I'm packing my bags

It's official: I'm going on a vacation without my family. Doesn't that sound simply awful? Not to mention very out-of-character for myself.

When my girlfriend who lives in Alaska called me 10 days ago and asked me if I wanted to go to a Ladie's Conference held in the state of Indiana in just a few short weeks, my first thought was "Are you crazy?!"

In spite of that, my plane ticket is bought (by aforementioned girlfriend) and I am indeed packing my bags.

I'll be gone for 8 days. Which includes several days of travel, three days at the conference, and 3 days visiting my family who live just a few hours away from where the conference is held. I'll be seeing my parents, several siblings, and a nephew and niece who I'll be meeting for the first time. Which latter reason is why I simply had to take advantage of my friend's generous offer.

And just how is hubby and the kids going to survive without me? My husband has 2 weeks of vacation his boss has been encouraging him to take. So he'll be staying home with the kids. We've been working extremely hard to get ahead in our homeschool lessons so that we don't have to make up the time when I get back. Which will also allow them to do some visiting of relatives (translation: going to grandma and grandpa's and being spoiled rotten) as well as spend some extra time with dad.

In spite of all the bases being covered, I have to admit that I feel a great deal of trepidation. Yes, I'm very excited about spending time with my friend, going to the conference, and of course seeing my family in that part of the country. It's going to be a bit of an adventure for this hopeless homebody.

But I hate the idea of being away from my kids for that long:(

Not to mention the fact that I really, really dislike flying.

I've been fighting a bug (as in a virus) for the past week, but I seem to be getting better. Just in time for my partial root canal this coming Saturday... am I crazy for doing that right before a trip? I'm afraid it was scheduled last month, and really can't be put off.

One last thing: thank you for your prayers on behalf of the Princess. We've been able to rule out crones (which is in my family) and a variety of other things. But she's still having a rough time of it. Our next step is to see a specialist, and hopefully we'll get some answers through that route.

Wishing all my blogging friends a wonderful Autumn weekend~