Three tickets to paradise

Sometime in the last 10 months, I have developed an odd sense of entitlement. It's odd mostly because I have lived my entire life lacking a sense of entitlement, even to things to which I was clearly entitled.

Now, though, I feel strongly that the girls and I somehow deserve some peace. We have been through enough and now need to coast for a while, thank you very much.

As last week's Caribbean vacation approached, I put a lot of stock into the trip. I saw it as a turning point - a chance to breathe, to feel lighter, to move forward. I could feel the pink sand beneath my feet and the cool umbrella drink in my hand. I could see the girls frolicking nearby with new friends. I could feel our collective sense of relief.

The trip got off to a great start. We arrived at the resort with our friends and were welcomed by a large group of impossibly enthusiastic staff. Our room was awesome - not only did each of us have her own bed, but the girls actually had a separate bedroom. The pool sparkled and the sea beckoned.

The next day, Critter was sick to her stomach for a few hours. She recovered pretty quickly. The next day I was sick, and it knocked me out for two days (I will never again use the phrase projectile vomiting lightly). When I recovered, Critter got it again, worse the second time. Our physical woes were set against a backdrop of broken air conditioning and a malfunctioning toilet in the room, along with animated but empty promises that they would be fixed immediately. We visited the kind doctor in the resort infirmary, who filled us full of meds and advised us to only eat white rice, plain pasta, boiled potatoes and bananas for the rest of the week.

Pickle hit a low point when Critter started her second bout of illness. I broke down in tears after the fifth cheerful promise that the air conditioning would be fixed. We deserved to be having a perfect vacation, and damn it, this was not it.

Despite it all, though, we really did have a good time. We spent a lot of time together and with our friends. We made some wonderful new friends. We floated weightlessly in crystal clear water. Critter swung from a trapeze and Pickle drank her weight in smoothies.

I do believe we have become experts in making lemonade out of life's lemons. Next time, though, I will make my lemonade with bottled water.