Two weeks ago today at just about this time in the morning, BT was packing for his DC trip.  I guess you could call it “packing.”  He could fit everything for a week-long trip in one of the quart-size ziplocs they hand out at the airport security checkpoints.

Anyway, none of us was all too happy about him being gone for four days while he visited family, leaving the rest of us to mourn his absence.  You see, BT is the FUN FACTOR in our family. Without him, we would be condemned to a hermit-like, regimented existence of chores, classical music, crafts and chocolate. Sorry kiddos. No more Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite, or Princess Bride. No more twangy, grammatically incorrect Bluegrass. The house would be as clean as a whistle. Unfortunately, no one would feel like whistling by the time I had played drill sergeant; however, I do imagine that they’d enjoy the daily dose of chocolate that Dad tries to put the kabash to.

And being MR. FUN, it should come as no surprise that, when ticket prices plummeted just minutes before he should have been on his way to the airport, he proposed the insane idea that we ALL go to DC.

Craziness.

Where are we going to stay? What about transportation once we get there? When will the laundry and cleaning get done if I’m not here on Monday? How am I going to get everyone packed?  Ariana will miss a day of school! Carseats? Cat?

My mind was a jumble of unanswered questions. But then I paused the little program in my brain that is constantly process mapping, problem solving and over-analyzing everything just long enough to give into the folly of the idea.

Throwing caution to the wind and throwing–yes, throwing–clothes into suitcases, we rushed out the door, pausing only long enough to give the cat an ample supply of food and water and to grab the camera bag.  And despite the fact that I forgot toothbrushes, jammies, and underwear, we had a fabulous time.

So fabulous, in fact, that it makes me want to ask: “Where are you taking us this weekend, BT???”