Rodents

One of the things that disturbed me about the car from yesterday's trip was evidence of rodent presence. Speaking of rodents, I am getting ready to see a big mouse. You guessed it--we are going to Disney World. You might be wondering how this happened. I still find myself wondering, too.

Several months ago, the planning began for the Alaskan in-laws to make their way to the lower 48. They were going to make their way to our area, but that soon changed. For various reasons, they decided on Orlando. Fast-forward through months of flip-flopping over whether we would take on this adventure. If the decision had been mine alone, we would be staying home. This does not mean the trip is a bad idea. I tend to get a bit nervous about travel, and my worries can take over. Knowing that my natural inclination is to remain at home, and the fact that this is an event involving his family, a bit more of the decision-making process went to Brucie. We talked about it more than a few times. At one point, one of the only things that excited him about the idea of this trip was taking along our nephew. For a couple of months, he said we were not going. He had not let anyone else know, but that was where he stayed with the decision on most days. By mid-December, I had begun to think we would be staying home. Obviously, he changed his mind.

Now, my Brucie does not love a surprise. If he buys a gift for someone, he wants to present it immediately. He will tell you the end of a movie or book, and hopes you will do the same for him. I knew that telling a six-year-old about a trip to Disney World months and months in advance would not be a good decision. I also knew that things could change, and if the trip did not happen, we would be glad we had not told our Robuddy. Once Brucie decided we would go, he wanted to share the news. When we volunteered for New Year's Eve duty, I figured that would be the right time.

At first Robuddy expressed concern about being away from his mom for so long. We talked about the different ways he could stay in touch during the trip, and he felt better. While my sister is excited for him, she is feeling a bit nervous about their separation, and wishes she could go, too.

The denial defense mechanism has been running amok, but reality has been breaking through. The next two days are going to be busy. The packing and laundry are well underway. If I think the temperature differential is difficult for us to determine, I can just imagine what the Alaskans are going through.