Jenyfer Matthews

It has recently come to my attention that some friends and acquaintances have been using me as an example of how they would like to spend their next vacation.

Let me explain. My husband and I tend to take separate vacations. It’s not something that we planned, exactly, it just sort of happened. See, he likes to take advantage of the fact that we live abroad and are in closer proximity to other parts of the world by spending his annual vacation exploring someplace new. Since that would be difficult to do with the children in tow, he usually goes on his own. I prefer to take the kids and go visit family.

Then it occurred to me that it wasn’t fair that he should have all the fun – footloose and fancy free for a month while I travel on my own with the kids hither and yon, so I decided that I should get my turn away as well. At least once a year I take a week on my own and travel someplace with my friends. It started out several years ago with a 5 day trip to Egypt and this year ended up with 10 days in Germany. It’s not totally fair time-wise, no, but a girl’s gotta take the time she can get.

And I do make the most of my time.

So, a neighbor told me recently that she tried this idea out on her husband and suggested that she would like to take a weekend away with some of her girlfriends. Her husband was not enthusiastic about the plan and she gave up the idea after getting the cold shoulder for three days. Another friend told me that it was her husband encouraging her to go away with her friends. Apparently he likes to be on his own. She also declined the suggestion.

Whether or not these couples decide that separate travels are their cup of tea is beside the point. What I find ironic is that anyone should use me as any sort of a good example.

I’m pretty well used to being used as a bad example. I’ve been accused of being a bad influence on people ever since I was in grade school. I never did anything to deserve that reputation (well, not much!) but I must just have some sort of disreputable aura. My teachers and friends’ parents were often suspicious of me. My friends’ boyfriends never trusted me either, though I never did anything to lead anyone astray.

The fact that my best friend broke it off with her boyfriend the morning after she and I went out to eat together this summer was just a coincidence, no matter what he thinks.

Honest.

I may have started out traveling light but I didn’t come home that way. All the summer sales were just too tempting and my children were showered with gifts everywhere they went. The children and I were entitled to two bags of 50 lbs each for a grand total of six bags and 300 lbs – not including carry-ons. I checked five bags that weighed a total of 180 lbs. I was quite proud of my packing since the largest of my bags was 50 lbs on the dot and any overage would have cost me US$50 excess baggage fee for every bag over the limit – or caused me a mad scramble of rearranging contents in the airport.

(I have since learned that my husband’s employer would have reimbursed us for excess baggage charges – within reason – but I’d have had to have more than two hands or at least another adult traveling with me to handle any more!!!)

I did have to empty the contents of one of my carry-on bags at the security desk however. It’s funny what will spark their interest. The security inspector requested that I not reach for the bag once he started to remove items. I asked him what he was looking for and he said “cups”. I was momentarily stumped – and distracted as I tried to put my shoes back on and the shoes of the children while simultaneously tucking my laptop and video camera back in their respective places. Cups? I had empty water bottles in their bags. Nope, he was looking for cups.

Suddenly the penny dropped – he was looking for a couple of ceramic mugs I had tucked at the very bottom of my daughter’s carry-on bag. Apparently it wasn’t the mugs themselves that attracted interest but the items I had packed inside the mugs – two stone topped cork wine stoppers. I suppose they looked pointy in the x-ray and he thought they were possibly knives. I guess it was a good call to pack the deer antlers sheds my father found in the woods and gave the children in our checked baggage!

All that was after we’d nearly scared him to death. If you really want to get a security inspector’s attention pack a rubbery life like lizard in the top of your carry on. The big man shrieked like a girl when his hand came in contact with it.

I have to admit I didn’t get into Amsterdam on my way back through – in spite of a 10 hour gap. I was just too tired and brain dead after the previous 12 hours getting there. I regret it now, the time would have passed much faster than it did if I had been able to do it. Instead, I found a quiet corner and passed in and out of consciousness laying face down on a table while my children ran up and down and shrieked. I’m sure that people were shooting me dirty looks but that’s the advantage of laying face down – you can’t see them.

I’m currently suffering from some pretty bad jet lag. I feel okay during the day, I fall asleep at a reasonable time in the evening, but then I wake up at 2am and lay awake for 3 or 4 hours. Just how long I can function normally during the day when I’m up most of the night as well is a mystery. The kids start school tomorrow – maybe I can nap while they are away.

