Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Vacation

by Suzanne

Well today is officially my last day of my summer vacation. Every year I use one week of my three weeks of vacation time from the hospital to go to the RWA National convention. I don't go to the beach, I don't go to the mountains, I don't go visit family. I do to a convention where I have to dress in nice clothes, smile at everyone and listen to speakers (in the workshops I attend).

Crazy?

Nope, not for me. See, since I started going to RWA National I've been to Atlanta, Reno, San Fransisco, Denver, Washington D.C., Orlando and now New York City. (The 2 Dallas conferences don't count coz that's just down I-75.) I've gotten to do a limo chauffered tour of Sonoma wine country. Been to Alcatraz. Seen the Golden Gate Bridge. Toured many of the monuments in the nation's capitol and walked through the Smithsonian. Hung out in Disney World. Played the slots in Reno. And last week I did NYC tours by day and night and boat! Not to mention went to 2--TWO--Broadway musicals, (WICKED and JERSEY BOYS).

But another great thing about my summer vacation is that it energizes me. It makes me want to come home and write. To words down on pages. It makes me want to read...all those great stories I brought home with me, or I heard about in conversations. It makes me wish I had a whole other week of vacation to take, but unfortunately, in my line of work summer is one of the busiest times of the year for having babies. (uh 9 months ago people were snuggling in the cool or cold weather.) So each nurse only gets one week of vacation in the summer.

I'll take another week in the fall to go see my parents in Ohio. I love fall in Ohio. It's cold. It's rainy. It helps me get in the mood for Thanksgiving and Chistmas. It completes the cycle of the seasons for me. Something I don't always get down here in Texas.

So, what about you? What is your favorite vacation? Beach? Mountains? The jungles of Costa Rica (my friend Aly Burton did this with her family!)? Let's talk VACATIONS!

21 comments:

pjpuppymom said...

First?????

pjpuppymom said...

Yay! Come here you wascally wooster. I'm putting you to work! I had some remodeling done while I was in NYC last week and now I'm putting my kitchen back together. He's going to earn his keep today! ;-)

Suz, like you, National is a vacation that I look forward to every year. I come home exhausted but exhilarated and full of creative ideas. I'm leaving again in a few days for a week at the beach. The girls have their dance National Competition next week but we tacked on a few days to be lazy on the beach before we go crazy at the convention center.

Was so great to see you in NYC!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Yep PJ! You even beat the pictures...(technical difficulties that my IT guy...hubby...is trying to correct).

Suzanne Ferrell said...

PJ...another convention center? I imagine a National Competition of young dancers will be just as noisy, if not more so, than a convention of romance writers!!

Enjoy the beach.

Rocky and I will be hitting the pool again this afternoon!

Jenn3128 said...

Oh vacation, how do I love thee, let me count the ways...

1) I love you in the mountains, a big hike, then a stroll to the bar for an ice cold beer.

2) I love you at the beach, a stroll thru the sand with my bag of books, then a short walk to the bar for an ice cold beer.

3) I love you at Disneyland, walking & standing in long lines, then a quick car ride to Duke's Huntington Beach for a mai tai or two or three.

I could go on & on & on. I've got a week in August coming up, Tahoe bound.

Suzanne Ferrell said...

LOL Jenn!!

I think I forsee "an ice cold beer" in YOUR future!!

Sounds like fun.

Deb said...

With my husband only having a week, we don't really go on vacation any more. Too bad because I am not taking classes this summer and Shary's calendar is actually free for the first 14 days of July.

As a kids, we always went to Colorado and Rockies. One year, between my dad's and my uncle's station wagons, we had 14 people; 5 kids, 1 baby, 9 adults. We had company from Denmark, so we took them to the mountains.

Beth Andrews said...

Suz, New York was so fabulous, my daughter and I are already itching to go back! I want to take my entire family and do the tourist thing for at least a week *g*

Last year we spent most of our vacation driving to Nashville and back. Would love to go again but take a few extra days so we can make a few stops along the way :-)

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, PJ, congrats on the Rooster! He's been bouncing all over the place lately.

