october travels

i don't remember if october was my favorite month before i began working at a year-round school, but now i have to admit i find the crisp fall days of october almost holy. however, i suspect it has more to do with the fact that i'm on break and have had a week to sit on the porch wrapped in a warm blanket, sipping coffee and reading for pleasure. in the past week i've done nothing school related (other than grad school work) and it's been fabulous. my stack of school work is tucked away behind the couch- because of course i thought i would get so much done during my time off. not so, but i've taken lots of naps with my cat.
tomorrow my husband and i are off to switzerland. this summer my two brothers, who had just graduated from college, called me and said, "hey, we're going to switzerland in two weeks to meet those relatives we've always heard about. want to come?"
it was my first realization that i am an adult. with a mortgage. and a husband. and grad school classes. who can't just buy international plane tickets on a whim and fly away to meet long-lost relatives. it pained me to tell them no. i spent a good two days trying to make it work, find cheap tickets, convincing myself i could take my grad school final the day we came back, that i really wanted to stay in hostels with my baby brothers and other european tourists. finally, i acknowledge that i was a grown up.
luckily, i didn't acknowledge this before i'd purchased a switzerland guidebook and left it in plain view for my husband to peruse. once he decided he wanted to go we did the adult thing and planned ahead and are now leaving for switzerland tomorrow.
("adult thing" is currently up in the air since the economy is reportedly falling out of the sky and we're off to one of the most expensive countries in europe. but now we've got nonrefundable tickets, so... off we go. )

i explained to my friday morning book club that we would not have book club over intersession since i'd be away. "in my country!" i said proudly, proving that a) i can be as mature as a 4th grader and b) i have international ties just like the kids at my school.

"where you going? let me guess... germany!" one of my book-club members exclaimed.

"nope, switzerland"

"you so look german" what does a 4th grader know about looking german (except that my grandfather's father was german and mother was swiss... so she's right)

whose from there? your mom or your dad? she asked.

"my mother's father's mother" i explained, realizing how silly this sounded.

"come on mrs lipstick, that's not your country. thats too confusing. your american"

again, true point. but for about 2 seconds i wanted to feel cool like allt he other kids who "travel to their countries" during breaks.

*sigh*

the other non-adult thing i did was schedule the trip to return the night before my midterm in my special education assessment class, which is nothing but statistics. perhaps if i fail i can tempt my professors with swiss chocolate...