Tag Archives: reality

Welcome Back, Mommy!

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Tuesday night, both Mike and I were so happy to be home and we really missed the kids. But, the annual anniversary trip is a must for us (I think every marriage could benefit from it).

It’s such a great opportunity to re-connect, to flirt, be silly, be spontaneous, and be relaxed with your spouse. We started these trips on our first anniversary (instead of buying each other gifts) and have not missed one in twenty years. They haven’t always been elaborate, but they have all been adventures. I’m glad we started this tradition – they have become more meaningful as our lives have become more complicated and busy.

I do want to give a shout out to my parents and my in-laws because we could not go on these trips without them! They are in charge of the monkeys when we are gone which (I hope) has gotten a little easier since the monkeys can mostly take care of themselves now. It’s also a great time for our kids to get to spend some intense time with their grandparents (I am always reminding my kids how lucky they are to see their grandparents on a regular basis – not all kids get to develop this relationship.)

But, after the “welcome home”, reality began to set in. After being in airports/planes for 14 hours on Tuesday and coming home to the greetings, hugs and kisses (at 9pm), real life started invading already. I didn’t even have time to enjoy the after-glow of my awesome wine country vacation.

“Mommy, we need to go shopping for my trip. When are we going to go?”

“Mommy, you need to read this booklet about my trip.”

“Mommy, when are we going to AT&T to get my new phone?”

“Mommy, you need to complete my medical form by tomorrow.”

“Mommy, blah, blah, ……….”

Yikes! Then I start thinking,“Why aren’t you people in bed yet?” I was very tired and starting to get grumpy. I mean, I had only been home for about 45 minutes!! Then, I started feeling like a bad parent for wishing I was still in California. (Is it just me, or does anyone else experience this?)

I wanted to go back in time when I was longing to see my munchkins and envisioning them running toward me greeting me with big smiles, hugs and kisses.  . . . . . . ..  And, then the kids would go straight up to bed (with smiles) because it was a school night…… And, the house would be sparkling and straightened up because my children would have anticipated how tired I would be.  Aaaahh…. Oh, wait, did I start daydreaming again? Sorry about that!

I think I’m suffering from PVRL (post vacation real life). For some reason, I’m having a lot of trouble making the transition from this vacation back to real life.  It was so relaxing – we didn’t have to be anywhere at any time. We were livin’ free and easy and acting like we had money to spend. It was so fun! Mike and I were even speculating about retiring in Sausalito (and we are die-hard mid-westerners)!

Now, it’s back to work, schedules, taxi duty, etc.  There has been no time to ease into it. We both had to work the next day, my daughter had a piano lesson and soccer practice and my son had an Orff concert.

Laundry has been calling, bills need paying, the house needs straightening. . . . . . .I’m coming! I’M COMING!

SHEESH!

Reality, Here I Come!

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Okay, I have finally returned from my back-to-back vacations!  Vacation #1:  vacation with my family in the Outerbanks, NC – home for 5 days (literally) – Vacation #2:  vacation with my husband’s family.  Whew!  It has been one heck of a summer.  I know, I know, you have no pity for the woman who has been on vacation for almost the entire month of July.

Even though I had a great time on my vacations, I was somewhat looking forward to getting back into a routine of some kind.  There is some comfort in routine, right? 

Well, Monday was my first day back and well, now, I’m thinking, “routine, shmoutine.” 

Reality Check #1:

I had painting class on Monday night (my 2nd to last one) and even that is starting to get on my nerves!  How could this be?  It’s supposed to be stress-free me time.  If you recall, I got into painting because it has mostly no rules, isn’t rigid and can be whatever (the opposite of my life).  Well, not according to my art teacher.  I’m doing a still life right now and just about done with it.  At least, I that’s what I thought.   Please look at my candlestick – for some reason, she wanted me to correct the right side of my candle.  She thought I needed to fix, well, I don’t even know!   

The “Still Life”

Do you see something extremely wrong with my candle on the bottom right side where it meets the candlestick?  I mean, really!  You can tell it’s a candle and a candlestick, right?  That is success for me – especially for my 2nd painting EVER!  Why does it have to be exact?  I thought that was why I was taking painting – to NOT be exact!!  I’m tired of being exact!! I told my husband that after my last class next week, that I may take a break from painting class and try some on my own.  I do have some ideas of what I would like to paint, so I guess I will give it a shot all on my own.  I think I’ve got the basic gist of oil painting – it’s really the drawing part that I really need help with :)! 

Reality Check #2:

Our house is now falling apart one piece or part one after the other (probably due to age).  Monday (same day as painting above!) we had to have the water softener peeps come out and fix our 7-year-old water softener – $200.  Tuesday, we had to have the electricians out to rebuild our breaker box from SCRATCH!  We had no power (no air conditioning, no computer, no nothin’) from 8:30am to 4:00pm – $1700.   Welcome home, huh?  The bad thing is that I think our dishwasher is getting jealous and wants a “fix up” job, too. 

Be careful what you wish for!

Reality Bites!