coming home, as good as going away

I’m just getting settled in back at home from a week of vacation. The great thing about traveling is that you realize the things you love and miss about your home while getting to take a break from things that are rubbing you raw. You come home with a new sense of gratitude that a little distance can provide.

On this vacation, I unplugged from work, stayed up reading fiction into the early hours, drove with the windows down and the music loud, and quieted the track of go-go-go that seems to run endlessly in my brain. I got in touch with my inner sloth which I highly recommend.  Since I’m about to enter the end of the school year time crunch where I try to jam in as much work as possible before summer, I needed to shut it all down for a few days.

Here are a few things I’m happy to get back to…

My bed – there’s just nothing like your own bed.

Twitter – I’m sort of surprised but Twitter is slowly rising in the social media ranks for me.

Cooking – Eating out is hard when you have a lot of food restrictions. By the last day, I’m so sick of salad I could cry.

Walking – There was a lot of driving on this trip. I’m glad to be back to my walking ways.

Yoga – Ready to get back to my practice before I lose it (physically and mentally).

Regular bed time – I’m glad the boys are old enough to stay up later, but I also like to tuck them in at a decent hour.

Here’s what I didn’t miss at all….

Making school lunches – Always more than happy to take a break from this chore.

Loading the dishwasher – Another one that I managed to avoid on vacation.

Closed-toe shoes – Can’t beat flip flops all day, every day.

Hair & make-up – I embraced a fresh faced, unkempt hair look. It kind of worked. Maybe. Whatever.

Schedules – I like a good routine, but every once in awhile it needs to get shelved.

Homework – I got to hang up my enforcer hat. On vacation, I was the enforcer of fun. That was a nice switch.

And when we got home, the weeping cherry tree in our backyard was in full bloom.

Grateful we didn’t miss that.

Going away is good. It makes coming home better.