My first ever real vacation.

I've had a full-time job with benefits for four years now. This is something in my previous life (the one where I never thought I'd make it through college!) I never thought I'd have.

Year one - in 2008 - I didn't get vacation time. I had to make it through one year of employment before I could get paid vacation time.

Year two - in 2009 - I got part of the regular 10 days because I wasn't employed through the whole year of 2008. That year, however, I spent those vacation days on a cot in the PICU with Mitchell as he worked his way through the initial stages of his diagnosis of Type I diabetes. It was rough. It was not a vacation. I was newly pregnant and suffering from morning sickness, all the while camping out in a very uncomfortable room while my baby was hooked up to machines and unconscious most of the time. I also had to puke in a tiny, tiny bathroom that I wasn't even supposed to be using. They made an exception and turned their heads since I was in my first trimester. Coincidentally, I didn't yet know I was having twins. This was about two weeks before I discovered that little fact.

Year three - in 2010 - I had to use my full 10 days of vacation before I could start my disability pay for maternity leave. So I spent it hugely pregnant in bed, alone, in pain and suffering. Bed rest sounds great, but when you've got two huge babies incubating in your guts, it's not too pleasant.

Enter year four. I am pleased to announce that my kids are healthy, and I'm healthy. I knew this year I would get to spend my vacation however I wanted.

I figured I'd take one week in the spring and one in the fall and take off time from both jobs and just enjoy being home with no responsibilities. There was one thing I had to take care of this week, which is why I decided to take off, but it's been taken care of. So the rest of the time was devoted to me. I thought.

Monday, we had a slight panic over money. Everything turned out okay. It ended up being something that happened on the bank's end, but I had to spend the whole day trying to figure out how to handle it. It stunk.

Tuesday was a little better, but I was still trying to shuffle funds and figure out how to get back on track with the bank's mistake. Then I spent all day designing a budget to help us stay on track. The spreadsheet was awesome, if I might say so myself. Formulas and all. A thing of beauty. Yesterday I slept on and off until noon because I woke up with 102 fever. I was sweating through everything. I made it to the drug store to get NyQuil and load up on Red Box movies, but that was about it. Today, I'm feeling a little better and am hoping to salvage the last two days of vacation.

Though it sounds bogus, this is the best vacation I've ever had. I'm catching up on watching movies, I'm napping, I'm reading, I'm relaxing and I've even gotten all of our laundry done. The best part is not having to worry about work at all. And knowing I have another week to try to do this better in the fall. Vacationing is an art form, and I'm learning how to do it well.

Some day my vacations will be spent at the beach, or on a cruise ship. But for now, I'm enjoying getting this whole relaxing thing right. I was able to enjoy some great snuggles before starting my next to last vacation day this morning.

Me and my mini me