Beautiful Day

It is an absolutely perfect day . . . Sunday afternoon, warm, sunny, slight breeze - just enough to make the day interesting. Every creature in the home is happy. Except Tiger, our cat, who attempted to bring in a new playmate, a chipmunk. We dashed his plan pretty quickly. Hudson and Tiger (both cats) had a sweet little wrestling match, and Sammy (dog) even tried to get in on it, which they didn't allow.

Anyway, beautiful day, and I am still in my PJ's, lying in bed, obviously blogging. Why am I in bed? I think my 90-miles-per-hour recent lifestyle gotten the best of me. OK, 90-miles is probably an exaggeration. But for an almost 40-year-old mother of three, our perspective is different. My 90-miles-an-hour last week includes working Monday morning, beginning to prepare for my Colonoscopy, shopping, cleaning, and packing for my retreat, continuing to prepare for my Colonoscopy (no need to describe this!). Then Tuesday morning, having a Colonoscopy (which I got a perfect report in case you are interested), then packing up, picking up my colleague and great friend, Renee - yes, I did drive shortly after the Colonoscopy, but the anesthesia was pretty worn off. Anyway, Renee drove up to Alpena, which is where I am from, and we spent a couple hours with my Best Friend from childhood, Heather, and her baby (my God-daughter) Julianna. From that late night, we had planned on staying with my parents and busting out at the crack of dawn for Mackinaw Island where the retreat was. But of course, we slept a little later than we thought. And THEN, Renee started asking questions about my parents antiques and treasures. And they started showing her, one by one . . . Let me just say that on that morning, I think my parents may have been wishing that Renee was their daughter instead of me!

So we get to the Island, rush to the Grand Hotel, where my tiredness catches up with me and I request to stop all activities to take a short nap. Five minutes into the process of TRYING to nap, my phone rings and we are up and at em. I can't complain here, however, because I got to go shopping without children around me. Realized (again) that shopping without children is an enjoyable and financially dangerous activity! But-everything was on sale b/c the shops were all closing for the winter. Exhaused, we hiked ourselves and our bags back to the Grand Hotel to prepare for the dinner, which you were supposed to look nice and be dressed semi-formally. If you know anything about me, my idea of dressed up is wearing a nice pair of jeans . . . including the fashionable holes! Luckily, I had found (and of course purchased) three long skirts while shopping. So now in total, I own three skirts! As we were walking down to the dining area, I commented to Renee about how I was feeling totally anti-social. Here I am with hundrends of Christian women at this retreat, a wonderful opportunity to enjoy socializing, and I am cranky, tired, and don't even feel like making eye-contact! To top it off, as we go into the dining room, I realize we don't even get our own table. We have to sit with 'other' people. UGH! Must Socialize. Kim, another colleage/great friend, and her mom (now a valued friend too!) were with us, so we sat in the middle of an 8-seater. I'm sure the Grand Hotel, in all of it's fancy grandness, has another name for this table, anyway . . . I sit next to two people whom I don't know. I'm thinking "Great. I have to be nice, we are at a Christian event after all." Well, by the end of dinner, I think my original friends were annoyed with me and feeling ignored. All I did was BLAH BLAH BLAH to these people, who were very fun and social! I guess my other personality popped forth just when I needed her.

So the next day was the retreat. I felt pretty alert in the morning - how can you not be when you are listening to a man speak who died in a car accident, went to Heaven, and then was brought back after 90 minutes! But in the afternoon two sessions, this is embarassing to admit, I literally fell asleep sitting straight up in an uncomfortable chair! This happened two different times. I had eyes open one second, and the next I was being jerked back by the head bob. That NEVER happens to me, except at children's movies, like last week at the owl movie. So I should have known a body break down was on it's way.

To get to the point . . . I finally did get sick, just a fever, but enough to put me in bed. And I'm still recovering today. I had to cancel two functions today, pluse churc, all of which I really wanted to attend. The lesson? Even though it's all good stuff, too much is too much. I could be outside enjoying my chilren right now.

Back to the basics for me. I'm simplifying. Once I get through the neighborhood party that I have to plan for next weekend, Oh, and the staff training I am hosting the following week, oh and the Brownie meeting next Thursday . . .

Burst Back Into Reality

So a lot of you know that I was in Texas for a training for PsychoDrama (I know, sounds scary.) At the beginning of the 4-day-stay, I was whining a little about having to sleep in a trailer that didn't have running water. Not to mention that I had to sleep in the small be in the kitchen of the camper while my roomie got a luxorious bedroom with queen bed to herself. My thought? She is 20 years older than me, so she automatically gets the upgrade. Plus she moved right in to the full bath (ok, it was 1 foot by 1 foot), and even though there was no water, women need their primping space. I hold no resentments though, she paid for the 3 bean nachos I had for dinner. Thanks Lori!

Anyway, I came to love my little spot in the camper. I was able to sleep through the night each night - four in a row. That is unheard of for me in these last 10 years of my life. Between having to share a bed and children occasionally wondering in my bedroom, to dog barking randomly . . . . I rarely get a whole night's sleep.
I was excited to sleep in my own be at 1:30 in the morning when I got home from my trip, but I was less than thrilled when I woke up at 5:30 with young visitors. Jordan and Julia had been sick while I was gone, so I kept them home for a day of recovery. For all of us. I heard Jordan on the phone talking to Chris around 6pm, "Yeah, Mom is still in her pajamas." Guess it's been too long since we had a PJ Day.

Day 2? Woke up at 5:30 to Jacob . . . sick. So now, 12:30pm - Still in PJ's. Actually still in bed because I need to monitor Jacob. Wah Wah Welcome home Mom!