T minus 6 days

6 days. 147 hours. 8867 minutes. 5320549...48...47 seconds until VACATION. (No, I didn't do the multiplication on my own. I have an app for that.)

Next week, we will head to Germany again. This time we will be joining with a large group of the family to celebrate my mother-in-law's 70th birthday. As some of you know, this was supposed to be a big surprise. Alas, it was not to be. I had blocked all my German relations on Facebook save for one. The one I COMPLETELY forgot about. Daniel's GOSSIPING cousin. And after successfully keeping the secret for four months it got blown to smithereens in seconds. The good news is that my MIL was already VERY suspicious, and now she has cause to be excited and sanitize every inch of her home until we arrive.

This will be my fifth trip over the Atlantic. That's weird to think about. Five times? Have we even been together that long? Sometimes it's hard to wrap my head around what my life has become. I randomly met this guy in a bar four and a half years ago, and it turns out...he is the love of my life! (I mean really...could that story be any more ridiculous?) But here we are. 4 European vacations, one LONG engagement, a fabtastic wedding, and a year and a half of marriage later. Still going strong. Sometimes I think my life is a weird joke. I will somehow 'come out of it' and I will be back living with my buddies wondering if one day I will ever meet the one for me. It seems WAY too good to be true, and I feel like I WAY don't deserve any of it. We go on these wonderful vacations, spend time with amazing people, and have a blast doing all of it. And contrary to popular belief, these things aren't free! But my husband, the financial tycoon, somehow tricks me into saving all this money while I feel like I am always spending. It's MAGIC!

In the midst of all of this, I also gained an amazing second family. Most of them I can barely speak to. Damn that language barrier. But thanks to the six nieces and one nephew (the oldest of whom are 21. What?) I can communicate for the most part without making Daniel repeat everything that's being said. And while I can't speak that much German, I understand everything that's going on. I just need help communicating back. My MIL reminds me so much of my Grandma Flo it's uncanny. My FIL is the SWEETEST little Greek man that has ever lived. Seriously. If I could fit him in my purse, I would carry him around all the time. Daniel's siblings are oddly exactly like me and my brothers which helps everyone get along. Every time we visit, it reminds me of when I was little and my parents used to drop us off at Grandma's for a week at a time. That week is the best week of your life. You get stupid toys you will never play with again, drink an insane amount of Hi-C juice boxes, and eat chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate for breakfast while watching Regis and Kathy Lee. What more could you want?

The point of all the rambling is that I can't WAIT for next week. Not only will we get to see most of the fam at one big partay, we will be stopping in Paris for a whopping 20 hours to see THE Ray LaMontagne in concert. Live. On stage. Just a few feet in front of us. I can't even begin to put into words the GIDDINESS that I have about this event. Ray is probably my top musician ever. EVER. I don't say that lightly. I love him. We walked down the aisle to his song 'You Are The Best Thing.' 'Let It Be Me' was on our wedding album. He is my go to guy pretty much any time I need solid tunes. And the upside? Daniel loves him just as much. This will be an amazing experience, and I am so pumped that we will be together in PARIS for it. I mean. Who does that?

So....6 actual days. 3 days of work. Then we are off!

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