Time to put on my big girl panties and enjoy the hotel on the beach

This will be a big week for me. Not because it's the end of NaBloPoMo but because I will be doing something I've never done before. One of my deep dark secrets as a mother is that I've never really been away from my kids. Daycare while I work. Spouse or relative for Saturday afternoon shopping. And once a decade my husband and I line someone up so we can exit the house after dark alone. But that's it. For example, I've seen my daughter every single day of her life. Even when I was in the hospital having my second child, I saw my daughter everyday. And I was only in the hospital one night. I know. What kind of idiot rushes home from the hospital? I'll tell you who. An idiot who is married to my husband. Dude can successfully convince an otherwise intelligent woman that she'll rest better at home despite the fact that there's no nursing staff at your house and small children will expect to be played with. But I digress.

So after a couple years of not leaving the kids, it kinda became a habit. Like two years ago when some mandatory training came up at work. I just kinda delayed getting scheduled and the classes all filled up. Then I got promoted and it became a non issue. But then I found out about some mandatory training for my new position and even though my son had gotten old enough that it no longer seemed inconceivable, I kinda sorta delayed scheduling that one and those classes filled up too. So the issue never really came to a head. Until October.

That's when I heard about a can't miss conference in my field scheduled for the first week of December. No one's making me go. My office really isn't like that. But not going would essentially mean forfeiting a spot at the top of the food chain. Because all the top dogs go to the conference. I like to pretend I'm a top dog so I knew the jig was up on my travel avoidance.

I never mentioned my no traveling thing at work. Not because my office is anti motherhood or anything like that. It just seemed like a bad idea to advertise an area in which someone else might be more flexible than me. Better to let it be a fun surprise instead!

So anyway, this will be a big week for me. Two whole days of not seeing their faces. Three bedtime tuck ins without me. My husband's already bracing himself for the potential onslaught of teary phone calls.

I'll be fine. And I'm pretty sure I actually mean that. I know even mentioning the issue makes me a big whiny baby complaining about a stupid middle class issue that plenty of people wouldn't even consider a problem. I also like to remind myself that my husband's traveled a lot in the last year. I'm looking forward to dumping leaving the kids with him so he can see how he likes it what it's like. On top of that, an old friend is going to be at the conference so I'll get to hang out with her. And another old friend lives in the area and has a brand new baby I'm betting is in need of some cuddling from me. Oh yeah, and my hotel will on the beach in sunny California. No really! Like "throw open the patio doors and you can hear the waves" on the beach. What kind of ungrateful hag can't get happy about that? There are way worse problems to have than an employer that wants to pay you to visit the beach.

My solemn oath is to not cry. But I reserve the right to blink rapidly and dab with a tissue if necessary. A margarita with dinner might not hurt either. Later!