I miss Mexico. I miss when I could get on a plane and go places that were fun. I miss when I used to be able to hang out with whomever I wanted to and decide for myself if I wanted to get sick and stuff:)  
But I mostly miss Mexico. 
Erin and I try to get away at least once a year with no kids because we were a family before they came along and will be a family again after they’re out of the house, meaning we need to make the best go of our marriage if we can. 
It was weird with our kids out of the house Christmas day evening because Arwen can drive and has her own car, so Erin and I went for a drive and looked at Christmas lights because we weren’t technically allowed to be with other family Christmas day or the government would fine us. 
I said to Erin “This is so weird! Think we’ll still like each other when the kids are out of the house??”
Erin said NOTHING. She said absolutely nothing. 
Erin grew up in a family where silence was somehow acceptable when asked a direct question because whoever didn’t have to answer was in charge or something, or where you could be like “I’m THINKING” for about a month rather than answering in the normal time slot. 
In the Kope home you’d better answer the bleedin’ question and show some respect afforded to humans or mom would walk over and make herself VERY unignorable. 
Having said that, Erin tends to freeze when under pressure. Apparently my question asking whether we’d still like each other when the kids were gone was a High Pressure Question. 
Finally I turned my head and very gently and kindly (or whatever the opposite of those two things) said “Hey! You going to answer or what?????”
Our relationship is often awkward and you’d think most of that would be my fault, but when one spouse gets teed up like that, she’d better take a swing at some form of compliment. 
Like when my mom would ask “Do you like my new haircut?”. 
The answer is ALWAYS an emphatic YES!! Even if you didn’t look at her hair the expected offering was still acceptable. 
A zero response would have led to me not living until the next haircut and having the opportunity to respond with the proper awe. 
Erin finally blurts out “What does THAT mean?? That you won’t like me anymore??”
Why do girls always assume we don’t like them? Did they do something bad we don’t know about yet that they’re waiting for us to find out? I assume people will like me because I’m amazing and weird and people seem a little bored when I’m not around. 
Also if I do something stupid I’m like a truth bomb, I HAVE to tell someone about it immediately or I’ll go crazy. 
I responded “Erin! Oh my goodness! RELAX!! It’s Christmas!”. 
One major reason we like each other is that we plan to get away every now and again and leave our kids and church behind. When I step off the plane in Cancun I don’t care about my responsibilities anymore for at least a week. 
Now we have a great team at Venue and I know anything that comes up will be dealt with well and the work will go on without us, our kids are decently stable and grandma and grandpa (and like fifty Venue people) will take care of them. 
Planning trips this year has been a nightmare, and Alberta’s two day quick test makes it the best province to travel from by far, but in the back of our minds now we remember the panic of the early days of the zombie virus (I mean covid), and had friends stranded forever in countries where their kids weren’t. 
I have no problem risking travel during this time because I’d personally rather get covid than hear about it anymore (“You horrible man!!!”). Whatever, I guess I’m no longer allowed to have an opinion about my own life, or even get sick and die like the glory days of 2019 not because it would be a bad experience for my family, but because it might personally offend people who secretly wish I’d contract covid because I’m not afraid of it like I ought to be. 
Very complicated emotional days we live in. Also I’m not sure how a grocery store here or gas station there is that different from each other. 
Thankfully the government has mandated I’m not allowed to get sick and die or expose myself to my own parents over Christmas even if they’d already had it, but this new definition of freedom is definitely a little difficult to wrap one’s head around… 
Also I’m an 8 on the enneagram and think I’ll live forever which is why I ride fast motorbikes, so there’s that to factor in. You could tell me “You HAVE TO eat this delicious hamburger” and I’d be like “I’ll eat it IF I WANT TO!”. 
I don’t have to follow rules in Mexico, I just get to hang out with Erin (who’s secretly worried I won’t like her once the kids are gone apparently), sit in the sun, eat sushi, drink the occasional / more than occasional margarita, read a book and do whatever I want:) 
Might be time to go again. 
Aaaaand ironically in the time frame between writing and publishing this there are now new rumours of some silly testing abroad just to get back on the plane and come back to my own country??