Next time: pictures from my trip.

The most productive thing I did all summer in my writing was to send in the contract on my third book ALL THE WAY HOME. No news yet on a release date, but I’ll let you all know when I do.

I am feeling especially creative and full of new ideas though. I lay awake last night, my mind whirling with all the things I want to write, story lines, details, and quilt patterns. Okay – there was some jet lag in there and probably some of the ideas that seemed so great at 3am aren’t really as workable by the light of day, but I do retain that productive feeling so that’s good anyway.

Once I have my house put back in order (eg: laundry done) I’ll post another part of how I spent my summer vacation. Right now I have to go and wake up my children and jerk them back into this time zone.

A bus trip.

Since I don’t have much to tell you about how productive I was in my writing while I was on vacation (I wasn’t) I think I’ll tell you about how I spent my summer vacation instead. I felt so cut off from everyone for so long I may babble a bit so bear with me. And I’m going to start with the last part first because it is freshest in my mind.

I left the north woods yesterday to begin my whole journey in reverse. I checked my email before we left the house just to see if there was anything I needed to know about changes to my itinerary. Nope. Nothing. So we started out on our three hour drive to the airport.

It was gray and drizzly – the first time in the twenty days I was in the area that it rained at all – but nothing alarming. It wasn’t until we were halfway there and my uncle managed to get a message to us on the vehicle’s “On Star” satellite phone system that I had any inkling of the trouble ahead of me: my flight had been cancelled. You know how it is to try and call anyone at an airline these days – we decided just to continue on to the airport and see what was what once we got there.

It wasn’t even raining at the airport, just a bit of fog, but all flights had been cancelled. Instead of the 45 minute hop I had been expecting, they put us on a bus for two hours to get us to Minneapolis where we could make our connections. Not exactly what I had paid for or longed to do after having been in a car for three hours already, but progress is progress.

We arrived in Minneapolis with enough time to get checked-in, through the LONG security line (where my new laptop was swabbed and inspected) and get a little take-out for me and the kids before we boarded our next plane. Then we sat in the plane on the tarmac for an hour while President Bush’s plane landed and he cleared the airport. He was there to inspect the recently collapsed bridge. I understand all about the need for security but the hour delay in our takeoff gave me all of 10 minutes to make my connection in Memphis.

If you were in the Memphis airport yesterday evening, I was the blonde running through the B concourse from one end to the other pursued by two small children. Amazingly enough, not only did we make the plane but so did our luggage! Is that lucky or what?

It wasn’t until this morning that I got the emails from the airline and my FIL telling me that my whole itinerary had been cancelled and rescheduled for today. No one mentioned it at the airport. Guess it just goes to show that their schedules are just a bit more fluid than they might let you think.

I arrived exhausted and wired at the same time.

I have a day of downtime before I start on part two of my journey back to Cairo. Another three legs. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

I’m happy to report that my flights home went well – no delays to speak of and no lost luggage. Our longest flight (9 hours) had the regular crew of flight attendants plus a bunch in training so we had much better service than I’m used to which helped as well. Still, nearly 27 hours of traveling with no sleep is not much fun, no matter how perky and attentive the service. They really can’t give you enough roasted almonds and wine to make it truly pleasant.

I said I planned to pop in to Amsterdam for a look around during my layover and I’m proud to say I did it. Proud? Why? I’m not quite as adventurous as I might seem on the surface, for all of my traveling. And I have a fear of public transportation.

Does that sound strange? I’m an American and used to getting around independently in my own car. I used to take the train to work in Cleveland years ago but I bought a monthly pass I flashed as I went and there were only three lines, color coded. A no brainer. Even the train in Cairo is pretty simple.

In Europe public transportation is much more developed. You can get just about anywhere on a bus or a train. So think about it: more stops and destinations mean many many more routes to navigate. They try to make it efficient by selling the tickets from vending machines but when you aren’t familiar with the system it just makes for one more challenge. Trying to figure out how to purchase a ticket to the destination you want from a vending machine with foreign money when the instructions are in Dutch and so are all the signs is no cake walk. But my main worry stems from how more more quickly and efficiently you can get lost if you are on a train / bus than if you are on foot.

