So, we had planned to use my mom's timeshare for a little localish vacation. Just something to get away. With the crazy schedule of 2 full time working parents and 5 crazy kids ages 3-14 I thought we'd need it. But, then mom said I could look into an exchange. Hmmm....sounds interesting. Well, we have a limit. Brian can only take being in a car for so long. He was kinda always that way, but even moreso after his injury. His muscles get bound up, so-to-speak, and it can cause his neuropathy and spasms to get worse just sitting in a tight, confined area for so long...even with short breaks. So, I looked to get over the first hurdle of distance since we can't afford to fly all 7 of us anywhere. Then, after I narrowed it down to a day drive (long day, but only 1) I needed to narrow it down to places with a room big enough to hold all 7 of us. There aren't as many as you'd like to think. Not all 2 bedrooms are made equally according to their rules. I thought San Antonio TX sounded interesting. I've never been there and my last stay in TX was very short and I was only 17. Looked like there was lots of free things we could do. Mom didn't think she'd get this place, but she got an email the very next day that we could go. So, YAY! We get to vacation again this year and it looks awesome! Without mom, I'm not sure we would have ever had a family vacation. Even when there were only 3 or 4 of us, we had no money to take any cool, fun vacations and taking the whole night stay cost out of it makes an enormous difference. We're still hoping she can get a suite for her and Joe, 'cause it's kinda fun all vacationing together. But, we're still thankful for the chance for anything.
And, I know some people are thinking if you're trying to save for Korea so bad, etc. why are you going? Well, here's my answer, in case anyone thinks it's there business. We don't know if we'll ever really get to go to Korea. It's getting to be more of a dream than a goal. The plane tickets are getting out of range for a family of 7 on our income. I mean, you have to admit that almost $2,000 a ticket x 7 is a lot. Do I still want to try to go? Absolutely. But my point is that I also know how short life is after Brian's accident. In case we don't get to go anyways, and the little we'll have to spend without hotel costs is minimal, we want to make as many memories as we can with the kids. Soon enough Cole will be grown and gone. There's a decent possibility Brian will continue to lose muscle function. I know I am not the only one that notices his walking is getting harder for him and way more noticable that he is having trouble. There is a reality that a lot of spinal cord injury patients that recover their function after their accident will actually end up losing it again. Some people manage to make it 20 years before stenosis, etc. and some don't. We're enjoying life and doing everything we can before what life did to him 4 years ago decides our borrowed time is up. We do NOT want to regret a second and just wishing and dreaming our lives and our memories away and having no time left. It's not like we have to take a loan out to do this, and we wouldn't if we did. That would be irresponsible. We're going to grab every chance we have to have fun together and are fortunate mom is giving us yet another chance to do something as a family on a limited budget.
So, I'm cautiously excited to plan our sight-seeing vacation and just chillaxin' by a beautiful pool for a week!
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