Diary of a Mad Vacation!

Okay, we're back!! So, so, SO GLAD to be home! It was six weird days, my friends. Six, long, weird days. Our drive down to Florida on Thursday took a little over 12 hours. We had no traffic, some rain, one detour and then one major storm in Palm Beach. When we got to our hotel, the power was out! Seriously, they gave us a flash light at check in and sent us on our way to our room! It was like a little adventure!

Let me start by saying that in no way will this blog post do justice to what went on this past weekend. Things happened that I am just not able to publish but suffice it to say, it was not boring!

Having said that, our hotel was wonderful. It was a fairly new place (Wyndham Garden Hotel in Boca Raton - if you're in the area, check it out) and so it was very clean. That's always a plus in my book when staying in a hotel. We arrived in the dark but within 15 minutes we were fine. The next morning - Friday - we got up and headed over to dad's deli for breakfast. He made me his famous homemade ravioli. Yes, yes, I know it was breakfast but he had saved these especially for me and so I ate pasta at 10 in the morning. Only on vacation! They were very yummy. Next we headed over to the nursing home to see my stepmom (wife #2). I was heartbroken at how much she has deteriorated. She had no idea who we were and after only 25 minutes, I had to leave. I was too devastated and was just sitting there crying. Frank had to help me leave. We swung back by the deli, grabbed some lunch and then went back to the hotel to swim. All very nice and normal.

We headed over to dad's a little before four. Now remember, this was the first time we were going to be meeting his new wife. We got there, then my sister and her group arrived and we waited for more than an hour for this woman to make an appearance. Dad said she was getting ready. Okay, whatever. When she finally did come out, she seemed very sweet. Very sincere. I felt like I had known her forever. We talked a lot, we snacked, we took pictures, I mean, it was - again - very nice and normal. I felt like she had made some major improvements to our family and was so grateful to her for that!

My aunt and uncle got lost coming over from the West Coast of Florida, so dinner was delayed a bit. This made dad cranky and I have to admit, I was a little cranky myself because he was making Italian for dinner and after having it for breakfast, I so was NOT looking forward to eating more of it. He wasn't making the ravioli but you have to understand, I only eat Italian twice a month TOPS due to acid reflux so twice in one day was a sure fire guarantee of a sleepless night! When they did arrive it was so wonderful. We ate, we laughed, we took more pictures. By the time we headed back to our hotel, I was asking myself "What was I so worried about?"

Oh, Stace, when will you ever learn???

Saturday dawned to confusion. I thought that we were doing one thing, but apparently no one knew what was going on and they all seemed to have different ideas. Frank got royally pissy and stormed off for a while. I was almost fearing getting stuck in Boca indefinitely! But he did return, we did make up and then just ended up taking the afternoon down by the pool. We were supposed to go to the beach - my husband's one and only request - but he was a good sport about it. Eventually. We met up at the deli at 3:30 to start doing the cooking for the birthday party. The wife came up to me and asked me why my stepbrother would tell her that we were all concerned about her leaving my dad . I'm like "Excuse me?" Honestly, I had no idea what she was talking about and told her as much and the subject dropped. We cooked, we cleaned, we laughed. All very nice, all very normal.

It was all downhill from there.

In a nutshell, this woman basically claims to have heard all of us saying things that she did not approve of and left my dad in the middle of the party. Not left like "I'll see you at home" but LEFT as in "We're through!" But because that wasn't enough, she then texted and e-mailed each of us nasty, hateful things. I won't go in to specifics but needless to say, it was far from a boring evening!

The remainder of our trip was wonderful! We swam and had a great time with my in-laws and it was a very uneventful drive home. I did NOT finish all of my books but did get through more than half of them. Honestly, I was too mentally drained there for two nights to do anything more than just sleep! It is good to be home and returning to the life where God has called me - being a wife and a mother to two wonderful boys and one wonderful man.

Life doesn't get much better than this. And here's something to think upon: Doing something with your life is not always something glamorous and something to be seen by the masses. Sometimes it's doing something that only a few will see. Way back when in the beginning of "All Stace" I did a post on "The Myth of More" and basically in it I stated that while I may not have the big house, the new cars, the big career, I have something that it worth far more than all of that. I have a God who loves me unconditionally. I have a TWENTY YEAR marriage with a man who loves me unconditionally. All that other stuff that people seem to think defines success in their lives, is just that, stuff. I don't need to do "Something More" with my life, thank you. I am already far more successful than some can ever imagine.