What I Did On My Summer Vacation (An Essay)

What I Did On My Summer Vacation
By Addie
8/2/08

On my Summer vacation I spent many, MANY hours watching each and every episode of the tv show Lost from seasons One through Four.

The End.

While it makes for an exceedingly short essay, I think we can all agree that it was a very productive summer. To redeem myself (and my time) somewhat, let me clarify that all of those episodes were watched on my laptop. Which means that due to the laptop's portable nature, approximately 3 episodes were enjoyed while folding laundry and four were watched in the kitchen while cleaning up after the kids went to bed. So I really only sat on my toockus for 76 of the remaining episodes. Productive summer indeed. And I think I can safely say that 315 minutes of that time was Uber productive. (7 epsidoes x 45 minutes each = 315 total minutes. See kids, you will use all of those math lessons later on in life!)

Alright, I'll admit that besides becoming a Lostie, I've done I've accomplished I'm desperately hoping to finish one other project this summer.

Potty Training.

If you've been through this disgusting soul shredding unique process you fully understand. If not, there is very little I can tell you to prepare you for what lies ahead. The one positive I can say, after having experienced this great joy three times now, is that you can learn a lot of Life lessons while mucking (and I do mean mucking) through it.

So in order to bring some beauty out of my ashes, I'd like to share with you a few of the lessons I've learned that are not only true with potty training, but are also true in life:

1. Success comes from failure. (At least that's what I keep telling myself. And as it stands now, we're about due from some HUGE success!)
2. You're hands have to get dirty if you want to get anything done.
3. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. (As in go ahead and leave the house in underwear, but bring along plenty of extra's.)
   
4. Take Mary Poppins advice: "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." In other words take time to have a little fun in the process.
5. Don't take what seems to be the easy way, it's almost always the longer more difficult route. (I helped pay the salaries of the Hugg!es Pu11-up$ department for almost an entire year my first time around six years ago. Let's just say a year is a really long time to be potty training!)
6. Smile and the world smiles with you. Strike a 'Vogue' pose and they are forced take your picture.
7. Sometimes sitting in your own mess is the best lesson of all.
8. A Good covering is the best investment. (I like these for potty training and this for life.)
9. If the road gets rough, don't underestimate the rejuvinating power of a nap.


10. Keep a lot of anti-bacterial soap stocked around the house ... you're gonna need it. (This one is not so much a life lesson, but I felt the need for a well rounded list of 10.)