Cancun Christmas trip

As some of you may know, a few years ago, Troy and I purchased this money suck timeshare through the Westin that I curse every month when I have to make the payment. It was before the recession and before Operation Money Hoarding went into effect. Anyhow we have it, we are stuck with it and when it affords me the ability to go somewhere as beautiful as Cancun, I probably shouldn't bitch about it as much as I do. Someday when its paid for, I'm sure I'll love it, but for now it is a minor pain in my ass with a spectacular view.

So, We made this reservation in April with the intention of this being the kids Christmas Present....we've been paying for it every month, might as well use it right? And then in October, Troy learned that as a result of the merger of his old copany with Agilent, that he would have to attend a mandatory meeting in Las Vegas ALL WEEK while we were supposed to be on vacation. Well, since there are about 7 million people who would be happy to take his job, should he lose it, we decided the only option was for him to skip the vacation. The Westin had no other weeks available for us to reschedule, so we were stuck.

So on December 12th, the kids and I flew without Troy to Cancun, Mexico for a week of rest and relaxation and a little local culture too. It was dark by the time we got to the suite, so I couldn't see a thing when I looked out the window out over the Carribean Ocean. The following morning when I pulled back the curtain, the picture above was my view........I knew everything was gonna be just fine. With a view like that, how could it not?

The post that follow are a few snapshots of our extraordinary trip. Me, alone in a foreign country with my children. I was a little apprehensive at first. (honestly, I borrowed some Xanax from a friend, but never needed a single one). We rallied, we made exceptions, we compromised, we found a way to make it a great trip, and there came a time when I looked out over the water and saw my 3 children playing together in the warm Carribean Ocean and I breathed a sigh of relief and I wished myself Merry Christmas. There are no words to describe how proud I was of my kids and of how I swelled with love and gratitude for the opportunity to do this with them.