in ninety-five days, I will be leaving for Miami. Ninety-five WHOLE days… That’s two thousand two hundred and eighty hours… That’s one hundred thirty six thousand eight hundred minutes… That’s over eight million two hundred thousand seconds! Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?

Well it is!!! What’s worse is that ever since I’ve crossed the magical one hundred day threshold, it’s been going SUPER slow! Please tell me that I’m not alone here? Someone? Anyone? Bueller?

I know what’s causing it. It’s the same thing that happens EVERY year around this time! I like to call it The February Funk. Football season is over. Hockey season is just chugging along, just like basketball. Baseball season doesn’t start for another week…well, spring training, anyway. Even at that, there are no games until the end of the month! It’s cold outside. We haven’t had a decent snowfall in years. (and to all of you living in places where you just got hammered, I would gladly take some of that off of your hands. Not all of it, mind. Just some. My aunt got just over thirty inches in Squantum, MA, and her power has been going on and off.)

My little town is so boring. We just FINALLY got an Olive Garden, so the entire town is talking about when they’re planning on going, who they’ve gone with, how long the wait was, what it looks like inside, etc, etc. They’re talking about how maybe we’ll get a Red Lobster or something now. Whatever. I’m over it.

Outside of church, there really isn’t anything else for me to do in this town. Now, I’m very involved with my church. I’m in the various choirs, I go to Sunday school, I’m involved with the women’s group, the prayer shawl ministry, I do baking for various events, and I’ve recently become a liturgist. However, I would LOVE something else to do!

That something came today.

Remember yesterday when I said that I wasn’t feeling well? My husband took our older son to a birthday party that I was actually very much looking forward to going to, as the mom is a friend of mine. Fortunately, today was another birthday party for another child in my son’s class, and that mom happened to be there as well. We talked, had a few laughs, and watched our kids play on all the gymnastics equipment, as it was a tumble sort of party. The place is actually really cool. It’s a gym with regular workout equipment, they have indoor batting cages, and they also have gymnastics. Every now and then, they open the place up for open hours, where you can take your child and let them play for an hour. They also have birthday parties, obviously.

Anyway, I mentioned to my mom friend that I was going on a cruise in May, and another mom heard. The three of us started talking about vacations and whatnot, when the question was asked about who I was going with. My answer, of course, was that I was going with friends…and New Kids on the Block. They looked at me like I was joking. The one mom asked me, “you mean, like on the boat with New Kids on the Block on the same boat?” UM YEAH!!! I explained the full ship charter and how this was actually going to be their fifth cruise and before I knew it, there were two other moms in the conversation! It was awesome!!! At the end of the party, I had three of those four moms telling me that we’d meet up in Miami, that we were going to share a cabin, and that the one mom was going to bring an air mattress. I believe her words were that she was going to tell Joey McIntyre that she had a double and there was plenty of room for him! HA!

It’s funny. These women I’m meeting along the way that are NKOTB fans, I wouldn’t have known otherwise, as they don’t live in my town. Now here I was at a birthday party and these three women, these moms who all have children in my older son’s class, are going to talk to their husbands about the NKOTB cruise! The one mom said she’s got tickets (or she’s getting tickets?) for the show just outside NYC. (that would be at the Izod Center, if you were wondering) While I talk to these women at school functions and birthday parties, we now have something in common that doesn’t revolve around our children. I like that!

I just wish time would speed up, just a little, so that May could get here sooner than it seems to be! We’re moving at a snail’s pace, and it’s driving me completely round the bend! Is someone sitting on the “slow motion” button? Could you all stand up and make sure it isn’t you? I would really like to get to Miami and onto that boat soon. HA!