For all of you out there reading this who aren’t my wife or mother, you can keep on reading. You don’t know me as well as they do, so they won’t find any of this informative.

Surprise: I don’t like to feel unprepared or unsure of anything. I am, in many, many ways, cautious, deliberate, and only in extremely rare occasions do I leap into something without having thought it through FOREVER.

Which is why this statement will not surprise my wife or mother: I’ve been deliberately checking out hotels and plans for our trip probably for about a month now. But haven’t felt confident enough yet to pull the trigger on solidifying any actual plans.

I’ve been getting nervous about it because I haven’t had anything nailed down yet, except for the part that involves being in San Francisco, because those plans are actually someone else’s to make. And when I’m nervous, I’m tense. And when I’m tense, I’m no fun. Not to say I’m a whole lot of fun otherwise, but this just makes me less so.

That problem has been overcome this weekend. Two hotels booked, Alcatraz tickets purchased. Even the drive has been fairly firmly planned out.

I can confidently say that I’m going on vacation. Because I’ve got hotels to stay in. A few definite destinations to take the family to. And a plan that isn’t the nebulous thing it was on Friday.

I know. I’m overly deliberate. It’s who I am. Mom tells the story of the boy who wouldn’t walk until one day he stood up and just started walking–more confidently and securely than most toddlers, as I understand it. I just needed to be sure it was all going to work. I was terrified about moving to North Dakota. That turned out to be a good decision.

And yeah, spontaneity is not a strong suit. Go figure. Patrick keeping me up until 1 a.m. last night so I could drive his friends home after some time at our place threw me off for the day. So, sticking to my usual ordered, scheduled life, it’s about 10:30, and I’m heading to bed. I’ve got a plan to stick to.

See you tomorrow.