Stress-free Living

I feel like writing...something...anything...
I've been sitting at the computer today, looking at cabins in Gatlinburg - not really because I have a huge desire to go to Gatlinburg, but because my grandfather has decided to take the whole family on a vacation this summer. Doesn't really seem like a vacation to me - but they think it'll be the last time our whole family can get together ...

A vacation is something that takes you AWAY from stress, to a place that doesn't remind of you home...not something that CAUSES stress
A cramped cabin with 20+ people isn't my idea of fun - maybe it used to be...when we all had something more than blood-line in common.

I don't know - it seems to be causing more stress than anything - trying to coordinate schedules for that many people is really a nightmare. I don't know what my job situation will be this summer - so I can't really say with certainity that I can or cannot go.

It's not that I don't love Gatlinburg...and it's not that i don't love my family...there's just a lot of stress that comes with my family. I guess it's the same for most families. It's just that I'm around it ALL THE TIME and I'd really like a vacation to get away from it -
I mean, I keep waiting for a job to get me away from it...just seems backwards to me.

In all actuality I'd prefer a week at the beach with my immediate family to a long weekend in the mountains with everyone. Looking at cottages in Atlantic Beach, NC has me nostalgic for the Outer Banks and the way vacations used to be with my family - when I felt comfortable with my family.
Reading Nicholas Sparks novels doesn't help the situation either -

That's another thing...I've never read a book that uses the setting as well as Sparks does. The setting is practically a character in his book! It's amazing how sensory his novels are - at least it's that way with "The Last Song"
- what I wouldn't give for a job in North Carolina - for a view of the ocean, for a cottage on the beach...
talk about stress-free living!!