Post-vacation weeks tend to be a little crazy. Almost makes me wonder if going away is worth it. But it definitely was. “Stay-cations” are nice for their low cost and if you have catch up work to do around the house. But that’s work. If you need a break, and we all needed a break, nothing beats getting away from visual reminders of your to-do list, having your place mysteriously tidied up while you are out at the beach, and eating out or preparing extremely simple meals.

So, it was not intentional that I have left the vacation quiz unanswered for so long. I’m sure everybody is wondering how they scored. In a word: pathetic. Don’t feel badly, though. Some of the questions were tricky!

Here are the answers:

#1 The car is packed, the kids are loaded up, everybody is ready to go. What last chore is Michelle doing before leaving on vacation?

a. Hand washing all the dishes because you can’t leave the house with the dishwasher running.
b. Folding a last load of laundry so the clothes in the dryer aren’t wrinkled when we get back.
c. Cleaning out the cat’s litter box.
d. Shampooing the living room rug because it will have plenty of time to dry while we’re gone.
e. Scrubbing out the kitchen garbage can.
f. Au contraire! I’m the one honking the car horn impatiently waiting for everybody else.

{Notes: I always walk out the door with appliances running and would only worry about clothing in the dryer if it belonged to Bill and I – not the kids. We don’t own a cat. I might have been scrubbing the garbage can, but not this time. Often I am ready to go and impatiently waiting – but usually for day trips, not getaways. And the rug was in a deplorable condition. I’d been wanting to scrub it for weeks.}

#2 What important item did Michelle forget to pack?

a. Sunscreen
b. Cell phone charger
c. Kids’ toothbrushes
d. Her pajamas
e. The blender
f. Camera

{Notes: except for the blender, all of these items have been forgotten at some point by me, so very tricky question.}

#3 What non-essential did Michelle not pack that she was delighted to see at the hotel?

a. Cast-iron skillet
b. DVD player
c. Foot massager
d. Bathrobe
e. Feather pillow
f. Mini-reading light

{Notes: I couldn’t care less about a skillet or a DVD player. A bathrobe would have been nice, same with a mini-light. But I really really like feather pillows and the king bed had one – the rest were polyester filled. It made my sleeping experience so much better.}

#4 What item did Michelle pack that was pure wishful thinking and likely won’t be touched?

a. Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
b. How to Paint Like Monet dvd (and canvas and paint, too)
c. Waterproof hand weights for stepping up your pool workout
d. Fishing poles
e. Writer’s notebook
f. Contact lenses

{Notes: I always feel obliged to take some sort of self-improvement item. I’ve been trying to get through a reading list, and Pilgrim’s Progress is the second book on it. I even lowered my standards to the first half of that book, but it’s still slow going. Not an exciting read. I’d rather read Melville. Oh, wait, he’s #8 on the list. Joy.}

#5 Lastly, if Bill and I can get a babysitter today, what activity do we have planned?

a. Horseback riding on the beach
b. Sunset kayak tour
c. Bike riding
d. Dinner and a quiet stroll
e. Horse-drawn carriage ride in historic Fernandina
f. Lounging by the pool drinking frou-frou drinks brought to us by the wait staff

{Notes: a very tricky question, since we discussed all the options with much seriousness. However, the expense of doing a, b and e was excessive…and I won’t even tell you how much we paid for the babysitter (I am much too embarrassed). The evening we went out followed a day wherein I ran 7 miles and walked around a zoo for 3 hours, so I was not eager to go for a bike ride. And it was so hot, that we were very happy to sit in a cold restaurant, drink frou-frou drinks there, and slowly stroll along the beach back to our room.}

Denise, the last one to comment, got TWO right. Some of you got one right, and some of you got none right. I said a Hail Mary for each person who participated and one more for each right answer and then a decade for everybody just because I was running 7 miles and had to do something to keep my mind off looking at my watch and calculating just how much longer I’d be shuffling around out there. And now, I have to go do 8 miles, and I have very little motivation to do so. I’m sure I’ll pray for you all again, because that’s what I do.

Have a great weekend.