Easily Excitable

Earlier this year, in conversation over our spring break plans, one of my cousins dropped a word I’d never heard, but loved immensely:

It’s the term ‘staycation.’

Staycation is the act of having time off work, and using it to kick back around the house.

Basically, it means that you have no formal plans of traveling during vacation time. 

That was what Trey and I did during spring break. We enjoyed it so much that we duplicated that plan of action this past week. 

I’m starting to think a staycation is an ideal way to spend a break.

I’m writing this now from my lawnchair, and it’s Thursday. I’m trying to ignore the roiling feelings of “I go back to school in X days.”

I don’t work at a job I dread, and even more so, I don’t believe in ruining my off day vibes thinking about the on-days to come. 

That said, I’ve blinked and this week is coming to an end. But what a restful time it’s been!

Up until this week, things have been a roller coaster of travel. It’s seemed like one thing after another with little break in between. 

Over the summer, we naturally did our usual vacation suspects of Destin, Fernandina, and Branson. 

But we also took a trip to Mexico for a wedding. 

August got crazy with school starting back. 

Then, we traveled to Denver and Houston for two more weddings. 

We love to travel. And you find out a lot about your spouse’s personality in an airport. But all the same, we were exhausted. We needed some local time. 

I didn’t advertise those trips, by the way, because I do not believe in telling people when we’re going out of town.

We live in a singlewide wherein you would lose money trying to rob us: our belongings really wouldn’t recoup the time you spent or the gas you used to get here. 

Plus, from what I understand, cyber crime, rather than physical robberies, seems to be all the rage these days. 

All the same. 

Then, in the last week before fall break, work got a little crazy for both of us. 

Trey had a site shutdown that saw him work 12 days in a row. 

I had Parent-Teacher conference night (always an interesting sociological experiment), and was eeking my way into the last bit of the nine weeks, scrambling to make it through our content before the break.  

That brought on a lot of post-school planning and grading at home. I got to do it in the backyard, so it wasn’t too bad, but still: we were both looking for some downtime. 

And this week, we got that. Here are some of the things we/ I did over the break. 

Watched football (duh)

Georgia had a close call against Auburn last week. I was glad we won. But, I will say, I do not understand how the last two minutes of the first half took seemingly six hours. 

I was also happy Tennessee won. 

As you’re reading this, it’s likely Saturday, and maybe even Saturday morning. 

Both Georgia and Tennessee have a gauntlet today. The Kotara singlewide would be mighty pleased with two upsets, thank you very much. 

Cooking and assembling new culinary gadgetry

Last weekend, Trey got the Blackstone up and put together. While he did this, I took a trip to the grocery store. I will have you know that I had to go to Walmart twice in a span of an hour and a half. 

It wasn’t my favorite. 

We cooked some homemade pizzas, some stir fry, wings, and some sliders across the week. 

I will have you know that, up until today as I write this (on Thursday), I’ve only been to Walmart last Saturday and then today.

Only twice in a week when I’m not working? That’s groundbreaking.

I have found that managing Walmart trips is the best way to avoid public appearances with the children. 

Avoid the Walmart, avoid the teenagers. 

Cleaning. All the cleaning. 

A clean house is good for my brain. Do I hate that I spent some of fall break doing it? Absolutely. But what far surpasses that hate is the pure, unadulterated joy a clean house gives me. 

The back room where all the junk seems to accumulate (do we all have this?? Your kids say you do. It’s okay: me too)? Cleaned and organized. 

All Hoco attire? Tucked away in storage. 

Fall clothes (even though it’s absolutely still too hot to bring them out)? Hung in the closet with much care. 

The floor? Vacuumed and mopped. 

All clothes? Washed, folded, and put away. 

The lawn? Cut for hopefully the last time this year. 

The shower? Clean as a whistle. 

Furniture? Dusted and Pledged to the hilt. 

I worked like a mule. And it will all be worth it when I can sit my happy tail on the sofa and veg out on football this weekend. 

Enjoyed More than a little sunshine. 

Thank the good Lord above, last week was our rainy week. This week’s weather has been perfect. 

Sweater and shorts in the morning, and a nice transition into comfy tees and shorts by the evening. 

Hoorah. 

I got to walk with Aubri and the kiddos this week. 

I went golfing with Trey. 

I sat outside in the backyard. 

I mowed the lawn.

Boone and I did some running and walking up at the high school. 

I went and picked flowers at Blankenship Blooms (shout out to Ashley and Missy B Blankenship!)

The sunshine has been abundant, and here’s hoping this weekend will be more of the same.

I may have pulled a muscle. 

I always knew there would come a day when my mind would say go, and my body would say no. 

I just didn’t know that it would be on the verge of 31. 

Trey and I took Boone up to the track so he could run. I wisely told Trey that I wanted to race. Because isn’t that what all the married couples are doing these days?

He told me he might need to warm up first. 

HAHA! LOSER!

He then started jogging backwards. I was a good bit behind already, so I took off. 

It doesn’t look like a takeoff, but that’s neither here nor there, mind you. 

I took off, and I started gaining some real speed. 

All of a sudden, a sharp pain exploded across the back of my leg. I hobbled, almost fell over, and slowed to a walk of shame. 

I don’t have it anymore. I just don’t. 

I proceeded to go to the gym the next morning, and I stretched and lifted. I stayed away from lifting against that muscle group. 

It was still excruciating, and I was breaking a not-so-minor sweat working it out. It felt a lot better after that. 

Minor travels

Tuesday morning, we had to do some routine blood work, as we have a meeting next week with Dr. Oja, who puts the FUN in functional medicine. 

We left Boone at Dragonfly Dog Groomers to get trimmed and, also, to enjoy some playtime with his friends. Therefore, we had a free afternoon ahead of us.

Over the weekend, we’d tossed around the idea of hiking: we considered and talked over a few places.

It just didn’t feel right, though, when Tuesday morning rolled around.

So, imagine my joy when Trey suggested a little impromptu trip to Peachtree City where we could rent a golfcart and cruise around the town.

It was off the wall- something we’d never done or even considered before. 

So, what’d we do?

Right above Macon, we decided that idea was perfect. We rented a cart via phone, and we had an hours-long joyride.

We cruised and whipped around Peachtree City, stopped for lunch, checked out the lake, and enjoyed like only two folks without an agenda can. 

It was a grand time. 

An (uneventful, thank You, Jesus) trip to PetSmart

We needed food for Boone. I decided I wanted to get him some fun things, maybe a costume or two, so I loaded him up, and we took a foray into the pet utopia. 

I just knew in my heart it would be a disaster. 

It wasn’t, but I like to this that success was because he and I had a little chat about ‘Don’t touch anything while we’re in there.’

It’s a generational talk passed down from my own mother. 

Now, did I have to push the cart backwards so I could better cling to Boone’s leash. 

Apart from approaching one dog, really, he did exceedingly well. 

We did not, however, find a costume to fit him. 

Oh well, another time.

This weekend will be another fun one for us: 

The Sunday School lesson is prepped, half of my lesson plans are complete, and I’m knocking out this writing right now. 

Tomorrow? Looks like there’s a mighty good chance for abundant sunshine AND pickleball. Then, we have a hot date with the First Baptist tent at the CountryFest. 

And after that? 

IT’S GAME DAY, BABY!

Next week is fast approaching, but for now, I’m enjoying some fall break weather. 

And the good news? 

Thanksgiving break will be upon us before we know it!