Countdown!

The title of this post is Countdown. You probably think I'm referring to the countdown to my summer vacation. While it's true I am counting down to my summer break, I'm actually referring to the countdown to our Western Caribbean cruise in July.

We are very excited about our cruise. This vacation seems special because it's probably the last vacation we'll get to take with Michael and Abby together. In addition, we won't be walking on egg shells this time around. Last year we were dealing with Michael's collapsed lung issues (and even had to stop at a hospital in Pennsylvania on the way) Our family vacations used to include Tami and me, Jessi, Michael and Abby. Jessi is married with a family of her own and Michael will soon be in college. It's not likely we'll ever take another family vacation :-(

Back to the countdown... It has become a tradition in our house to make a Countdown Chain in anticipation of a big and exciting event. Abby makes links out of construction paper and strings them together into a colorful chain. Each day a paper link is removed from the chain. The shorter the chain gets, the closer our vacation gets. As of today I think there are 46 links on the chain. When people come to visit, they either ask what the chain is for or those who know about it comment on the length of the chain.

It may seem silly to some of you, but it's kind of a special thing in our house. It makes me kind of sad to think this may be the last chain for quite a long time. Meanwhile, the countdown continues... 46, 45, 44...............