Let Them Be Little: IT PAYS TO PROCRASTINATE

SOME OF THE TIME!

Well, it has paid for us to procrastinate the last couple of times that we have gone out of town.

Okay, technically we still ended up paying...

just not as much.

I don't generally like to procrastinate important tasks such as finding a place to stay while on vacation

but

we have had such great luck with it lately that I thought I would share the procrastination tip.

For our state meet trip to Austin, we had a hotel reserved well in advance and thought that we were staying at the same hotel as Nathan. Only a few days before the event, we found out that we had been told to book the wrong hotel. Although we tried to get a room in the same hotel as Nathan, it was too late.

While searching for a room close to Nathan or the venue, we realized that three of his friends on the wrestling team wanted to go to Austin and spend the weekend with us.

It suddenly began to feel like ONE hotel room for 8 people might be a little too cozy.

While keeping our hotel room reserved, we began looking for another room or alternative.

Jon found a fabulous little house outside of Austin and due to our last minute booking, we got the 3 bedroom, 2 bath home for as little as we were going to have to pay for our one hotel room! They even offered to wave the $50.00 cleaning fee if we kept it clean AND when we came home we had a nice thank you email from them letting us know that they appreciated how clean we left it and offered to give us a discount on a return booking.

Here is the rock front porch and the kids who traveled to Austin with us.

This clever cactus found a home in a tree!

Cool, isn't it?!

As I looked at the red and green cactus growing out of a live oak tree, I was amazed, I had never seen something like that before. Doesn't this depict how we can live and thrive happily just about anywhere? I think if we choose to be happy wherever we are in life, we can grow and thrive no matter what. I know that seems a little simplistic for all mankind, after all, we do have big problems to deal with in this life, but I like the thought anyway. If a cactus can live happily in an oak tree, and an oak tree can continue to thrive with a cactus growing out of one of its limbs, why not us? (I have learned that I can live anywhere, maybe even in a tree. Of course, that would be easier than adapting to a cactus growing out of me...).

Now for the Moab trip. I veered, sorry.

This was pure procrastination at its finest. We weren't even planning a trip to Moab. Once we realized it would be okay for Nathan to travel, we decided to take off. We packed and then left right away. We had hoped that my parents would be able to join us there but they weren't, so we only stayed in Moab a couple of days and then traveled to see my Grandma and my parents.

Here is the procrastination tip:

Since we were booking at the last minute, we found a condo (brand spankin' new) that they were willing to rent to us for a majorly reduced rate since we would be filling in the gaps between other bookings. It was awesome! 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, laundry (which we needed!), kitchen, dining and living room with fireplace, front porch with bbq. It was located at the end of a cul-de-sac with tennis and basketball courts and a swimming pool. Unbelievable! And VERY affordable.

So, if you don't want to wait until the last minute to reserve a place to stay, don't. Reserve a place. But as it gets closer, you may want to look outside (the box) your typical options and see what someone is willing to do for you. You can always cancel your previous reservation if you find something better. Be willing to talk with them on the phone rather than booking online. They will often want to reduce the cost for you if you call and chat in person. We have had GREAT luck!

We have stayed in really nice places and for less than hotel rates. Can't beat that!

Comments

I love the sidebar about the cactus on the oak tree. Someone should write a song about that...

Love you,

Posted by: Jonathan | March 24, 2009 at 09:03 PM

It is nice to have permission to procrastinate and feel good about it! Love the pics and story.

Posted by: Louise | March 27, 2009 at 12:53 PM

That cactus is the coolest! What good lesson for everyone to learn. I especially loved how you looked at it from both the perspectives of the cactus and the oak tree.

It kind of seems like that is what your blog is all about. Keeping perspective. I love it. And learn so much from you. Thanks for sharing.

P.S. I also love that you found such great places to stay. When I was in California for Carly's wedding, we stayed in a nice condo that belonged to an old friend of the Palfreyman family. It was just a twenty minute drive from the beach. And it was perfect for everything that needed to happen there.

I love good deals!

And the Lloyd family.

Talk to you soon!

Posted by: Karen | March 27, 2009 at 05:47 PM