Suz, fun post. I know what you mean about RWA being a great way to discover America. So far I've discovered Dallas, Atlanta, Washington D.C. (loved that - could easily spend a month museum hopping there), NYC, San Francisco (another fave) and Orlando (too hot for me in summer). Throw in Denver for RomCon last year and I'm getting to cover some serious territory. Sad I missed NYC's conference this year but already looking forward to Anaheim.

catslady said...

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catslady said...

Oh, horray! Blogger was giving me grief and I hadn't been able to post for over a week.

Of all the vacations that I've taken, I enjoyed the one cruise we took. It's been over 30 years and I'd love to go on another one some day.

Deb said...

oops, 4 kids, 1 baby...

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

I feel your pain, Catslady. Blogger completely shut me out yesterday. :-(

Hey Suz, I really missed seeing you and the other Banditas and BBs. But next year, Anaheim is practically in my backyard! YAY!

My fave time to go on vacation is the fall. The weather is still generally pretty good (not too hot) and the crowds are gone. ;-) It is a GREAT time to see Europe, btw.

AC

Helen said...

Well done PJ have fun with him

Suz

That is a great way to spend vacation time, we are lucky here in Oz we get at least 4 weeks annual leave so I often try and spilt it up and take a couple of weeks here and there for me in summer time I love to go to the beach but haven't done so for a while all the time I have had off work lately is for more grandchildren but I do love it. Although the last holiday was for ARRC2011 then the birth of a grandchild.
I have gone up to Queensland a few time to visit one of my sisters as well. So many places I would love to go and visit never enough time LOL

Have Fun
Helen

Nancy said...

PJ, congrats on the bird! Yes, do, please put him to work!

I hope you have a great time at the beach.

Nancy said...

Suz, my favorite vacation--not currently in the cards, alas, is the UK. Hands down. There's just so much history, and in such dramatic settings. And there's pub food and trifle and summer pudding. YUM!

I also love the beach, NYC (was somewhat grumpy because I did none of the things I really love there last week), Disneyland, New England, and the Pacific Northwest.

Cassondra said...

Congrats PJ!

Cassondra said...

Suz, love this blog.

National conference leaves me flattened every year. It takes me about a week to recover from it fully, and this year, it's more because I came home with a stomach bug. Blech.

And I actually do NOT like spending my vacation at conference, because other than seeing my good friends, it feels like work having to be "on" all the time.

I do love love LOVE New York though. It's my favorite city. I didn't get to do anything I wanted to do except for one thing--I got to see a show on Sunday night. We saw Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and it was, without question, the best show I've ever seen. I've seen Wicked and it was at the top of the list until this one.

If I could, I'd fly back up there and take my husband because I know he'd love it. I laughed so hard I cried, then I cried for real. Then I laughed so hard I cried, then I cried for real again.

Other than that, all my time was taken. I got to sit down and eat one semi-casual meal with friends, and that was it. National being a day short this year threw me and my schedule right out onto the curb with the trash. Follow that with the holiday weekend, and I've been twisted out of sorts since then, not knowing what day it is.

Dang, this is entirely too long.

I like vacations at the beach in late January, when it's cold and gray and my soul needs sunshine and warmth. I don't get to take those, but that's what I like.

Pissenlit said...

At the moment, my favourite kind of vacation would include going fishing in a canoe on a lake somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I haven't done that in a few years, though.

As for a holiday I haven't had a chance to do, I'd really like to go across Canada at some point, whether by plane, train or automobile, spending a number of days at each stop along the way. That'd be a really long sort of holiday though so I don't think it'll happen anytime soon.

Donna MacMeans said...

Yay PJ - Nice nab!

Suz - Didn't you love WICKED? We went on the Saturday before the conference. I think that's my third time seeing the production, but the first time in NY. It really makes a difference in setting and staging. We see Jersey Boys here in Columbus next month, but after seeing the NY production of Wicked, I'm jealous that you got to see it there. The dh and I were thinking we should plan a long weekend every year to NYC just to catch one of the shows, eat at a fabbo restaurant, wander a bit in Central Park, reacquaint ourselves with the art museums and then head home.

So good to see you in NY!

Mary Preston said...

Holiday time, we head to the beach. My parents live on the coast, so it's family & beach time.