"I'm Leaving on a Jetplane. . ."

Monday.
I'm going on a trip. 
By myself.
To North Carolina to visit my big sis. 
"Big" meaning 10 years older than me,
and that's the only thing "big" about her.
She's David, I'm Goliath.
Seriously, she's petite.
I missed those genes.

Since I've had kids, I can count on my fingers the number of times I've traveled alone.  Alone.  That's not a frequently used word in my vocabulary.  Us.  "Us" I'm used to.  I'm taking a shuttle to the airport.  That's a 4.5 hour drive.  Then I have a 2 hour wait until my flight leaves.  I'm flying for about 6 hours.  I'm counting the hours because I'm dreaming of all the time I'll have to read.  Read.  Read.  My problem: I can't decide which books to take!  I'm a nerd.  Actually, just sitting there, quietly staring off into space sounds pretty good, too.   

It's a little unbelievable for me to imagine so much uninterrupted time to just sit there, book in hand, not having to get up if I don't want to.  I am fully committed to taking complete advantage of the time I have to be alone . . . just me.  But always lingering in my mind is a mass amount of gratitude to my husband and mom for stepping in and handling things for a week.  And yes, of course I'll miss my kiddos (and two birthdays, Ben and Brig's).  But they're viewing this trip as a total vacation for them, too.  Movies, playstation, TV.  Things unheard of since school started.  They're minds are gonna be mush when I get home.  I just know it.

Besides all the great girl-time we'll have, I can't wait to have my hands free to play with her kids.  Go to their soccer games.  Read to them.  Love on them.  Go on walks with them.  Be the "cool" aunt because I have no other responsibilities.  I'm dying to take a drive around the Blue Ridge mountains.  See all of the fall colors.  Gosh, it's gonna be beautiful.  Breathtaking.  Living in the west, I miss all the foliage, all the trees.  I can't wait to take it all in.  My sister keeps telling me to make a list of all the things I want to do there.  And it's funny because I don't really care what we do.  I don't have an agenda.  I just want to be there, enjoying them.  Talking and visiting.  Wait, that's a lie.  I do want to see the scenery.  I want to know what western NC is like.  But besides that . . . 

As I am still camera-less (and that's not a good thing), I'm hoping for some miracle in the picture-taking department.  This is one trip that I'd love to document.  Being without a camera is pretty much torture to a camera-happy soul such as myself.  I've only got one thing on my list for Santa this year.  Can you guess what it is?  It costs about $900.  I hope Santa's rich this year . . . or buys on credit (kidding).