We are on a break.

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]nce a year I pack up for what is likely the most anticipated and most necessary weekend  of all weekends: the moms get a sanity break shopping weekend extravaganza.  And alas, the weekend is finally here and I am spending some much needed quality time with my girliefriends.  After 72 hours with this wonderful women, I will come back shiney and new, excited to take on all the roles that I play in this crazy life.  Here are a couple of lessons I've learned since we started this tradition in 2006.



The kids are okay without me.  They will survive. In fact, they will get some much needed one-on-one time with their Dad, will likely get spoiled and see Grandparents at some point.  Why is it that grandparents flock to the side of a single-parenting father to help the minute a mom goes away for a weekend?  Maybe because when the momma isn't around you do get some great uninterrupted time with them because they aren't spending every minute pestering me..... MOM, MOM, Mom, Mom, Mommy, maman, Ma, Deena, Mama....I swear my kids are obsessed with me.  And yes, they will pout and put up a stink that I'm leaving, but I know, deep down, that they will create some valuable memories with their Dad.

I need my friends in my life.  I need to work on my friendships, even when I have been friends with these ladies for 30 years.  Regardless the length of the friendship, it still needs fuel for the fire and this weekend provides tons of that, along with all the memories it creates.  I hope our annual tradition continues as we age; I know I will always need my friends in my life.



Roadtrips are good for the soul.   Especially when you're driving on endless highway with nothing but farmer fields and the endless Saskatchewan/Alberta skies surrounding you.  I don't know, it's something about the simplicity that makes me appreciate the bigger picture.  I plan on taking my good camera this time and taking some nice pictures of what is home to us.  We typically go to Edmonton or Calgary, in fact it was just at the beginning of the school year that we did our last year's trip. You can read about our adventures in Banff here.  This year we're heading the 5ish hours to Edmonton and staying in the mall at Fantasyland.  In fact, we probably won't even go outside on the weekend.  You can read about the last time we were in Edmonton here.



Stay tuned on Monday when I do my monthly numbers recap linkup and recap our weekend with numbers. Should be interesting.