Vacation

This year, instead of a traditional, tourist destination, we chose to stay home and relax, lay in the pool, and eat out every night. We found this to be a better alternative to spending money on gas, sleeping on the couches, cots, and airbeds in the homes of relatives (who apparently would rather have their toenails pulled out than to open their home to us), and succumbing to the over-priced insanity that is the theme park or attraction. In the end, this usually amounts to a long drive back home where exhaustion and buyer's remorse would be the monkey on our backs for weeks afterward.

Besides indulging in sloth-like behavior, we also attempted some small home renovations one of which included the installation of a HUGE ceiling fan in the living room that runs by remote. That's right, REMOTE!! A flick of the thumb and we have HI. Another flick, and the beautifully lit globe beneath brightens or dims. It's like the 9th wonder right in our living room, and can also double as a flying machine in case we need to relocate our house a la Willy Wonka and the Glass Elevator style. However, the feat of having swirling cool air around our bodies during 150 degree heat outside is truly magnificent, of course.

Though we missed out on the typical tourist consumerism and surreal photos of happy faces plastered in front of every theme park mascot within a 100 mile radius of Houston or the entertainment village of Branson,MO, we did make much more endearing memories; ones of our little family focusing only on each other, not the next distraction.

Once again

One of the many reasons I began blogging (here) again is due to the amount of time I have now that I'm not studying, dashing off to school, taking care of domestic concerns, or working. Even the 40 minute drive to and from campus ate up a lot of my time. Lately, I have been fortunate enough to read or finish 4 books, talk to the kids and husband in complete sentences, and even talk on the phone with friends who hadn't seen or heard from me in months. I still have a long way to go before I can consider myself back to "normal" or caught up with everything I set aside, but it's a beginning. I had my nails manicured the other day, and now have a tan from laying in the pool for uninterrupted amounts of time. I had forgotten such luxuries existed.