Planning ahead for fun things – vacations, mostly – keeps my mind busy and focused on the good stuff that lies ahead.

I’m going to turn 40 this year, so are a number of my closest friends.  One of them and I are heading to Disney World together this Fall for the Food and Wine Festival.  It is a guaranteed good time!  Right now we’re trying to sort out the restaurants we want to eat at; since we’re on the dining plan we want to make the most of it, so we need to get the restaurants figured out so we can book them in April.  I will have some time to myself next week, so I’ll have that on my ‘to do’ list.

Rob and I are taking the baby on a short vacation this summer and I’ve started to plan for that. We’re going to Maine. It’ll just be a few days but we can hike, go out on the water, let her play outside and just enjoy the good (hopefully good) weather.

I have to start planning for Emily’s 2^nd birthday this June.  I can’t believe she’s going to be 2; although there are times that I look at her and I think to myself “she looks like she’s 6 or 7 already” let alone how old she acts sometimes.  She’s tall for her age, smart, started speaking in sentences the other night – short ones but still – and sometimes it feels like 6 years since I brought her home.  The difficult thing about a June birthday is that the weather can go one of two ways here in NJ – beautiful and sunny or ridiculously hot and sunny.  Makes planning a birthday party for some 2 year olds difficult.

I also have to keep the Dominican on my radar, too. We might be going on a big family trip with his parents and siblings towards the end of the year, which would be nice especially if we were able to go around his birthday.  

Next year, I think I may go to Ireland, as long as I have the funds to do it.  My mom always wanted to go there.  Ireland and Italy were her big ones and unfortunately, she never got to either of them. So I am thinking about trying to go for her birthday next year.  Not sure if I can swing it, or if that’s a place I want to go by myself; Rob and I have talked about going and hiking/backpacking there but it doesn’t mean I can’t make a trip on my own.  I might see if my sister would be up to going with me.  We used to go to New England once a year together and we haven’t done it in many years; the last time we went up to Vermont it was a trip we took our mom on.  I think my mom would be happy if we both went to Ireland for her birthday, but I’m not so sure if my sister would go without her husband.

If I don’t go to Ireland, I need to find somewhere to go next year.  I think we should each take one trip a year solo; this year I’m doing two since he’s taking such a big trip this summer with his son.  I should make a list of the places I would like to go, or revisit – Ireland, Italy (my mom always said she wanted to see Pompeii before it got buried again and Venice before it sunk), there’s a part of my brain that’s saying “Bali, that would be nice”, Tahiti – I MUST go back there, Hawaii (I really want to see an active volcano up close), Alaska, Seattle again, Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens again, not sure where else.  Oh, Arizona or New Mexico. And Montana. Ever since I saw “Legends of the Fall” I’ve wanted to go there. (sure I’d like to find a young Brad Pitt lookalike but really, it does look beautiful)

It’s funny that I can think of my mom’s birthday next year and not feel sad, but when I think of the one that is coming in a few weeks it totally changes my mood.  I guess my brain is assuming that next year’s birthday will be much easier than this one.  Boy do I hope my brain is right and it’s not just lying to me. I hate when that happens.