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The Farmer and I are getting ready to go on a tropical vacation with my entire family. Scratch that. We are going on a tropical vacation with my entire family sans kids under the age of ten -- so my kids, my sister's kids, and my brother's daughter are not going.

Both of my grandparents turned 80 this year -- my grandfather in July and my grandmother in October -- so this trip was planned as a big celebration for them. There are 20-something of us going. It should be a really fun trip. Or, at least, my trip will be fun because I plan to have a fruity drink and book in hand at all times (much to The Farmer's chagrin, I might add).

Since we will be in tropical paradise for a week, I will be spending the week in one of these:

which is all well and good except for the fact that I just got back from NOLA where I ate my weight in things like this every day:

And, since I have been back, my exercise routine has been slim-to-none -- not for lack of trying but for lack of time.

Now, before you get all "wow, tough life, Christie!" I will tell you that there are two sad parts to this trip:

1. I mentioned that this trip is a celebration for my grandparents 80th birthdays. Well, we planned it a long time ago (last winter or early spring), and then this summer my grandfather, who I have always thought of as a young, healthy (though larger than he should be) guy, started to feel not-right. Fast forward to today, and he relies solely on an oxygen tank to breathe. It is hard for him to walk from one end of his house to another and keep his breath.

So, my grandparents aren't going. On their birthday trip. The trip would have been canceled, but the houses were rented and we couldn't get our money back, so the rest of us are still going. But, there will be a damper on the trip because we know that Nana and Granddaddy aren't there; they will be at home sitting in their chairs watching FoxNews while they should be with us.

2. The Farmer and I are going to have to be away from the kids (for the first and last time!!!) on Thanksgiving. When we first booked the trip and all the plans were laid out and the dates were set, I thought "well, it is just one day, and Thanksgiving is one of the lesser holidays, not tied to the church, etc..." but now that we are getting closer, it is making me a little bit sad.

Of course, it isn't making me sad enough to stay home, but it is making me sad.

(That sounded really bad when I just typed it out...)

I am going to miss those little boogers!!

But, all in all, I think I can muscle through it...it should be a good time, and I am so looking forward to some grown-up time!