Vacation with a capital "Dammit"

Do you ever have one of those mornings where everything just sort of explodes in your face, and then you think, "Oh, right! I'm on vacation!"

Well, that's what's happening to me right now. First of all, it's 8:00 AM on a a Saturday, I'm on vacation at a Delaware beach, and I'm awake. What? Exactly. I know that for many, many people, being awake at 8:00 AM is a regular thing, but for this freelance writer--who is accustomed to working until the wee hours of the night--this part of the morning generally happens only in theory. But here I am, in my (admittedly very cute) room at a bed and breakfast, unable to sleep because the sounds of people making said breakfast are coming so strongly through the wall. Then there's the sound of the people upstairs, who apparently are practicing their clog dancing routine while breaking in their heaviest pairs of WWI-era boots. And, finally, there's the good Lord's sunshine, which is streaming over the bed like the brightest lamp in the tanning salon. I close my eyes, but it burns through the lids. Nuclear winter right here in the Delaware spring.

Plus, Melinda got kicked off American Idol, and my brand new iPod only works if I plug it into the external speakers I brought. Unplugged from the speakers? Just headphones? Nothing. Not even a picture on the screen.

So what do I do in the face of this rib-tickling adversity? I sing, dammit. Or at least, I think about singing. I can't actually sing, because Andrew is still trying to sleep. In the middle of the night, he moved to a small twin bed at the back of our little suite, trying to escape... well, I don't know yet. When he wakes up, I'll ask him what pushed him over the edge.

But anyway. Singing. In this bleary-eyed wasteland that is my Saturday morning, I keep my imagination on singing songs that put me in a good mood. Perhaps the Facts of Life theme. Or
"Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves.

Because I find that singing can actually improve my mood. Andrew tells me it stimulates some gland or other that makes this mood-enhancement a fact, but I don't remember the details.

And lord knows I need a little mood enhancement right now. I would love to...

...oh, sorry. I got distracted. The upstairs guests also have a small child, and she keeps testing out the volume level on her new voice. I mean, I assume it's new. Why would she use it so carelessly unless she was discovering all the features? Maybe in a few minutes she'll realize that the "shrieking Mommy's name" option isn't really meant for early morning employment.

Right. Singing. "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the..."

Oh. Sorry. I got freaked out a little right there. It literally sounded like someone dropped an entire tray of coffee mugs.

But screw it. Singing! Walking on Sunshine! Walking on all the sunshine that is streaming through this room! This bright, bright chamber whose ample illumination only reminds me of all that's good in this world! Like the voices of children! Shrieking for mommy!

I'm on vacation!