with or without you

my oldest friend lucia made it to natey's party this weekend. i have known her 20 years. 20 years! she's my oldest friend, for sure. it was really good to see her because we don't see much of each other anymore. before jack was born we were practically living across the street from each other in now hipper-than-thou logan circle. but after the baby came, well, she and her husband kept living their newlywed, child-free existence while we became the parents-who-can-talk-of-nothing-but-the-baby. plus, we loaded up the truck and moved to suburbia after one too many run-ins with crazy homeless men while pushing the stroller down 14th street, so the distance didn't make it any easier to hang out.

after chatting for a while and catching up, lucia mentions that she and mike are taking a trip to ireland this summer and have tickets to see U2 in dublin. i've always wanted to go to ireland! the U2 i could do without -- i kinda got over them after achtung baby, but i do still enjoy the occasional spin of unforgettable fire or under a blood red sky -- but to see the lush rolling green hills of the irish countryside?? *sigh* that would be lovely.

"well, you guys should come with. we've got 2 extra tickets to see U2, and you could stay in the apartment for free. we're heading to amsterdam for a coupla days, too, but if you didn't want to go there the apartment will still be available."

"really?? god, i could SO use a vacation. and to ireland! hmmm...."

at that moment i knew i wanted to go, it was just a matter of what to do with the kids. and dave's starting a new job, but maybe he can take a week of vacation if he told them upfront? normally i'd ask my mom to come and take care of the boys, but she's getting a little too old to deal with them for a whole week. after a couple of days, she gets pretty exhausted. unfortunately she's the only person locally we could even ask! dave's sister in san diego said she may be able to come out, but isn't sure yet about the dates. i also think she's a little hesitant to be so close to her mother in charlotte, who will most likely want to come up if she finds out chris will be here! so we wait....

am i horrible for telling dave that i will be going whether he comes or not? if the chris thing doesn't work out, my mom could take care of the boys during the day until dave gets home from work. and i know i could get a friend interested in joining me, though i definitely don't mind going solo if i have to. i need a vacation, people! i'd love to take one with you, dave, but to quote bono, "with or without you...."