Last weekend's getaway vacation was a dream come true.

With the week's work behind me and the umpteenth winter storm making its way into our area, my husband called to tell me: "Pack your bags; we're going to Key West, Fla."

He must have known that I couldn't handle scraping my snow-covered car one more time or navigating the icy roads on my long commute to work.

Instead, the two of us were headed for three days of sunshine - and he did all the planning!

Packing my bags in less than an hour, we drove to the airport just as the incoming storm was gathering momentum. On the car radio, we listened with glee as the DJ announced the list of closings and cancellations. Despite the encroaching storm, our flight departed on time.

Soon I was settled into my seat, sipping a margarita as the lyrics of Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" blasted through my headset.

The next several days were the perfect antidote for the dark, dreary days of winter. Temperatures in Florida hovered in the upper 80s, and the sun shone brightly in a clear blue sky, a colorful contrast to the grays and browns of Western Pennsylvania's landscape.

My husband and I went snorkeling for the first time, swam in the ocean, and shopped. And instead of scurrying to throw a meal together at the end of a busy day, we dined leisurely on a patio outside our hotel or at the quaint beachside café not far from our room.

At night, the temperatures cooled to the mid-60s, making walks along the white sandy beach a perfect ending to our perfect days.

I was living a dream come true, I thought. No deadlines, no commute, no meetings, no shuffling my 15-year-old daughter to her evening activities. Here, other people were taking care of me.

My only concerns were picking a restaurant and night club for our evening entertainment and which dress to wear, the black one I brought from home or the sexy red one I had just bought. The only strenuous activity was rubbing lotion on my husband's back and rolling myself over on the beach to avoid getting burnt.

As I lay on the beach, letting the warm sun bake away my winter blues, I watched the gulls flying overhead and dozed to the rhythmic sounds of the waves beating against the shore and the distant voices of young adults in a friendly game of beach volleyball.

What a dream vacation, I thought as I slipped in and out of sleep. The long, lingering winter and wicked March storm couldn't touch me here.

As I dozed, I could hear the Buzzzz! Buzzz! Buzzz! of the ocean's waves on the shore. Buzzzz! Buzzz! Buzzz! they came again.

Suddenly I jerked awake, the bedside alarm drawing me from my dream-filled sleep.

In the dim morning light, I could see snow falling outside my bedroom window as the announcer gave the morning traffic report and rattled off the latest closings and delays.

When I snapped at my husband over breakfast, he retorted, "It seems like you could use a vacation."