Oh, my goodness, could I BE any more excited?

To back up, 2007 is a rather auspicious year for my family of origin, numerically. (I know, there I go with the big words again. "Origin" means "where I came from" and "numerically" means "numbers and stuff.")

Anyway, in April, my sister Mary will turn 16. In May, I'll be 30. And August will cause my sister Sarah to become 21. Big, milestone-ish sorts of birthdays, one and all. We had this realization on New Year's Eve when the girls were here, and it psychically presented itself to my mother the next day, such that while she and I were on the phone, she mentioned, casuallike, "We should all go somewhere for a weekend, to celebrate."

And the idea stewed, and processed. And a week or so later, I was talking with another friend who was also planning a big sisterly vacation this year, listing off my possibilities for a weekend destination, when it came to me, in a flash of inspiration and "Well, DUH."

Paris. We need to go to Paris.

I've been there, but only for a weekend out of a 3-week European backpacking trip. My mother and sisters have never been overseas. The girls took/are taking high school French, as did I. My mother has always fantasized about going to France, and in fact got her passport in 1998 just in case the opportunity ever presented itself. Well, then, it seems about time that the opportunity presents itself, don't you think?

So Willem and I talked money - there's a possibility my mother won't be able to help out much with the money, given her combination single-mom and runs-own-business status, plus we're putting in a second bathroom starting tomorrow - and decided that, given the fact that between now and April I will be putting in a minimum 9 hours a week overtime while a coworker is on maternity leave, and we're finally well ahead of the bills after running pretty close to the wire when I stayed home with the kids last year, and we're expecting a pretty sizable tax return, we can swing it.

My biggest concern with the trip was that it would become one of those situations where we talk and talk about it but never actually DO anything. So, last night, I talked with my mother and verified with her, "Here are the dates I think we should go. Is it okay with you if I buy tickets?" She gave the royal consent, so last night I BOUGHT TICKETS TO PARIS.

Paris in May... seems like someone should write a song about that.