Have you ever wanted to get away from it all? Just head out on a cruise, or a drive, or hide in a hotel without giving anyone your phone number?

I've felt that way recently. Unfortunately, like most of us, I can't simply run away. I have responsibilities, work and family, and I have neither the time nor the money for a cruise or a hotel. Even a drive is out, unless it is short.

Today I got a drive and felt like I got away from it all. I taught this morning. Big shock. I teach every Saturday morning. However, my Saturday morning classes are starting to feel more like time off than work (see earlier rants on HS teaching for why). Then I went home. Tried to get the family moving, but we have a new XBox. Eventually, though, we went to lunch at Chili's.

After that we took a 45 minute drive north, through scenic piney woods Texas (no, that is not sarcasm), and went to Huntsville. While Huntsville is known for its prisons, it is also home to Sam Houston State University and was once the home of Sam Houston, Hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. My youngest is doing a report on him. We went to the Steamboat, the home where he died, and saw his “law office” where he kept his books and thought about what laws he should vote for as a US Senator.

My husband did an amazing job filming M's comments in front of various buildings. Then we came home. Instead of playing Halo all night, R went up and worked on editing the film. It looks good, but I know this teacher is picky. When she said 5 minutes, she meant she wanted 5 minutes of him talking. R's going to have to do a voice over or something, because he edited out the whole interview on San Jacinto.

I did not work on the film. I read six magazines from the last two months, four Houston Chronicles from this week, and watched four HGTV shows that I hadn't seen yet.

I feel like I have had a break. No responsibilities and lots of fun. Thanks, R, for my holiday.