Diary of a Staycation ~ Days 16 & 17

Day 16~Spent the day looking at these on Willow City Loop in Fredericksburg, Tx:

And eating this at Cooper's BBQ in Llano, Tx:

Day 17~My last day of freedom. I skipped church and slept late, then watched a movie, read a book and took a nap. Finally roused myself enough to prepare a salad and attend my small group before going home and going to bed early! Nothing terribly exciting but just what I needed.

All in all I had a great staycation. I've never done it before and let me tell you, I'm hooked. I'll definitely be doing it again in the future!

Diary of a Staycation - Days 13, 14 & 15

Day 13~We interrupt this staycation to bring you an urgent message from the real world. Ugh, work. Wednesday found me back at the office. I just wasn't ready. But paychecks were calling! I worked half a day and promptly EXTENDED MY VACATION. ☺☺☺ Woo hoo, 4 more days to do what I wanted!!!! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the flexibility of my job? My boss rocks!

Day 14~Woke up too early and couldn't go back to sleep so Zeus and I went for a short walk. Then I watched a movie and he snoozed. I did some reading and then Serina called. When she realized I was home she came over with fresh bagels and cream cheese and we hung out for almost 3 hours just talking and looking at maternity clothes. It was so nice! I still thought I might go to the office, but when she left I quickly talked myself out of it and took a nap instead. ☺ That kind of freedom was pure bliss! I ended the night by watching season 2 of Alias while downloading some of my CD collections to iTunes. It was totally self-indulgent and I loved every minute of it.

Day 15~Another day of nothing, it was so boring I can't even remember what I did, although I'm sure it included lots of naps....

Diary of a Staycation~Days 10, 11 & 12

Day 10~Ah, food poisoning, what a lovely way to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Apparently the French Onion dip the boys and I shared on Friday and Saturday was included in a recall due to Salmonella contamination. Lovely. I'll spare you the details. Needless to say, I skipped church. By the time I arrived at my parent's house with Aunt Myrtle I was feeling somewhat better and decided to partake in lunch with family and friends. Really bad idea. Again, I'll spare you the details. You're welcome.

Despite my GI issues, we had a nice time celebrating Easter with some extra guests, Zach, Serina, Cameron and my mom's friend Erin and her dog Oliver. Following are a few snapshots from our celebration.

Cameron, Zachary and my dad riding in the electric truck:

Cascarone fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the festivities, Bethany came home with me to spend the night and watch a movie, she naively thought I just had a case of gas. Ha! Poor thing, she tried to play nursemaid in between her texting as I lay on the couch moaning. We did manage to squeeze in a movie, Sherlock Holmes, but then I was spent and had to go to bed. I'm pretty sure she was up all night texting, but that's par for the course since her cell phone was surgically implanted into her hand on her 14th birthday..... I didn't feel too sorry for her because she got what she wanted, but my lips are sealed as to what that was! Let's just say I'm a very cool, good aunt. ;-)

Day 11~I was still sick so after taking Bethany home I canceled my planned trip to Clay Casa with Kaitlyn and went right back to bed. Eventually I got up and drove to get my massage (the birthday gift from my boss) and I'm glad I did because I actually felt better after. And guess what? I let her spend about 30 minutes working on my neck!!! That was a small victory for me and even though she said I was extremely tense it felt so good to have someone work on those 40-year-old knots. I'm considering a part time job so that I can afford regular massages, it's addictive!

Day 12~Another day of nothing. Sleep, movies, reruns of Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, Seinfeld. It felt good to be really, really lazy. Staycations rock!

Diary of a Staycation~Days 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9

Day 5~Nothing, and it was blissful. I slept, watched movies, ate, did some laundry. Then I vacuumed and took another nap......or two!

Day 6~It's my birthday, it's my birthday!!!! Oops, internal "plumbing" problems didn't seem to care that it was MY special day. All those visits to the bathroom interrupted my naps! Bummer. But I did manage to squeeze in a movie (District 9) and I received a lot of birthday phone calls.

By 5:30 pm I was better and my parents arrived to treat me to dinner at Tip Top Cafe where my dad and I indulged in Chicken Fried Steak with cream gravy, plumbing be damned! Then we drove around Woodlawn Lake and surprised Serina, Gigi and Cameron as they were eating dinner on their porch. Finally we returned to my apartment and I opened a few presents before they left and I took another nap. Who knew staycations were so exhausting?! ;-)

Day 7~April Food's Day dawned a little too early for me and I made Zeus go back to sleep until 10:00 am, no joke. I didn't have anyone to fool, but Laurie pulled a great prank on her kids. She made blue pancakes for breakfast and told them that her flour must have been moldy, they were completely grossed out!

At noon Serina, Gigi and I met at Bubblehead Tea and enjoyed green tea smoothies. WOW, I had NO idea they would be so good. If you go, try the mango smoothie, you won't be disappointed. We'll definitely be going back for more. Next we made our way to La Frite and were joined by a new friend, Erin. We all enjoyed food, fellowship AND dessert (chocolate tarte) and left quite satisfied. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Day 8~Good Friday was restful as well. I took Zeus for a short walk and then watched a movie before, you guessed it - taking a nap! My nephews arrived at 3:30 pm for a sleepover and we headed to the video store and Blockbuster to stock up on junk food and movies. I made a quick detour to pick up my birthday gift from Lane so I could enjoy it over the weekend. (Thanks Lane, I love it!!) And then I cooked frozen pizzas for the boys and introduced them to Ghostbusters. We laughed and I danced a silly dance to the theme song before launching into "All The Single Ladies" in a chipmunks voice, which completely scandalized my nephews. It was WELL worth my own humiliation to see the looks on their faces!

We finished the night by watching "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" and I decided that spray-on shoes are a pretty good idea. By that time I was exhausted because I didn't get my 3rd afternoon nap so I went to sleep. The boys stayed up ALL night watching infomercials and "Lord of the Rings". I remember when I was young enough to recover from an all-nighter, it was a long time ago...

Day 9~Saturday morning we visited Bistro Bakery and picked up fresh eclairs, donut holes and kolaches to eat at the park. Zeus happily sniffed every blade of grass while the boys devoured the food and we enjoyed the cool morning breeze. We went home to gather their belongings and then I stopped by Pasha to pick up some Persian food for my brother and his family. My sister-in-law grew up eating Schwarma in The Netherlands and missed it so I was happy to surprise her with a taste of her childhood.

The evening rolled around and I enjoyed a great movie and Indian food with one of the funniest people I know. It hit the spot, every single spot I have! For those of you who haven't seen "Crazy Heart" let me just say that it was a really touching movie. I was completely engrossed in the story and was really rooting for the characters. The themes of grace and redemption were powerful and the acting was stellar.

All in all I enjoyed rest and relaxation mixed with fun and fellowship and I feel good!