over too soon

This evening we (me + Matt) returned from a wonderful vacation with the Hartzell family. We were camping at Crane Prarie resort, which is out about a half an hour from Sunriver.
We had a few adventures... we kayaked down the Deschutes with Tim and Ashley, visited Sisters, and I even met the grandparents who road-tripped all the way from Mesquite, Nevada to hang out with us.
So all in all I would have to say it was a fun trip. I took 6 days off from work. I am experiencing the joys of paid vacation (I, in my youth, have never experienced such a marvelous thing).
The highlights were kayaking, hanging out with the family, and Russ' new(/old) toys. When his parents came to visit they brought with them the old video camera, circa 1940s (i believe). It was in great condition and there were several cans of film. We watched some of the old home movies on this neat little contraption you use to crank, cut and splice film. I have heard of these things but never seen one. As you can imagine it was good fun for me as a digital video student. I also got a kick out of the operation manual (complete with a foreword by Alfred Hitchcock on how to make a better home movie).
There were only a couple downsides. My phone crapped out Sunday afternoon and I couldn't get it to work again. I finally gave up and today when we got home I went to get a new one. It turns out my plan doesn't end until November so I'm not eligible for a new phone until then. So I ended up just buying a cheap one to last me a couple months. Hopefully it wokrs until then, because if it does I can return it within 90 days (when I get a new one) for store credit. So I guess that isn't too bad. Usually cell phone issues are brutal. I did, however, lose all the numbers on my old phone. So if you read this, text me your number, cause so far I have Ashby, my cousin, Beth Peterson, and Matt, and that's it.
Also I got sick on the drive home, which was pretty miserable. Traffic was bad so it took us like 5+ hours to get back. I did start to feel better after I got home and took a nap.

I don't know if I have ever needed a vacation as badly as I needed this one. It was good to just escape all the stress and chill for a few days. I will be thankful when (if?) life calms down enough that driving back into Portland doesn't feel so much like a cloud of dread sweeping over me. Ugh.
Well, I am going to try to stay positive and focus on the things that alleviate my stress. I'm excited to get back to work and see my friends there. I've got a free coffee tasting class coming up that I'm going to be teaching. I'm really excited about that. Tomorrow I'm going to spend some more time pinning down the details, so that should be fun.

Anyway, it is late, and I need to sleep... :)