A Real Vacation

Where have I been?

It’s not that I fell off the face of the earth or anything. It just so happens that I got to have the vacation of my dreams last week. A “real” vacation. One that doesn’t involve still taking care of everyone elses needs. One that isn’t way more work to get ready for and get to, than it is fun to experience. One that required very little effort and virtually no money!

While the two middle boys went to summer camp,  and the youngest boy got to spend a wonderful week with his best friend… I got to go to a cabin in the mountains and be alone. ALONE… for a whole week!!

It was the most glorious week I’ve had in a very long time.

Not everyone enjoys time alone, I understand that, so it may not seem like much of a fun vacation to those folks. But I recharge and regenerate in quiet solitude, so it was just divine for me. I had time to think. To contemplate. To plan. To relax. To READ!

The brother of a good friend of mine, was kind enough to let me stay at his cabin. The place was incredible. Just beautiful.

Thank you SO much Todd.

It was so lovely that I was, at first, afraid to even sit on the sofa!

I soon got over that and settled in.

With no laundry, no house work, no serious cooking, or animals to look after… I had all day, everyday, to do as I wanted.

I took that time to read, paint and work on last years Year Book. I didn’t even leave the cabin for supplies until the fifth day!

I got to read three+ books, painted eleven water colors, and uploaded almost a years worth of photos to Shutterfly (for last years year book).

I ate lite, fresh and minimally. Got seven wonderful nights of sleep, and only missed the family a little bit towards the end of the week.

This whole idea came about when I was very apprehensive about sending Guy (Gear-Bear’s Chiari Journey) off to camp since he may be put in a situation that he would want to attempt an activity that would put him in danger (with regards to his Chiari Malformation). I was nervous to be two hours away from him, in case something did happen, and he needed medical attention. It’s a rare individual, even in the medical field, that knows what Chiari is, let alone what to do with an injured Chiari patient.

So, my friend offered to ask her brother for the use of his cabin… a short distance from the summer camp.

I am happy to say that both boys had a great time in their first ever week of camp, and there were no medical emergencies! It was hard for me to let go,  but I know that I am in the process of letting Guy take over his own life and make the necessary decisions on his own. He is very responsible and has a good head on his shoulders, so I needn’t worry. (It’s just what mothers do!)

JJ was Guy’s body-guard, and Guy looked out for JJ and his low blood sugar. They took care of each other and had a blast in the process. They had a very cool counselor, and a fun bunch of boys in their cabin. It was spiritually and socially a blessing for both of them. A great week! The best news is… they want to go back up there next year. And Guy even said he wants to work up there when he’s old enough. I am SO happy about that, since I worked several summers at a camp in my youth.

Harrison… well, he lived it up! Got to do all the fun stuff he loves so much. I doubt that he missed me one bit! He was with his “other Mom and Dad”, and got to go hunting, fishing, tubing, swimming and all sorts of stuff. He had a ball!

The pets were all still alive when we got home, but a couple of my plants on the back deck didn’t make it. 😦 But better plants than the pets! Thank you Darren and Dave for taking care of things at home.

Peeps was very glad to see me. She ran right up to me and started pecking my toes! She had the nerve to grow a little while I was gone. Funny thing is that the husband became enamored with her during his time taking care of her. It made me laugh out loud to hear him go on and on about what she was doing, and how fun she was.

I am refreshed, revitalised, and ready to start preparing for the new school year. Which is what I’ve been doing everyday this week. As well as a mound of laundry!

I seriously think that this needs to be a yearly thing. I don’t know why it took me all these years to do it. Never knew I needed it so much, or how good it would make me feel. Now that I know… look out. A week alone is on the books for every summer!

Here are some of the paintings I got done while on my “REAL” vacation.

🙂

Take care all,

hi-d

The Getaway

We were blessed, this past weekend, to be offered a getaway cabin up in the Georgia mountains by a good friend of ours.

It was a beautiful weekend.

And we enjoyed ourselves so much!

Here are some photos of our trip.

 

The Cabin.

The View.

We just missed the color by about a week. But it was still beautiful!

Doughnuts and coffee in the morning – and a good game of Blockus. Does it get anybetter than that?

I just imagined how that hill would have looked with yellow leaves on those bare tree limbs! This is on the way into the little town.

Do you think that little stinker could eat all of that? Me neither.

And he couldn’t!

But in his defense… his big brothers did say they would help him eat that if he got it.

But they were pretty stuffed themselves!

I think they were posing for me, because they did finish their meals. But with no room left to help Harris.

Well, I have much more to share with you of our weekend, however I am fading fast here tonight. So, I’ll get back on this as soon as I can and give you more pictures from the weekend.

Goodnight!

🙂

hi-d