Travel

Well Hell…

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

I don’t even know where to begin, other than to say I should be studying and reading about Writing Across the Curriculum until my eyes bleed and brain explodes since I have a literature review due in one week and we are leaving for vacation on Monday and the paper is a minimum of 10 pages.  I have thus far read 23 articles of varying length (4-25 pages each) and have about 10 more to read, plus I have 3-4 books to overview (skim) to also include in the review.  This task is one that has kept me from blogging recently.  That and the immense guilt I feel when I am doing something completely unrelated to the task at hand.

But, did I mention we are going on vacation?  A real family vacation.  As in just us four.  I am looking forward to it.  We are going to Orlando and are staying most of our stay at the Nick Hotel.  I am looking forward to a vacation and Noah is looking forward to Disney World.  Yes, I know he is too young (not even 3 yet–but he’s super close to it).  But that is the beauty of it.  We don’t have to pay for either of the kids because they are under 3 and Bill’s never been to Disney World.  He grew up in LA and has been to Disney Land, but this will be a new experience for him.  And to get to see it through their eyes will be awesome.

What else is going on over here?  I have been applying like crazy for jobs.  Interviews will probably start in April for the most part.  The application deadline for many of them was this week and then they will most likely weed out people and then interviews should start.  I did interview twice with one district and they will be calling folks back at the end of the month for third interviews at the building level.  I am just not looking forward to this whole process.  I am going to a teacher job fair on Friday after work and it’s just pure torture.  But I am still more than ever ready to go back to work.  So, we’ll see what happens.  It’ll all work out the way it should.  I hope.

Tomorrow is the day that acceptance letters are mailed out by the two schools that we applied to for Noah.  I am nervous and excited to see where he was accepted and to see what our financial aid award might be.  This is harder than when I was waiting to see if I got into college when I finally decided to go back.  I will certainly be posting here when I know for sure.

Oh, and as far as bad mother of the year goes.  I forgot to lock the screen door–Noah has become quite the escape artist.  He likes to go outside and come back in.  So we were all playing in the backroom today–he and Zoë were chasing each other and I was the ending spot in the backroom.  They ran back and forth a few times and then they stayed up front–which isn’t odd as there are toys everywhere in this house.  I was petting the dogs and could hear Zoë screaching and laughing.  Then another minute or two goes by and I hear the door open.  I run up front and Noah is yelling proudly “I’m back” and I am thinking Back, where the hell did you go and how did I not know? He proceeds to tell me that “The nice man helped me open the door to come back in.”  Needless to say I flip out.  I yell a little at him–because I am so mad at myself for leaving the door unlocked.  I am freaking out that I had no idea he was outside and that some “man” helped him.  It turned out that man was our neighbor who has kids and one of them is Noah’s age, but still.  It could have gone so wrong and I would have no one to blame but myself.

It really is/was one of those moments that you question  yourself.  I would never forgive myself if anything had happened to him.  I am still a little shaken up and I cried with him. He just doesn’t understand and how could I expect him to.  He is not yet 3.  So, let me just say it wasn’t one of my finer moments.  But he is safe and sound and the doors are locked.

A brief year of exercise update–I have made it to the gym everyday this month except for 3 days (in a row) because I had hurt my lower back.  But I am pretty impressed with myself so far.  Oh and where we are staying in Orlando has a gym. I’ll be working out there too.

What I Learned On Vacation

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 8 Comments

I just want to preface this by saying that I am extremely grateful for my mother’s generosity and fully appreciate the time my kids got to have with their uncles and my mom.  That being said…

Taking two small children on a 9 day adventure is not my idea of a vacation.  Not in any uncertain terms was it a vacation.  I think part of my problem as well as my husbands was that we had really high expectations for this trip.  We were really excited.  Neither of us fully appreciated what it is to travel with two small children.  I have to say that Noah and Zoë did awesome.  They were perfect on the plane flights all 9 hours of flying on 3 different planes.  But it was exhausting.  Zoë is a spark plug and wanted to be played with the entire time we were on the plane.  She is a busy little girl and loves to play. 

But being away from home is hard.  Especially for little ones who thrive on routines.  Neither napped much on the trip–as we had to drive every where we went.  
I have learned that 5 days is the absolute longest my children can happily be away from home. 
I also learned that it isn’t worth it to lug a pack-n-play for them to sleep is as they will both sleep with us.  unde
I learned that family won’t always step up to help you out.
I learned that neither of my brothers are parent material.
I learned that my son loves the ocean.
I learned that I don’t need to pack so much.
I now understand that there really is no vacation from being a parent.
I learned that staying in a resort is the way we will travel from now on.
I understand that I have to make sure the places we vacation are actually kid friendly (St. Maarten–not kid friendly)
I understand that a vacation with kids really isn’t a vacation. 
I learned that you can’t let someone else plan your vacation if you want it to work for you.
I learned that kids shouldn’t board an airplane after 7pm for a flight.
I learned that I love my husband and that he is amazing. 

There are so many other things that this trip taught me.  I am still tired–as I didn’t really get a chance to relax.  I am happy to be home and our new bathroom is amazing.  It still needs a little work–we have drywall to mud and sand, then prime and paint, but everything else is done and it is fricking amazing.  I’ll post pics of that when we are done. 

Ready For Home

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

After 8 nights away from house and home, I am ready to get on a plane with my two children (who have reached their vacation limit) and get home.  We leave today around 4pm and have to spend the night in Chicago before we actually get to arrive home tomorrow morning.  I am ready.  It has been an awesome trip–but not really a vacation w/two kids under age 3 who really can’t take advantage of all this island has to offer. 

Noah did get to go on his first pony ride and he loved it.  Zoë on the other hand hasn’t gotten to do much except some swimming, playing in the sand and getting eaten by mosquitos.  She is also ready to go home. 

Today Very Well Could Be The Coolest Day Of My Life

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 11 Comments

I got to swim with sharks today and it was fucking awesome.  I am pretty sure this is the coolest thing I have ever done and I am pretty sure I will be hard pressed to top it. 

How Much Family Is Too Much Family?

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

asks the woman who is on vacation with her entire immediate family–sans dad and stepmom.  It’s great but it is also very stressful–we have a lot of strong personalities. 

SCUBA!!!!!!!!!!!  I love scuba.  I am one dive away from being a certified open water diver and I cannot wait.  I have been down on three dives and have mastered all of my necessary skills.  It’s awesome and I love it.  I haven’t taken any pictures yet–as I didn’t want to take my camera while I was working on skills.  I will be taking it Thursday afternoon on the shark dive–which will serve as my final certification dive.  I am so excited.  I will post pics of that. 

Off for more family fun time.  St. Maarten is gorgeous.  You all should come here.