What was I doing on the overnight between yesterday and today? This. I was watching this. Another storm. Here we go again. It eventually hit around 1:45. I don't like storms at night. Lisa and the kids were asleep. I sent a text to Lisa along with a photo. This is here. Right around the corner. I'm a little scared. She replied. Sophie was already shaking. She could hear the thunder. I dropped what I was doing and went into the bedroom. That's where we stayed until the storm was over. Thankfully, we didn't lose power.
Now, it's shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday. Lisa and the kids are sound asleep. Her alarm is set for 3:45 a.m. She returns to work in the morning. My desk is a mess mostly from notes. I have at least a week's worth of stuff to catch up on. Quite possibly more.
I'm leaning towards more.
Right now, I know I should be working, and I am because I'm writing THIS, but that wasn't the case over the past almost-two-hours-since-Lisa-and-the-kids-went-to-bed. I scrolled through my social media feeds. Apparently, a lot of people took vacations the same week as Lisa.
Like, a whole bunch of people.
And all of those people created vacation albums and posting a copious amount of photos of their magical vacations.
Lots, and lots, and lots of photos.
The photos were great. I know some of the people personally. I know they saved and sacrificed for their vacation. I know it had been years since they've had a "real" vacation. As I rummaged through their photos, I smiled. I was so happy for them. I was also grateful that I was able to get a peek at their vacations photos.
At times, it's hard to sit and see photo after photo of people's vacations. It's not that I'm jealous. There isn't a cell in my body that wishes my life was different. It's just that sometimes I think, "My photos, compared to those amazing moments and exciting vacations, must seem dull and mundane."
Last week, when Lisa was on vacation, I posted photos of my Cuban Highballs (aka Mojitos), hummingbirds, a homemade cheesecake that I baked at midnight, a power tool sitting beside a Cuban Highball, a meme about the heat index being between boob sweat and Satan's anus, blueberry cake and strawberry ice cream, Lisa's face when she ate an ear of corn, and our kids.
And I compare those photos to the ones I've seen of people's vacations. Like, oh, you went to Universal Studios or you went to the Bahamas and took a bazillion photos. Here's my 12 photos of our staycation. And, hey, look at me sippin' a Mojito and here's Lisa eating an ear of corn!
As I sat there, I couldn't help but think, that in some way, I failed. That failure was not giving Lisa any exciting vacations stories to tell when she went back to work. There was nothing exclamation point worthy to tell. She didn't have photos on her phone to show her work friends.
Nothing.
While thinking about all of this, the proverbial whup upside my head happened. I thought back to the numerous times Lisa has offered to book me a room at one of the casino resorts nearby for a spa weekend. While her offers are tempting, and sipping wine in a quiet room after a soak in the hot tub or a massage sounds blissful, I've always said no. The thought of leaving my family, for any length of time, makes me sad. I'd last a few hours and than call Lisa begging her to pick me up.
I couldn't do it.
As I thought about those conversations, and others we've had, my perspective shifted. Lisa and I didn't vacation out of state at some fancy beach, luxury hotel, or visit novelty vacations spots. Due to my work schedule, wrapping up a month-long freelance project, getting stuff done around the house, and Mother Nature, we didn't even get the opportunity to walk the beach or go out to lunch.
Those numerous photos I viewed online of other people's vacations were just tiny tidbits of amazing-ness. At some point, whether it be after a couple of days or a week, it ended. They had to pack, bid farewell to whatever location they visited, and come home. The "last day of vacation" photos were often accompanied with phrases like "I don't want to go home" or "I could stay here forever" or other expressions of being heartbroken that they had to leave.
Their temporary time away from home, routine, work, the usual scenery, running errands, and everyday life was over. That is, over until their next vacation.
Then, in the day or two after, updates included the stress of unpacking, excessive laundry, and everything else that accompanies coming home after being away for a week.
Back to life. Back to reality.
That didn't happen to us. Granted, Lisa enjoyed sleeping in and not having to go to work everyday, but there was no packing, unpacking, traveling, exhaustion, and everything else that goes along with taking off for a week.
We never left our everyday life. We never left our everyday reality.
Our life and our reality is that nothing ever goes as planned. The weather doesn't always cooperate. Mother Nature isn't a force to be reckoned with. When we have an exceptionally busy week, the to-do lists get longer and the time to tackle that gets shorter. Planned lunch excursions to the Olive Garden may be cancelled due to freaky power issues.
At the end of the day, or week, one thing is certain. It is what it is and we embrace it all.
We pacified our craving for Italian fare and made a homemade Italian feast at home that included fresh made Alfredo sauce.
Lisa got a new TV.
Everything on the to-do lists got done.
We completed our Summer cleaning.
We made homemade brownie sundaes and they were worlds better than any ice cream stand.
I baked a cheesecake at midnight. Like, who does that shit, right? Me. That's who.
We enjoyed a couple of evenings with neighbor friends. Great food. Great company. Lots of laughs. Lots of wine.
We purchased a new coffee maker.
We also purchased a new tart warmer.
Stuff got done.
The kids enjoyed lots of extra playtime, snuggles, family movie time, and special "vacation" snacks.
Lisa and I played cards. Lots of cards. We had fun.
We napped.
We accomplished things at our own pace.
We panicked a little during one of the storms.
Lisa and I had lots of coffee chats and we discussed important things like the changes we're making with Bodacious Biscuit Love, the need to create more homemade biscuit recipes and DIY Dog Mom Projects, and life in general.
That was our staycation.
And, it was pretty great.
That's our life.
And, we wouldn't change a thing.
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