Out with the old...

"Vacation".

This conjures up thoughts of a clear blue sky against a white sandy beach, the smell of Ban de Soleil tanning lotion lingering in the humid air and the sound of the ocean's waves crashing against the shoreline....swoosh, swoosh, swoooosh...

"Staycation", on the other hand?

My husband and I finally took some (much needed) time off from work. The accrued vacation days had been mysteriously stacking up, to the point of reaching the "use it, or lose it" status. 2009, work-wise, was a busy year for both of us with neither of our schedules offering much opportunity to "get away". In the mad dash to use the days before we lost them, we decided to take the last two weeks of the year off with little, or rather, no planning on what we would do.

If anyone has checked out the "discounted airfare" sites recently, you know that even though the sites still exist and claim to be the best bargain on the market, there isn't much of a "discount" to be had on any plane ticket. That is, unless you want to travel to Orlando, Florida in the midst of hurricane season by way of Newark through Atlanta with only a 12 hour layover in between. But even if, by some holiday miracle, two plane tickets had been purchased with enough forethought that the cost was just shy of a grand (not including taxes & service fees), have you ever tried traveling from east to west during the busiest travel time of the year? I didn't think so, but I have and let me tell you, it's not fun. Don't even get me started on the unpredictable weather that one has to also take into consideration when booking their holiday travel in May. It's one big gamble, I say! Throw in the chance that some wack-a-doo is going to do something really stupid, like catch his balls on fire while the plane is descending to the airport and well...there you have it. Planning a trip home to see my family for the holidays was out of the question.

The past week has been spent close to home. Since we didn't get on an airplane, the "start" of both of our vacations was spent at the office, taking care of some "loose ends". After a few days of checking emails in the morning, we were both able to ease into this thing called "staycation". Things I've accomplished this past week that normally I would not have had the opportunity:

1. Did a month's worth of holiday shopping in a day.

2. Wrapped a month's worth of holiday shopping in an afternoon.

3. Spoke to my mother every day (something that I should do, regardless, but haven't since I lived in the same house with her).

4. Enjoyed an afternoon coffee with a friend, while she taught me to bead my first ever snowflake ornament.

5. Started reading a book that I realized a third of the way into it that I had already read. So technically, I'm going to say "Read a book in less that a week".

6. Cleared out my dresser drawers & bedroom closet of all clothing I haven't worn in a year.

7. Inspired my husband to do the same.

8. Donated above said items to charity.

9. Threw out old bottles of medication (circa 2006) cluttering the medicine cabinet & purged all the "for unruly curls" haircare product that just quite didn't do what it claimed it would do if I would have just used about a quarter size on damp towel dried hair.

10. Got a massage.

There are many more things that I've done this past week, but in keeping with Dave's "Top 10 List". I'll stop here.

I don't mind that we never got on a plane this vacation. Even though a "real" vacation sounds lovely, I don't miss the sunburn, the mosquito bites or the sand in my bathing suit. OK, who am I kidding? I could have dealt with all of this with no complaints. But the point of the matter is that there is something to be said about just staying home that is equally as enjoyable. I'm spending my days doing what makes me happy, even if its just a trip to Home Depot, the grocery store, or CVS. I'm not at work right now, the office is managing, I am relaxed and that feels pretty good!

feeling good again...

I feel old. It's not because I just had a birthday, and it's not from the white strands of hair that no longer resemble "highlights" on my head. I actually physically feel old. My body aches most of the time. When my knee or hip or lower back aren't hurting, I'm usually suffering from a tension headache. I used to worry about how much Ibuprofen my husband consumed for his own migraines. Now, we are both popping pills like they are tic-tacs! This, coming from the girl who purposely tries not to take any medication unless entirely necessary. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a 500 count bottle of Ibuprofen from the drugstore. I mean, really? 500 pills? Come on! Today I asked my husband if he packed the Ibuprofen before we left the house to run errands for fear that one of us would either get a headache or I'd feel the aches coming on. Not good!

I need to lay off the meds and in exchange replace it with exercise. I've been really neglecting any form of exercise for a while now. I'm not talking just for the past few weeks, but more like "months". It's not about just losing weight anymore, it's about feeling good again.

My body has been one big tangled knot of stress for far too long! I say that I've been neglecting exercise, but bigger picture is that I've been neglecting myself - plain and simple! It's not just showing in my cranky emotions but it's wearing on me physically. That's a problem and one that only I can fix. So here it is. I'm going to stop writing about what I'm going to do and just do it. In the meantime, tonight the $9.99 box of hair dye is my first baby step to feeling younger. Tomorrow morning, the gym!