Vacation Post-Mortum

As you might know, my family went to Topsail Island for holiday on Thanksgiving week. It was a very interesting challenge for the first several days. While all of us enjoyed each others company, the 1,000 piece puzzle that Mark succeeded in finishing (yeah Mark!), and touch football on the beach, it was not without it's down side.

For example, the realty company was completely non-responsive to our issues, and we needed to continually go to their office and complain. I HATE chronic complainers - and both my husband and I became one.

Why?

Here's a short list.

1- We were locked out of the house for an hour when we first arrived. Agents didn't give us instructions for the combination lock on the door. Took 30 minutes just to get an agent on the telephone.

Time to get resolved: 1 hour sitting in the drizzling cold

2 - Hot tub dirty, water slimy, hot tub cover ripped with pieces hanging in the water.

Time to get resolved: 3 days (and it still wouldn't heat higher than 91)

3- Bathrooms dirty, soap scum, hair balls in the drains, urine in the toilets.

Time to get resolved: 3 days (and three visits to the rental office)

4- Internet not working and rental agency "tech guy" didn't understand that the problem was at the service provider side and not the house side - even though we told him again and again.

Time to get resolved: Thanks to the involvement of my husband, 3 days (if he hadn't, it would not have been fixed.)

5- Rental company NEVER returned any phone calls.

OK, enough griping. Yes, the list can go on for, yikes, 14 more items. At least that's what we have listed in the letter we're sending them tomorrow.

But through it all, we had fun being together. It just goes to show that family and friends are so much more valuable than "things," although those "things" can sure make life more comfortable. So when people ask me how our Thanksgiving was, I respond with smile and say, "Wonderful."