But I didn’t let myself off the hook. (I told you I was dedicated to my research) I was pretty disgusted with myself for even thinking of chickening out. One of my new resolutions is not to be such a ninny about stuff like this and to do more things to seize opportunities to enjoy life as it comes. The kids and I were awake, we had loads of time and it wasn’t raining so I had no real reason to NOT go. It was either go into town or follow the kids as they played on the moving walkways in the airport. For five hours.

So I went.

I stowed my luggage in a locker in the airport, found a ticket office with a person to talk to, and ventured out into the larger world of Amsterdam on the train. The kids and I didn’t go so far – they were cold in the 70F cloudy damp weather after coming from Cairo! – but we had time to walk around a bit and had breakfast before we headed back to the airport. The signs in the airport were mostly in Dutch and English. Not so in the city. However even I can follow little pictures of an airplane. And all the people getting on the train with luggage was another clue.

I really enjoyed my short glimpse of Amsterdam and may do it again on the way back through in August (weather permitting – it did rain after we returned to the airport) But next time maybe I’ll bring jackets for the kids and a map.

I went to the doctor a few days ago and was cleared for take off. My pox have been healing top down so my face looks pretty decent now, but I won’t want to wear a bathing suit for at least another week. I had no problem resisting scratching but picking at the scabs is another story. I want them gone. NOW.

You’d think that packing up for a six week vacation with two kids would be difficult. Not so much. Passports – check. Tickets – check. American money – check. Over the years I’ve learned my lesson – go with empty, nested suitcases and fill them with the gifts the kids receive and all the shopping I will do. (Check)

But being on vacation does not mean I won’t do some writing work. In fact, I intend to do some research for my newest project (as yet to be named). My character Aurora is going to do a lot of traveling, first stop: Amsterdam. It just so happens that I have a SEVEN HOUR gap in Amsterdam, going and coming back again. What better way to do research than to hop on the subway into the city after a nearly sleepless night with two tired children and drag them around with me while I absorb the atmosphere of the neighborhood?

And you thought I wasn’t dedicated to my craft.

Anyone who knows me realizes that I love verbal irony and employ sarcasm more than is probably really necessary in civilized conversation. I love ironic situations – not so long ago I posted a picture of a tiny litter can that was recently installed on a corner in my neighborhood where piles of trash are dumped every day in my Squash Blossom blog. The litter can is often empty while trash is heaped high on the ground beneath it.

I also appreciate irony in literature or movies. I love when a couple discovers the depth of their love by the sacrifices they each make for the other, such as in The Gift of the Maji or Romeo and Juliet. And it was ironic when after spending all that time and energy battling the fish in The Old Man and the Sea, when the Santiago finally subdued the fish and brought it to shore it had been consumed en route by sharks.

Turns out I don’t appreciate irony so much in real life however.

It’s a fine example of cosmic irony that I have managed to avoid contracting chicken pox for my entire life and come down with it this week, days before I am due to leave on my summer holiday — when I was planning on finally getting a vaccination. Sitting here itchy, alone and frustrated I fail to find any real amusement or satisfaction in the situation, ironic or not.

Just goes to show what procrastinating gets you.

I am grounded by my doctor and the airline for at least a week and have been told that I cannot circulate in the world (think Typhoid Mary) or eat chocolate or strawberries because they will inflame the itchiness. This goes beyond just simply irony and verges on cruel.

But I suppose I’m not the only one who’s ever discovered that irony isn’t always amusing.

I finished my first round of edits last week and have been taking a little mental break since then. I wanted – needed – to take a step back so that when I do one more pass through before I submit this manuscript to my editor I’ll have a fresh eye to catch problems.

In the meantime, I’ve been playing. Adding pictures to my website and to myspace. Customizing my blog. Tinkering.

Tomorrow I’m taking a real break. I’m leaving the family at home and going to visit some friends in Dubai for the weekend. (Sounds exotic, huh?) Should be fun at any rate. Having a little mini-vacation on my own will help me gather my strength for my annual global adventure vacation this summer. Traveling on my own with two small creature in tow to visit family scattered far and wide across the US will do nothing if not keep me on my toes.

So, I won’t be around here for a few days. But I hope that you will join me on May 14th when I will be a guest blogger at Romance Reader at Heart Ponderings Blog.