At the very end of next week, I'll be falling asleep to the sounds of the waves in Mexico. This will beat the hell out of falling asleep to the sounds of waves provided by the 'Tropical Beach' MP3 file that we normally listen to at night. Though, the MP3 DOES have some loud bird noises which I have grown to appreciate...even though they woke me up and completely freaked me out the first time I heard them. It was like splash...splash...SPLASH...splash...spBAK BAK BAK BAK BAK BAAWK BAAWK BAAWK BAAAAWK...splash...splash...BAK bak bak...and so on. Sounds ridiculous, but it actually is quite soothing. I also enjoy 'Amazon Rainstorm', but Kurt doesn't think it promotes sleep as much as it might just make you need to use the bathroom.

Anyways, real waves will be a nice change of pace. As will restaurant meals for under $10 (for both, beer included) and poolside reading of beach-worthy girly books (last year was the Something Borrowed/Something Blue duo - the ultimate in beach reading).

We've been counting down the sleeps to our Mexican vacation since we planned it last year. Some may think that, living here, we may not need a warm winter break, but I assure you we do. Besides the fact that we are not nearly as hot as we would be if this island was placed much further south (where everyone thinks it is), we are also dying for a vacation. It's business as usual around here with work and our weekends are the same as everyone else - groceries, laundry, shopping, etc., and with all of the stress that took over our lives in the last part of 2007, we honestly do need a break. It's also a chance to spend some quality time with my parents, who will be there at the same time.

What used to be a 2 airplane trip has now been bumped up to 3 airplanes, each way. So, in order to ensure that both of us AND our luggage shows up on the other end and we don't spend the week wearing the same clothes, waiting for our luggage, we're going to attempt to pack our vacation into carry-on luggage only. This...is challenging. Summer clothes are lighter and pack up small, which is good news. We're there for 10 days...not such good news. Also, we're bringing Christmas presents, my camera, a huge hardcover John Grisham novel that Kurt is insisting on for the beach but which happens to be larger than my laptop, and a whole whack of travel-sized toiletries, because I'll be damned if I lose one more thing to that big bin. Last time it was the precious Raspberry Cointreau jam from Wakefield, Québec. The time before that, it was my toothpaste and moisturizer...both of which appeared to fit the guidelines but were wrestled from my hands anyway. It was good moisturizer and practically brand new...they're not retarded.

Anyways, we're coming down to lift-off. I can't pretend that I'm not also just really excited to get off of this rock, even if it's only for 10 days. It's feeling smaller and smaller all the time, and I'm getting a bit stir-crazy.

Olé.