I am just realizing how unprepared I am for our upcoming family vacation. We leave at the end of the week for a beach vacation in Hilton Head, SC.

As the MOM and the primary do-it-all for the family, it is up to me to make the packing list, fill in the blanks with frequent visits to Target for items like bugspray, sunblock, and pepto bismol, air out the suitcases, wash the clothes, pack, etc. etc.

Now that we are a mere five days out from the family road trip, I am sitting here at my laptop, starting the first day under my new role at work and sweating bullets thinking about how much more I have to do.

I am thinking that even with the case of wine we are toting down, it will take half of next week just to unwind before I start enjoying myself.

The upside is unlike some of our recent vacations, the rules for this one are quite different. This is not a vacation where every moment of the day is planned. This is all about relaxation, sun, food, and libations.

I’ve decided that I am also NOT bringing the laptop.

Nope. I won’t be driving to the nearest Starbucks looking for an Internet Hotspot. I swear I won’t. No calling in for messages. No contact with the outside world beyond my family.

I’ll be the woman in the shorts and flip flops ordering an iced latte, and PERHAPS sipping it on the outdoor porch instead of bouncing back in the car and driving with one eye on the road and the other on the clock.

Hmmmmmm, I can’t wait.

Until then, it’s just the overplanning, stressed-out, time chasing Shelli you all know and have come to love.

After I’ve completed the last task/errand at the end of this week, I am locking up the office and taking a technology break.

Yay!