Birthday Vacation Countdown: "All My Possessions For A Moment Of Time"

Beach bums, always!

I've been planning a trip out of town for my birthday for a while now, and originally I wanted to go somewhere exotic and new and just spend a week in another time zone experiencing new foods, lives and cultures with one of my close friends and my sister. When reality set in (read: I looked at my available vacation days AND bank account) we decided on a domestic adventure instead. And that was cool.

Then my very good friend had to pull out of the trip for health reasons and I was bummed, but hey--Mari and I know how to have a good time and you can't fault someone for being ill. So it was all still cool. THEN we find out our accommodations, which were going to be free and comfy, were no longer available, but again, I was OK. Then my calendar confirmed that my period was going to come right smack in the middle of fun times and, in the heat of PMS-ville, I was ready to just say FUCK IT.

But then I watched the series finale of "The Big C" (starring Laura Linney) and checked my diva at the door.

I have a well-paying job with decent benefits that allows me the luxury of planning and paying for a vacation. I have a sister that, although she is almost a decade younger than me, is one of my closest buds. I get to take this vacation, spend it with my sister, and make cool memories, like only she and I know how. I was a little bummed when it all began to unravel, but you know what? I get to leave New York for a while. YES! NO ANNOYING PARK SLOPE FAMILIES TO BLOCK MY MORNING COMMUTE!

In the past couple of years I've been dealing with a bunch of health scares--some semi-serious and others not so much. Any abnormal test results slap me in the face with screams of MORTALITY. I don't want to lay in my deathbed, look back and realize I wasted a perfectly good vacation opportunity because my period was due and that meant beach time would be limited. I want to look back and say "Oh man, Mari and I had such a great time; I was high on Aleve and Cuba Libres the entire time!" And the bonus here? I always indulge my cramps with whatever it wants to eat, and we all know that vacation eating is the BEST kind of eating around. FRIED PORK CHOPS FOR EVERYONE!

Of course, in the end I'll always want more time. Who doesn't want more time? But I want to know that the time I did have was well-spent and appreciated.

Who knew Showtime could make me feel real feelings?

*smooches...reconsidering my aversion to tampons*
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perhaps they aren't the instruments of the devil; I've been known to be wrong in the past...that one time...