Even though I’m stressed to the max running around the house trying to get us all ready to go, in a couple hours, we’ll point our car north to head here:

(IMAGE SOURCE)

We’re heading to the mountains around Asheville, North Carolina, to celebrate my father-in-law’s 80th birthday with my husband’s family! Fall weather, here I come!

I left work early to hit the bank, gas station and come home to finish packing. This was all supposed to be done alone, but this morning E. was crying that her stomach hurt and she didn’t want to go to school (which she never says). I was desperate to get a few hours of work in. Since she had no fever and had neither vomited nor had diarrhea, I said the silent Mother’s Prayer (please let me get at least a few hours out of school before she starts puking) and sent her to school. The only way to get her out the door was to promise I’d pick her up before naptime.

We got home and I started running around packing, making piles of crap we need to take (I swear, sometimes it feels like we’re in the Army) and throwing a load of laundry in. E. told me she had to go to the bathroom and wanted me to come. I told her that she could go in herself and yell for me when she needed wiping (you know you’re jealous).

As I was packing stuff in her room, I heard her say this:

“I love my Mommy so much. Dear God, thank you for making my Mommy.”

I stopped in my tracks and honestly started to tear up a little bit. But before the first tear had the opportunity to even depart my tearducts, I heard the rest of her prayer.

“And thank you for making pee-pee and poop.”

So there you have it. At least my daughter is thankful for me, but only slightly more thankful than she is for piss and shit.

That’s pretty much motherhood in a nutshell.

Have a great couple days and I’ll see you when we come out of the mountains!

Have you ever been to Asheville? Anything we MUST do or see?