Smarty Pants is in...let's check my itinerary...Skagway, Alaska aboard the Coral Princess Cruise ship. Yay me. If you want a sneak peek of my vacation, you can check in on me with the ship's bridge cam: http://webcam.princess.com/webcam/coral_bridge.jpg. Hopefully I haven't over-turned my kayak whalewatching or been chased by bears. I'm hoping to be happily filled with lots of food and still glowing from my hot stone massage.
What's the occasion, you ask? Well, I'd love to say that I sold and am treating myself, but alas, it is a celebration for my college roommate - we'll call her Dr. Brilliant. She has graduated from medical school with a 4.0. She's a complete brainiac - makes me look dense. Anyway, she's finished school and we're taking a cruise to celebrate before she starts her residency at Stanford. My other college friend, Baby Nurse, got into the UCLA nursing program (which is NO small feat considering how few people they accept each year). She's now able to turn her RN into a BS in Nursing. She's currently working as a pediatric nurse (hence her name), but this will give her a big boost careerwise.
I wish I had something great to celebrate, but getting an awesome deal on airfare was enough of a triumph for me. So Baby Nurse, Dr. Brilliant and I, along with a few of Dr. Brilliant's family members are hitting Alaska in celebration.
This, along with my 10 year high school reunion coming up next year, has made me think a lot about being that age and how much has changed since then. I remember Dr. Brilliant and I getting completely drunk our freshman year. I remember the three of us freezing our tails off sleeping in a cardboard box for homeless awareness. I remember us doing shots of tequila playing Operation and going to the local coffee shop to watch our friend play guitar. It seems like a million years ago and at the same time, like yesterday.
Those crazy people shouldn't be adults yet. Dr. Brilliant is a DOCTOR! My college roommate, after all the silly things we've done, will have someone's life in her hands! She could deliver my baby someday. That just seems wrong. The same with Baby Nurse and all my other friends. One is an elementary school teacher going on her 6th year of 3rd grade students. A guy I went to high school with is a lawyer, another an architect. Sure, there are plenty of them that are probably waiting for their big promotion to head fry cook as well, but it still feels weird to have adult friends you knew when they were kids.
I still feel like a kid, although all signs are pointing otherwise. I own my own home and have been romantically committed for almost 5 years. Dr. Brilliant is engaged. Baby Nurse has been dating the same pediatric surgeon for 5 years. My best friend Boo Boo is getting married July 1st. Kids will inevitably follow. Life is progressing, although in my mind, I'm still a baby. I guess I can settle for being the baby of this group. :)
I can't find a way to loop this back to writing, so I just won't. Instead, why don't you share your favorite vacation memory. I'm hoping to be working on mine as we speak.
SP
3 comments:
I hope you're having a good time SP!
My favorite vacation? Rome. It was amazing! The food. Groan. We ate and ate and ate. It was delicious.
I'd love to go back again. DH and I have talked about taking the girls when they get older. We have a built-in tour guide seeing as their uncle's lived there for several years (although he's moving home in a week or so).
Instigator
I'm envious, SP. My husband and I have talked about doing the Alaskan cruise thing but since I've grown up watching the movie Titanic I'm not sure I want to take the chance. LOL.
Hope your having a great time. BTW, I've heard a lot of bear stories from people who've lived up there, all true, and very frightening. Watch your back, front and sides!
I've had so many great vacations it's hard to narrow it down. But the one I remember most of all was a trip my Grandy and Grandmother took me and my brother on when I was 10 years old. We drove to Carlsbad Caverns, Mesa Verde, and onto Durango, Colorado, to ride a really great yellow train. We repeated that same trip with my husband and kids in the mid '90's. It was great reliving that vacation and seeing the awe through my Mom and my kid's eyes.
Oh, the memories! Thanks.
Kathy
When the boys were young, we rented a minivan and took the DH's parents with us on a 16 day trip out west. We went to Dodge City, Kansas, Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks, saw Devil's Tower and Mt. Rushmore and my city kids got to visit relatives who lived on a farm in Nebraska. It was about 19 years ago but I still have fond memories of that trip.
Have fun SP!
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