Although I've never seen the movie (or the Faster and the Furiouser sequel), I'm beginning to think this is a pretty good description of the Goins' family lifestyle. Just a sampling of our weekly schedule (besides work) : Sunday - church and all the fixins; Monday - nothing scheduled; Tuesday - ALFA softball; Wednesday - church; Thursday - ALFA softball; Friday - various weekend activities; Saturday - church league softball as well as various and assundry get togethers; then back to Sunday...
Now, before you get the wrong idea about this post. I'm not trying to proclaim my family as the busiest on the planet. I know there are folks with more on their plate, especially those of you who have kids...AND I also love everything that we do. I love our church and the people that make our lives so special. I love getting to play softball as often as I do, etc, etc.
What I am saying is that I had no idea just how busy we were until this past week (5/31-6/5 -- I've been editing this a lot) when we went on vacation.
My father-in-law's side of the family meets every year at Vogel State Park in north Georgia for a few weeks. We all stay in one of the cabins there in the park. The only "problem" is...there ain't no TV, no cable, and no phone (unless you want to use one of the pay phones they have stashed in various places throughout the park. cell phones don't get service because park is in a valley). Now, I'll have to admit the thought of spending an entire week in a cabin in the woods with no TV and no phone was far from my definition of a "glorious" vacation. I wasn't exactly sure what I was gonna do to fill the time. Afterall, TV is one of life's essential commodities, right?
Anyway...I took several of the sports figures I paint and had a little set-up where I could work on those up there, and actually took a book in case I ever felt like reading. Laura found MEG: Primal Waters which is the third book in a series about...you guessed it...sharks. Carcharodon Megalodon to be precise. I had read the other books and thought it would be a good time filler.
To make a long story short...I had a great time! I had my painting set-up on the back porch. Never painted in a more beautiful and peaceful setting. I finished my book in 2 and a half days, and started on Laura's book, Stephen King's Salem's Lot. I'm still reading that one...it's just starting to get good.
We saw beautiful waterfalls...laid out on the beach by the lake...I had a morning jog around the lake one day...but best of all we had time to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n and enjoy being together. No stress, no time constraints, no worries (mate).
Getting back into the groove at work has been a bit of a struggle, but that's alright. The vacation was great! Thanks to God for showing me it's ok...and sometimes even BEST to slow down and actually enjoy the life you've got.
Here's a few pics of our trip:
Me and Laura by Helton Creek Falls
More Helton Creek Falls
Laura and the creek
Laura and LaWanna huffing up to Brasstown Bald (the highest point in GA, BTW)
Laura, Lindsay, and LaWanna (the 3 L's)
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3 comments:
What a great son-in-law to bravely go where no normal person would go-to the mountain backwoods of north Georgia with a bunch of Wishums. Thanks for spending your vacation time to "go slow" with us.
Roxy
I really am jealous. I really want to do something like that. I have some work to do in July, but I'm hoping to take each weekend and go Geocaching or hiking in the GA mountains. I'm only and hour and a half and should have myself up there every weekend. Looks like a great time. Thanks for sharing.
Baron, I'm glad you enjoyed it all!! You can't really understand the attraction of it until you've been there. That bench over on the far side of the lake at the spillway is my absolute favorite spot on the planet!!
Jon, You should look up the day hike at Neel's Gap that goes up Blood Mountain. It's enough that you feel like you've accomplished something, but you don't feel like you're about to die. Plus it's actually part of the Appalachian Trail!
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