Go, us!
Ten straight days of togetherness, and we survived it. Six out of seven of us even enjoyed it!
I will undoubtedly get around to blogging more about our once-in-a-lifetime Disney cruise to Alaska.
The beauty.
The wonder.
The way we convinced our kids that taking pictures standing outside on a windy, freezing ship deck in the middle of glacierful Alaska is worthwhile, enjoyable,
and crazy fun.
But, for now, just a quick update to say, “We’re home!” and to tell you about the thing I miss the most.
The Disney Cruiseline Facebook page, which I OF COURSE follow (doesn’t everyone?), occasionally posts questions like: When you come home from a Disney Cruise, what do you miss the most?
Hundreds of people answer: The food! The kids’ clubs! The wait staff! Room service!
And I love all of those things. I do, I do. But, honestly, I also love sleeping in my own bed and getting my kids back to a routine, so I always have a difficult time answering that question. What do I miss the most?
Well, we’ve been home for 24 hours, and I feel like I have my answer.
We arrived home last night just before 9:00pm after an 11-hour roadtrip.
(Which I realize is nothing compared to my friend Heidi’s Oregon-to-Georgia-and-back roadtrip with her kids and her silly, can-do attitude. Or Carina’s east-coast roadtrip with her even littler kids and her equally silly, can-do attitude. But I’m a whiner, and we were tired. And it was 11 hours. And we were tired.)
(Tired, I tell you.)
To be fair, we weren’t hungry. (Good grief. After cruising, we should never eat again.)
But we were a little bit, completely sick of each other. Impatient. Crabby. Ready to be done. He-poked-me!-But-she-hit-me-first! done.
Greg and I put the kiddos to bed, and they fell asleep in record time.
I unpacked nothing except my toothbrush and face wash. There was no energy left for my usual luxury items like deoderant and shampoo. I apologized to the rest of my body parts and told my teeth and face that they were going to have to carry the clean banner for everyone else. It was a lot of pressure, but they said they’d do their best.
Unfortunately, as I squeezed my face wash into my hand, I realized that the past 10 days of cruise travel did nothing to prepare me to come back home. No. I’m afraid to say, in my time away, I became accustomed to the high life.
Lavishness. Extravagance. Opulence.
In a word…
Washcloths.
As I stood there last night staring at the glob of face wash in my palm, I realized I lost the joy of washing as I used to do, by scrubbing my hands onto my bare flesh and then splashing water about until the slippery soap disappears. Blindly groping for a towel that I didn’t locate before soaking my eyes in runny make-up and astringent face cleaners. Grabbing the closest piece of cloth-like material from off my dirty bathroom floor and hoping that whatever’s on it isn’t as bad as whatever’s leaching into my eyes.
I longed for a bright, white, clean, soft bit o’ cloth sitting conveniently next to my immaculate, stateroom sink. Waiting… no, begging… me to soak it in hot water, breathe in its mild bleach-and-fabric-softener scent, and color it foundation-orange, lipstick-pink and mascara-black.
A wash cloth I could use, abuse, and then toss into the shower only to find it replaced, dry and folded, by the sink the next day.
A magical, fresh, self-replenishing washcloth.
A spotless, unsoiled, daily miracle.
One week ago, we sailed on the Disney Wonder.
And today I can tell you what I miss the most.
Sigh.
It was a Wonder-ful trip, indeed.
(Washcloth, if you’re reading this, call me. XOXO.)
8 responses to “Vacation & The Thing I Miss The Most”
Yes! Just got home from a trip where we stayed in a lovely hotel and ate out for every meal. And I must agree – automatically renewing towels and washcloths are the BEST! Although, no dishes to wash ranks right up there too. ::sigh:: Re-entry to normal life after vacation is the pits.
Sounds like a spectacular trip (although I wish there had been a way to meet you from our new Anchorage location), and I’m right there with you on the washcloth. I love the fact that I don’t have to clean this temporary apartment when I move out – that’s what cleaning deposits are for. I just had to comment today, so I’d also have a chance to tell you that our new house comes with a family of six kids next door with … wait for it… 4-year old twin boys! I’m looking forward to Hazel learning all sorts or new boy topics. : )
ps: pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease have Heidi tell me about her Oregon-Georgia roadtrip (since that’ll be exactly what we’re planning on doing, well via NC and Chicago,and the other way around, but still), because I really want to hear ALL about that! When? Why? How? WHY? WHY? (you know, the usual 😉 )
Yeah, it’s always nice when somebody else does the wash. Or at least that’s what I suppose. I’m not bitter. Much.
Good to have you back, and I can’t wait to hear more, and see more pics!
haha! my fave part was “breathe in its mild bleach-and-fabric-softener scent, and color it foundation-orange, lipstick-pink and mascara-black.” that there’s gold, my friend. welcome home!
welcome home! so glad you’re back, already had a good chuckly reading the above, missed you stories 🙂 (also: can’t wait to see forementioned picture of the cart 😉 )
can’t believe I typed ‘chuckly’… well, there you have it my friend, your longed-after grammatical error! (I won’t tell you it was actually a typo, okay? 😉 )
This post is begging for Dave’s picture of the housekeeping cart permanently parked outside your door. It was positioned between the doors of your connecting rooms so much of the time that he had ample opportunity for a photo, which he has. (More than one, actually).