Mommy Takes a Vacation

I took a vacation - alone. For the last few months, things have been pretty hard. Let's face it, things have been hard for a few years. I think it finally caught up with me. My family is my pride and joy, my reason for everything I do, but it is hard - a lot. About a month ago, my husband and I decided I needed a vacation without my family. So I went on a "retreat" to stay with a friend. I asked if I could hole up in her apartment for a few days with no commitments, no cooking, no laundry, no cleaning, and no expectations other than finishing a few projects.

Why not just have a night out with friends? Since December 24th of 2012, I have not had one day to myself. Seriously. By allowing my "bucket" to be so drained, I needed to take intense action to fill it back up. Everyone has an invisible bucket that is either being filled up by positive experiences or being dipped into when negative things occur. My bucket was nearly empty.

It wasn't easy. I had to leave my kids. I know that was kind of the point, but it was still hard. I have been the only person in their lives in the last year that they have seen every day. I even cried for the first three miles, deciding whether or not I should just cancel the trip and stay home with my family...but I forced myself to keep driving.

Was it worth it? Not only did I finish my projects, I had a great time with a friend and ventured to a movie. I ate popcorn until my stomach hurt and slept on a couch like I was in college. I feel rejuvenated and the best I have felt in several years. I will not let my bucket get so low again!

The First Thanksgiving

My oldest son's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. So here we are, Thanksgiving 2013. Our first Thanksgiving as a family. We celebrated differently than I would have thought. We didn't have a huge dinner with lots of friends and family. Instead, we celebrated with just the five of us. We had a pretty good menu:

Turkey - big hit

Mashed potatoes - the kids avoided them like the plague

Stuffing - see mashed potatoes

Cranberries - enjoyable

Rolls - our daughter ate two

Corn - delicious

Sweet potatoes - our sons ate seconds

Sparkling cider - aka apple soda

Cheesecake - YUMMO! 

We had a good meal together, and the kids were excited, and it was a great time to reflect on how thankful we are to have them in our lives.