are we there yet?

Our family, including Ronnie's Mom, drove from Jackson to Atlanta today to enjoy a short vacation before Ronnie and I join several others from our church to work in the OCC processing center this weekend.  Let me just say that this was an interesting trip!

What I didn't enjoy about the day ...

...leaving later than we had planned
...realizing that I had left a very important item at home and having to turn around to go get it
...the above problem making us another 30 minutes behind in getting off
...torrential rain off and on from Birmingham to Atlanta
...a half-cooked (not to mention half-eaten) chicken sandwich at Arby's
...a daughter panicking because of the weather
...what is normally a 7 hour drive taking somewhere closer to 10 hours
...whiny kids who got tired and started aggravating each other (which, in turn, aggravated the adults!)
...a 6 year old downing a coke and then needing to go to the bathroom at the worst possible moment
...the traffic in Atlanta


the good parts about the day
...getting away for a few days
...the kids' excitement
...only being about 10 miles from home when I realized we would have to go home to get my forgotten item
...the quiet that comes from the kids watching a movie as we drive
...the lovely remnants of the beautiful fall we have enjoyed this year
...hearing the kids laugh together in the back
...getting to our hotel and discovering that it is very nice
...adjoining rooms
...an excellent dinner at Chili's tonight
...free wifi
...kids who have settled down for the night and aren't fighting!

I would be remiss if I didn't say that no matter what happened on the drive over here, I am incredibly thankful that we arrived safely despite the terrible weather and the insane traffic.  I do hope that the weather improves for the rest of the week, but even bad weather can't dampen LB's excitement about going to the American Girl store, JW's excitement about spending his 10th birthday on vacation, or mine about working in the processing center this weekend!