An uncertain departure

As I was preparing to head out to South Carolina, the last thing I wanted to do was work.  Even though it was going to be a half day, it would drag on in anticipation of my departure and I knew it.  Unfortunately, if I wish to travel, I must work, and trust me when I say I had to work to make this one happen.

Being in the middle of an interim audit at work, I had clearance to leave for the weekend provided I was able to get the auditors to sign off on all items that I was responsible for.  That meant not only working longer hours ahead of time and getting everything to them early enough for their review, but guaranteeing that they would stay on schedule and get it all reviewed.  My flight was scheduled for Friday at 3pm which meant I had until 1pm to get their sign offs if I was to make it to the airport on time. 

The second issue was of course the kids.  They were scheduled to go fishing for the weekend but would not leave for the fishing trip until 4pm (after I would depart) and would be returning on Sunday at 3pm (2 hours before I would arrive home).  This required some fancy footwork to get them all packed ahead of time, and negotiate with their friends family to pick them up from school, and keep them longer on Sunday.

Lastly were the animals.  This was a bit easier and merely required cashing in on a favor from a neighbor.

Since if even one piece of the plan were to fail, I would have to cancel my trip, I was definitely nervous to say the least, but by 11am the auditors signed off and by 12:30 my kids friend’s parents picked them up at school.  YES!  Finally a sense of peace.  The trip would be a go.  This would be the weekend I was hoping for- quiet and could get away from it all.