It Would Just Be Easier . . .

to go right back out of the house on another vacation somewhere than have to deal with all of the hassles of getting resettled at home. After all, I am already packed!

We got home to find our dear son who was taking care of the house neglected to tell us that the heat pump had been leaking water onto the floor of his bedroom (the heat pump is in his closet) for a week! Anyway, after an expensive visit from the HVAC guy we found out that the AC was on so low that the coils and drain hose had frozen and when the ice reached a warmer section of either it began to thaw, hence the carpet in his room is ruined.

We had to tear it out and clean up the concrete under it. Neeedless to say we won't be replacing it will wall to wall anytime soon. I helped him pick out some room-sized area rugs to cover the concrete so that next time (heaven forbid ) something like this happens we can move the rugs before they get tototaled.

Then we also have a fruit fly infestation because they didn't do a very good job of taking out garbage while we were away.

And I still have all of those silly jobs that I usually do over the summer that I never got around to doing this year because I was away (like cleaning out cabinets and stuff like that).

So, I was toying with the idea of chucking my still packed bag into the car and getting out of Dodge, but the angelbaby has to start school in a week, and I haven't seen my mom in nine weeks, and the two older girls have tons of testing and administrative chores to do before they can register for fall classes which start in three weeks, so as much as I would love to run away, I really can't.

But I may just sneak off for a night or two to see a friend when things calm down in a week or so; haven't seen them in even longer.

It is great to be home and sleep in my own bed for a change. I had about the best night of sleep I have had all summer last night, and then because someone needed a sub I got to be Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Mass, how cool is that?

No matter how much I complain, it really is nice to be home.

As soon as I get my computer fixed (taking it in tomorrow) I will post some more pictures of our trip.

Pax

Two Weeks till We Return Home

I just realized that we only have two more weeks until we return home. It will start to set in here in a minute that I have to pack all of this stuff up (including all of the stuff we have purchased since we got here) and then I will really start to panic.

I have promised beautiful autistic daughter that we will be spending lots of time in the next two weeks at the beach because she loves to go to the beach to make sand castles and look for shells. I think we are going to start going in the mornings instead of waiting until mrangelmeg leaves for work in the afternoons though.

I also have to figure out what to do with all of these books. I know we got them all here, but I am wondering if it wouldn't be smarter to just package them up in a box and fed-ex the back home rather than taking them back in the car. It sure would save space.

We have one more big deal thing we want to do while we are down here, but we plan on doing that on Monday because mrangelmeg has the day off. Then it is just back to beach and pool (I know, nice work if you can get it) for the duration.

I don't even want to think about packing yet, but I really should be at least thinking about it. Like Scarlett O'Hara, I'll think about it tomorrow.

Pax

GO: Training Tuesday: Staying Fit Away From Home

In case you haven't figured it out yet, it is Spring Break around the angelmeg household and while we didn't get to follow mrangelmeg south (he is on TDY at an Air Force Base on the Gulf Coast for the next six weeks) the three younger girls and I did take a quick trip to this place. We are staying at a great hotel with an indoor water park.

I was worried that I wouldn't get a good workout in while we were on our little trip, but between our side trips to quaint little shops on three different levels, and all the climbing I have done in the water park to get to the different slides, there is a fitness center in the hotel that has a precor machine, so I actually did 30 minutes of cardio this morning. My trainer will be proud.

So my training tip for today is when you have to be away from home, find ways to build in time for fitness. Most hotels have some sort of fitness room, even if (like the one here) it only includes three simple machines --one of which is out of order. If your hotel doesn't have a fitness room, park farther away from where you are going and walk, or take the stairs instead of the elevator, or take a walk or jog in the morning or evening in the neighborhood or nearby park.

Once you begin an exercise routine, it is hard to give it up even for a few days. I can't believe I actually typed that sentence and actually meant it. I am growing in many ways while my waistline is shrinking.

Pax