A trip overdue for all

A week from today, I plan on being on a beach in Mexico sipping from a drink with a cute little umbrella straw while my pale, white Alaskan body soaks in some of the sun’s rays, even though it will be coated with a generous layer of SPF 382.

My husband thoughtfully made this reservation for Cabo San Lucas while he was still in Iraq last November. He thought it would make a nice surprise and liked the idea of just the two of us enjoying some one-on-one time with each other in a tropical locale after being separated for the last 15 months.

I am most thrilled he did not keep this a surprise from me for too long, because unlike him, I need time to get accustomed to the concept. Or rather, my body needs time to get accustomed to the concept.

Unlike my spouse, I do not feel my body is quite swimsuit ready at a moment’s notice, able to appear in public in a small swath of rayon for multiple strangers to see. This vacation has inspired some pretty regular gym trips with that mind.

My husband’s being away for more than a year wasn’t enough of an inspiration for me to lose the pounds I’d gained over the last few years. His triumphant return home wasn’t enough of an inspiration for me to tackle the gym on a regular basis in order to get my figure somewhat svelte looking for him. But a vacation to Mexico, where complete strangers I will never see again in my natural life will meet me for the first and last time and never have any memory of the occasion?

That’s an inspiration.

So, I’ve been an almost daily attendee at the local AT&T Sports Center’s new gym, and my children have been reveling in the day care the center offers. Apparently, if one side of the basketball court isn’t in use when we go, the kids bring various toys out of their play area and are given full reign of the space. My son and daughter thinks this is possibly the greatest thing that has ever happened, and will continue to think so as they are not going with my husband and I to Mexico.

So, the gym’s day care is going to continue to rank pretty high in their estimation of what Nirvana is.

Lest anyone think we are leaving a 13-year-old, 3-year-old and a 1-year-old on their own, I was to reassure all that their Nana is going to be staying with them.

She hasn’t seen her grandchildren in almost two years and is positively ecstatic at spending some alone time with them in order to spoil them rotten outside of their parents’ control.

All week I have been frantically cleaning my house in preparation for her visit. My house cannot simply be clean, it must be MILC (mother-in-law clean). This is more than simply running a vacuum and tossing a few toys in a bin. This involves actually dusting, rearranging, polishing, scrubbing, mopping on my hands and knees and even brushing the cats.

One of the other reasons I am so frantically cleaning is because I read in a fitness magazine a long time ago that it can burn more calories than a gym workout, and I still have that darn swimsuit stuck in my mind.

This week my husband’s mother is coming for a visit and my husband and I are leaving for a few days. I’m going to miss my children desperately as well as the sub-zero temperatures we’ve been enjoying lately, but I think I can manage to console myself.

My suitcase sits beside my bed upstairs in our room. It’s been packed with shorts, tank-tops and two swimsuits since early Christmas. My house is clean (mostly) and my husband still has yet to set foot in the gym, convinced his male physique was born swimsuit ready.

I am so ready for this.

Tiffany Horvath is the mother of two and the stepmother of one. Her husband, Drew, was deployed to Iraq and returned home in December. She writes every Sunday abut life at home as a wife and mother.