Come Away With Me...

I've been known to do crazy things now and then.

Like the time when I was eight years-old...I ran away from home. See, I wasn't very good at keeping it a secret and my younger brother and sister discovered I was going. I didn't want them to tell on me, so naturally, I took them along. We wandered around the neighborhood until we ended up at a corner 7-11. It was really crazy as I look back on it. I have the comfort of at least being able to say, "I was only eight!".

Not crazy enough?

How about the time when I was 18 and I almost ran away from home... See, saying, "I was only eighteen" isn't quite the same thing, is it. (Remainder of this story will stay undisclosed for now as I have children who might read this some day).

I like to be spontaneous. Lately, however, this has taken the form of waiting until the last minute to decide what vegetable to add to dinner. Not so exciting. As grown ups, especially grown ups with kids, we don't get the same freedom to drop everything and run away from home like we may desperately want to some days.

(Leaving all Mommy-guilt aside, you know you can relate to what I'm saying here.)

So, it may not be entirely spontaneous, but I have kept it largely a secret until just recently. I am running away from home! No excuses about age needed this time. (I can just point to the five kids and people knowingly nod in agreement.) I have a friend in Ohio who has invited me to come visit for five nights. She even bought me the plane ticket! Yeah, some planning was needed for this escape, but I still get to label it as completely crazy.

How can it be crazy? I carefully compromised dates for the trip with my husband so he could take the days off work. I am not putting my families finances in jeopardy, because someone else bought the ticket. All sounds pretty rational doesn't it?

Except...

I live in Phoenix. The sky today is clear and sunny and it's 66F out there right this second! This is winter heaven..or at least local tourist numbers suggest it is. And here I am about to head off to OHIO where right this moment it is 28F and they are expecting snow overnight. I only own, maybe, three pairs of long pants. Capris are my friends all winter long. I don't own boots or gloves or hats or scarves. I was born in this sunny city..While I have been in the snow for longer than a few hours before...It's been many years. Top it off, I will have to help drive while I'm visiting...and well..would you want to ride with me when it's snowing?

So, yup, completely nuts. And I am sooo excited to get to run away anyway! I'm borrowing boots and gloves and hats and scarves from my sister and I get to buy a couple pairs of pants and long sleeve shirts. And I plan to only drive if the roads are pretty clear. No sense in putting anyone's life in jeopardy. ooo I like Jeopardy! Great game show!.

ahem...back on topic....

Thanks to my sweet friend in Ohio and thanks to my sweet husband who even gets to home school for me! Thanks to my sister for the cold weather survival clothes.

I was looking over the last trip I shared with the blogosphere.. My trip to Seattle with my mom. I thought I should share pictures from my trip! Maybe I'll even get a few photos of Amish snow-topped buggies as we're planning a visit to Amish country. And next year, I'll invite my friend to Phoenix just to even the score..she can come with me to visit um...cactus!

So, tell your friends! Oshee is back and might even have Amish pictures on an upcoming post! Wooo hooo!!

So, come away with me..take your own mental break, whether you get it for an hour or a day. Let me know how you get away, without having to run away.