Where I reflect a bit after my vacation

  • I had hoped to get a “Wordless Wednesday” post out yesterday – but I’m still running around a bit like a chicken with its head cut off, and this week is getting away from me. Sometime soon, though, I’ll have a post with a pictorial depiction of my week at the beach.
  • I love each & every one of my guest posters . . . thank you so much, all of you.
  • After still being able to function the day after a night where I played a cutthroat came of Boggle that included mandatory tequila shots for the winner of each round (and optional commiseration shots for any round non-winners . . . because when there is tequila involved, there are no losers), I realized that I might need to cut back a bit — especially before #BlogHer12, because liquor is expensive.
  • My kids are growing up way, way, way too fast. CJ remains cautious about most anything before him, but once he warms up to something, he really warms up to it. Leila is fearless, and will try almost anything without giving thought to what it might be like (if only she acted this way with new foods).
  • I found out that my “running legs” are still well under me. The Monday of vacation, I woke up early and went for a run — it was just under five miles to make it to the beach, and then I ran along the beach, and then I meditated and swam in the water, and then I ran back. The problem was that my Vibram KSO’s are a bit old, and aren’t exactly keeping everything out, like they once did. I had a fair bit of sand that I ran back home with, in my shoes, and that sand pressed against my feet. In other words, my feet went ouchie1, and I didn’t run the rest of my time there.
  • I did, however, cycle.
  • I got to the beach, and I blew the rear-tube on my bicycle – the guy at the local bike shop fixed me up, though. But, then I blew a tube, while at the beach, on the bicycle trailer while the kids were in it . . . and I cycled back (because any alternative included waiting, with the bugs, in the heat, as the kids sat in the trailer). The guy at the local bike shop fixed that up, too, but the ill-suited towing antics caused the rear wheel of my bicycle to head slightly out of true, and I still need to get that taken care of2.
  • I did pedal myself to the beach for another sunrise – and I’m a little disconcerted about how wonderful being on the beach, alone, felt. I like to think of myself as a social being — but, sitting on the beach, or hopping in the waves, knowing that there wasn’t another human around for miles . . . well, that was the time I was most “at peace” during the week.
  • Yoga makes me feel wonderful – though I’m beyond certain that I look far from graceful as I move about from pose to pose – and doing sun salutations while facing the sunrise just feels right.
  • The words “I want to shoot bad guys” or “I want to play Wii,” on repeat with a toddler slur, are enough to drive me seriously crazy.
  • Hearing the words “I want to play in the waves,” however, makes me want to hold him. Seriously, the boy and I spent hours together with him on one of my hips, in waist-deep (to me) water, waiting for “the big ones,” laughing & making silly sounds whenever we jumped a cresting wave and got splashed in the face.
  • I finished the Artemis Fowl series while on vacation . . . it might not be Harry Potter, but, damn, is it an imaginative little series of books. I’m curious, though, if The Last Guardian is really the end.
  • Each kid had their first pony ride. It shouldn’t surprise you that Leila had to be held back to not jump on the pony when she first saw it.
  • Getting back to work reminded me that I really need to see what I can do about becoming independently wealthy . . . well, maybe not to the point where I don’t have to work, but I really think I’d be happier as a novelist, or a songwriter, or something where I can strive after more-creative pursuits to make a living.
  • A stupidly sprained ankle and a crazy work schedule have me eating poorly & not working out like I should be . . . I need to turn things around, quickly.
  • I believe a trip, camping along the beach, may be in order before winter comes.

  • 1 Because of this, I’ll be running my first ever race in “real shoes” this Saturday. I have no trepidation about the event . . . it’s a 5k and I’m well in shape to run a 5k — it’s just that it’ll be the first time that I’m ever not the freak with the gorilla feet during a run.
    2 If you’re paying attention & scoring at home, this is now two bicycles that I shouldn’t be riding that I have on me. I haven’t repaired the tire from my road bike, and now my commuter has a wheel out of true. I do have my hybrid, and my single speed, though, so I can still pedal, if I’m called to do that.

11 comments

    1. Well, my hope is to live off the royalties sell a novel or a song or a musical . . . so that I can spend my time writing more novels or songs or musicals.

      Which seems like a lot of work, though those are the three things that I strive to do in my spare time, so, well, I don’t know – maybe if I can just get that first break?

      And you guys would totally be invited to the compound that I’ll open for aspiring writers . . . shared cooking & cleaning duties, and write whenever possible.

  1. you don’t need a pic post…it was running in your sidebar via instagram your whole vacay! I kid…I can’t wait to see it with captions and such. It looked WAY fun!

    1. Vacationing on the beach was really, really wonderful. When we first started, we used to be closer to the beach . . . I really thought I’d mind being a mile further out, but as long as I can bike or run to get there, and not be too tired at the end, I’m good.

      And, during this past vacation? I was very, very good.

  2. That vacation still sounds like it was amazing to me. We haven’t been on a vacation in about five years. We are due for one. How is your ankle feeling?

  3. I really need to get back into yoga.

    That morning run/swim/meditation sounds amazing. I was never a beach person either. Then I ran there. And walked with my girls. The tranquility of it all. It’s amazing. So peaceful. I could truly just sit there and listen to music or just lay and stare at the waves.

    Gah now I’m anxious for our beach trip next month!

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