Things are Good and It's Freaking Me Out

I just made a reservation to board my dog because I am taking a trip.

A real trip.

A trip that requires taking an airplane to a city I’ve never visited before and staying in a hotel for five days (five days!).

Airplane rides and corresponding hotel stays have happened only four times previously in my entire life, and the last time was five years ago. That time I went east. This time I am going west.

As of right now, the farthest west I have ever been is Waconia, Minnesota, and since I live in Minneapolis, that is not really very far west at all. But in two weeks my Ho and I will be taking a trip to Seattle, and THAT is about as far west as a person can go and still be in the country.

My fabulous cousin Tiffany (the eldest of my sister-cousins) lives in Seattle, and we will be seeing her while we are there. Tiffany happens to have a friend who works for the Seattle Mariners, who happen to be hosting my kinda stinky but nonetheless beloved Minnesota Twins in a three-game series at the VERY SAME TIME that we will be there. What an amazing coincidence.

Mmmmmm. Outdoor baseball.

Now Tiff will be able to stop complaining that no one in the family ever comes to visit her.

While I am touring the space needle and smiling at the harbor seals on Puget sound, the Demigoddesses will be at sleep-away camp, thanks to their grandma (the one who is not my mother, and who is much, MUCH nicer than her son). She not only volunteered to pay for the Demis to go to camp, where they will have such a wonderful time swimming and riding horses that they won't even notice that I am on the other side of the continent, but she also will be handling the two-hour round trip that will deliver my children to said camp. She is an exceptionally kind ex-mother-in-law.

Even knowing all of this good stuff, however, up until Saturday afternoon, I was having some anxiety because money is still a little bit tight. The agreement that my ex and I recently came to has not been signed and filed yet, so I was not counting on anything from him until everything was officially in place. And even though there are frequent flyer miles being used, and my Ho appears to have magical powers when it comes to finding bargain travel arrangements, I was worried about fitting such a flagrant extravagance into my budget. But when I came home from my shift at Old Navy on Saturday, there was a check from the ex in my mailbox. I had to read it three times to comprehend what I was seeing.

I went directly to the bank and deposited that check. Then I went to Costco and bought new glasses for Demigoddess the Elder, who has been wearing broken frames for over a year. After that, we went to my Ho’s house to watch the baseball game, during which I told him about the check, and about the glasses, and while I was telling him that now, not only will I be able to take our Seattle trip without guilt, but I will also be able to give Demigoddess the Younger a nice birthday next month, out of NOWHERE I broke down and started to bawl.

Sometimes the relief just sneaks up on you like that.