Vacation…

“You and the kids should come to Florida with us.”

“You’re Crazy” I replied, time and time again.

She even said it after our night in a hotel in Paris when I snored like a trucker.

(Note: If you’re a single, good-looking, rich man who reads my blog…please treat the above statement as an exaggeration or typo. I, in fact, do NOT snore.)

Actually, what she said was, “If you come to Florida with us you’ll get your own room!” Then followed it up with, “As far away from mine as possible!”

You see, Crazy and her husband own a rental vacation home just down the road from Disney. And, much as it sounded absolutely blissful to join my best friend and her family for a holiday in a place I absolutely love, in reality…I just couldn’t pull it off. With sports and school, a mortgage and bills…it wasn’t happening despite the fact they have a pool, a hot tub and room for twelve…a “Super Target” just around the corner and fabulous places to eat and outlet shop…a big community clubhouse and pool in their gated community along with Universal, Water Parks, Sea World and Disney just moments away! And, the fact that I settled The Tall Blonde in France last year and she’s off on one adventure after the next and I’d dearly love to have a trip with the two younger ones… the reality…I just couldn’t swing it.

That didn’t stop Crazy from mentioning it a few more times.

And then, The Tall Blond went barreling down a ski hill and as much as she’s fine (with the exception of a sore neck and crooked nose) and was given a clean bill of health to return to Europe…it shook me to the core so much that when Crazy mentioned how much I needed a vacation, a rest and something to look forward to over the next few months while I finished my last semester at school…it didn’t sound so crazy anymore.

And I made my decision.

But not before I phoned my parents to say “I’m not being stupid am I?” because their opinion means more to me than you could possibly imagine and my father told me that “No, your mother and I don’t think you’re stupid, in fact, we think this will be great for you and the kids” following it up with “and by the way, we’re giving you the airline points.”

I’d hardly time to thank them before a whirlwind of Crazy’s husband booking flights and calling me with dates and times and information and another call saying he’d found tickets to a Pittsburgh/Tampa game for the very same week and a sudden need to quickly move on tickets and approval from my ex to take the kids on vacation and booking the flights and saying our thank you’s and OH MY GOD I’m taking the kids to Florida in April!!!

And going to an NHL game!!!

And I can’t begin to tell you how much I need this.

Or how awesome it was to see the look on my children’s faces when I told them we were going on a holiday with their friends.

And the laughter that erupted from Spiderman when I mentioned the hockey game.

And the sudden fear of knowing I need to get back to the gym to get in shape and lose some weight.

(And note: If you’re a single, good-looking, rich man who reads my blog…please treat the above statement as an exaggeration or typo. I, in fact, do NOT have to get back in shape or lose any weight.)

But I’m going to Florida. With one of my best friends, her hilarious husband and their two awesome kids.

And it seems, that Crazy knew exactly what I needed.

And turns out…she’s not so crazy after all.