s is going to be pretty depleted after trips to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and Kenya in the summer.

But maybe Jenn and I need to discuss this for next year … what do we need to sacrifice to make this happen?

If only we had a few days at the beach to discuss at our leisure…