Reservations and Reservations

Getting my mind on better things� this is where we're staying for our week on the beach this year. It is the biggest, most luxurious house yet. It is also the last house for a while, since the annual beach vacation is ending its run this year. MIL wanted to make this year a good one and chose the house accordingly. We're paying for it, but I think it will be worth it.

So what makes this house so special, besides that it wouldn't even fit on the lot of land we have here at home? First and foremost, it has six king master bedrooms. That means there will be no fighting over rooms and no hurt feelings because someone got a better room than someone else, bed-wise anyway. There will still probably be a power struggle between who sleeps on the first floor and who sleeps on the third, but at least no one will be sleeping in a common area on a sofa or on the floor like has happened some years. I must admit, I would really like to be on the topmost floor (can we say ocean view?), especially since this is our last year for who knows how long, but I will probably be on the first floor, because that is also where the kids' room is located. Since I have kids, I should probably be nearby.

Hopefully the other amenities of the house will be enough comfort that where I sleep doesn't matter. We always have a pool. The ocean is just too cold that early in the year, plus with last year's shark attacks (there was at least one on the Outer Banks) I'd rather keep my family out of water anywhere past the waist. Pool swimming is just nicer, cleaner, not salty, a helluva lot warmer, and I don't have to worry about the kids getting pulled out to sea by an undertow.

The rest of the list is endless: pool table, home theater, kitchenette on the first floor, double laundry, fireplace, Jennaire range, 2 dishwashers (we generate a buttload of dishes), breakfast room w/fireplace, screened porch (for the smokers), office w/Internet access (oh yeah!), some rooms w/whirlpool baths, another home theater w/53" screen, child pool, hot tub, video library, DVD, whole house satellite system, basketball hoop, gas grill, fish cleaning table (ew!), and a private walkway to the beach. We get to feel like rich people for a week.

Part of me is really looking forward to this. I always look forward to our vacation. But there's another part of me that is nervous. There are a few clashing personalities going this year that haven't been together since our first Outer Banks vacation in 1996. It's hard to put more than twenty people together in a house and not have a few irritants once in a while, but this goes beyond that. There are a couple people that absolutely do not like each other, one being rather abrasive and outspoken and the other being somewhat self-centered and imposing. There was much fallout from that first vacation (much having to do with the rooming situation), and I don't look forward to having my last one ruined by the same thing. I had some of my own harsh feelings about some of the things that happened, and I could see myself getting tangled up in the mess quite easily because of that. I am going to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best.

The good thing is this house is plenty big, so there will be lots of space to avoid people if need be. We will have an Internet connection, so if I have to come vent in my journal, I can do that too. I'm going to continue running while I'm there, just like I did last year, and those runs on the beach do worlds of good for my mood. I have to make sure I do what John always says and not worry about things that haven't happened and make the best of them when they do. Of course, he's a pro at distancing himself, so it's a little easier for him to do, but it's good advice nonetheless.

I am excited, with reservations. Even if there is a big blowout (don't think it can't happen, it did three years ago), I will still be on the beach. I will still be in a fantastic house. I will still have my own happy, little family with me. At the rate I'm going, I'll be looking damn good. It will all be better than stewing at home over the same unresolved issues. If nothing else, the bad stuff gives me some great stories to tell.