Vacation Day 1

I’ve been working hard. So has Husband. Our house was messy. We were tired. Home-made meals were thrown together at 7:00 at night once we were both home from work. It wasn’t that pretty.

Yesterday was Day 1 of my winter break. And oh – what a difference! I woke up … happy! And late – 8 a.m. Baby snuggled into me, cuddled up, was happy and laughing. We hung around the house. We grocery shopped. We cooked dinner. I cleaned and it felt like I got the house cleaner than it’s been in weeks with only a small amount of effort. And we laughed and had fun.

It’s definitely a choice to enjoy this break. I have 2.5 weeks off, which is lots of time to enjoy or stress over. Work has been overwhelming and it’s tempting to take lots home over the break, or, at least, bring home the stress of it. On reflection, I don’t think that’s the best idea. I need to recuperate and recharge so that I can sail through the next few months of tremendous demands and change. Letting go is going to help with that. I do know that I need to check email a couple of times next week for some lingering demands, and want to spend just a TINY BIT of time reflecting on some big questions I need to address when I return. These, however, will happen early in the break and then be done. I’ll enjoy the rest all the more for knowing that I’ve got some brainstorming done and waiting to be reviewed on my return.

As for day 2, so far so good. Baby’s napping now; we went to the market this morning; and importantly, husband is off for the whole weekend! It’s snowing beautifully outside, and I’m happy. I choose to be happy. And it’s good.

Bye bye, road trips; hello, life with baby!

We are back from our trip. Thankfully back! This was our first “let’s go and have fun! It’s a vacation!” road trip since baby was born. It will be our last for a while.

The good: we did get away. We saw friends. We saw beautiful mountains, lakes and rivers.

The not so good: traveling with a baby is not anything like traveling as a non-parent. To start, the road trip part. I used to love the part when we were on the road. The views, music, talking, snacks, reading, and the feeling of being in a time capsule, away from the rest of the world. The road trip part with a baby: me in the back seat, reading, drawing (endless puppies!), singing, playing, entertaining. Poor baby got carsick, too, scary and un-fun for all. Then the struggle to get her into the carseat in the first place. And when we take a break, it is not likely to be short. Plus, the travel needs to be scheduled around/in consideration of nap times.

And then the prep and packing. It took us 2.5 days of hard work to be ready to go on the trip. That’s ridiculous. And at each stop, soooo much unpacking and setting up! Nice husband did most of it, which is nice but unbalanced.

Trying to do normal things is also harder on the road with a baby. Finding food for baby, making food for baby, getting milk, cleaning bottles (yes, still breastfeeding, just have to supplement still when she goes down for naps), even warming bottles at night: much more work than at home.

We enjoyed lots about the trip. But we also got worn out, and at some point, were ready to come home. We booted it home as quickly as we could, and were hugely relieved to arrive by 10 a.m. on Friday. Bliss!!

After all that complaining, I should redeem the trip by mentioning the great part about travel with baby: travel with baby. It was wonderful to take her to new places, new experiences and have her meet new people. She really really enjoyed herself. She loved all the places we stayed. She enjoyed the scenery and going on walks. She loved the different animals we got to meet (including horses, donkeys, a dog that LICKED HER FACE!, and cows). Basically, there are big upsides to traveling with baby. It’s just nothing like traveling without baby, and wasn’t the restful, rejuvenating holiday we had planned.

Such is life. We’ve learned, we feel better prepared for whatever the next trip will be (because, of course, there will be other trips), and we had a 3-day weekend to recuperate.

Hoping you are all well, as I try and get back into this blogging saddle.

Vacation Madness

We plan to head on vacation on Sunday. We are, therefore, in the midst of pre-vacation madness.

Husband and I have never left on time for a trip. Our first trip together, I think we left a day and a half after our ETD. Somehow, all the different components (car preparation and repairs; packing for every eventuality, including meditation, exercise, personal growth, reading, camping and eating) and food (snacks, groceries, on and on) take FOREVER. We want to be fully prepared. And we never are. We always forget something essential, and bring way too much, so we’re bogged down with stuff.

It’s crazy and funny and frustrating. And we’re in the middle of it.
We were just congratulating ourselves for being on top of it because husband got to work on the car stuff tonight. But: we have some computer work that needs doing together. I have to prep for the next week or two of the course I’m teaching. We have GARDENING and planting and home prep that needs doing. Plus, right: packing.

All that to say, I may not post over the next week. Tomorrow and Sunday will be mad; the trip will be a get-away; and I want to leave myself free to be.

I will post when I return, and even try to include some pictures. Stay tuned. And wishing all of you a wonderful Victoria Day weekend and week.