Just Two Chicks!

Just Two Chicks!

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Staying Awake... Recovery

Recovery from what you may wonder... it's nothing deep or disturbing. Just recovery from vacation. I had planned on a "Happy Thanksgiving" blog post before we left, but things got busy, and I got sick, and then things were busy again. I was stressing over the kids, the dogs, the cruise itself. I always stress over vacations that we're taking with other people. That means meeting up and hanging out, and making plans. Plus the wife started drinking again, and I was so worried she would overdo it... but she didn't, and for that I am grateful. Anyway, on our trips, I just want to sleep in, have my coffee on the balcony, stare out over the water as it rushes under the boat, and thennn leave the room for the thrills of the cruise... no planning, no rushing.

Oh, I do not need any stress over the planning of the excursions... if there is a problem in that area, my stomach develops a mind of its own, which in turn, pretty much takes me out for the count. It sucks. I like to do things spontaneously... then I have no time to fret! I have list of spontaneous activities for all occasions... you know, so I can be spontaneous.

Overall, the wife and I really enjoyed our time. We sleep well with the rocking of the ship, and have actually looked up rocking beds online. I'm not kidding, though we would probably never buy one. It was just an idea. I can see us throwing our legs over the side of the bed, causing it to rock in that direction, thus causing the dogs to take flight.  Lets not even think about other types of bedroom actions... we'd probably end up with broken bones.

Anyway...

This was a Thanksgiving cruise and I spent a lot of time giving thanks.

You see, there once was a time in my life, that vacation was that thing you did to get away from the grind and grime of life. We would go and stay in luxurious places, eat food we would never have at home, take tons of pictures to capture beauty we wouldn't find in our own city, sleep in as late as we wanted, and dread coming home... back to the grind and the grime. I call it grime because when things are old and worn, there isn't a whole lot we can do to "clean" them up. From baseboards, to furniture, to countertops, to floors. The detail in resorts, on cruise ships, etc., is so intricate... so beautiful, that I would come home and notice every scratch, every imperfection, every worn out cushion, and chipped sink.

Over the years, life has changed, and so have I, though I cannot pinpoint an exact moment of realization. When we lived in the middle of Dallas, in our old, comfortable 1957 home, with our beautiful stone lined river walk in the back, I was happy to come home. I loved the smell of our old home. I loved our beautiful backyard with the huge trees that had a history longer than my life. I loved our neighborhood, with everything right at my fingertips, from my favorite grocery store, Central Market, to my favorite taco place, Fuzzy's Tacos, and my favorite odd/international items store, World Market. We still saw things on vacation that we loved, but we were pleased to come home to Dallas, the brightly lit city, and our beautiful home.

This trip was quite different from any other. We boarded the boat, looked out over Galveston, and thought, "Wow... so happy we don't live here." We weren't completely satisfied with our accommodations, we weren't completely happy with the boat... we didn't venture into the first port, and we chose not to do an excursion in the second port. I wondered what on earth was wrong with us? Is nothing good enough anymore? Then I thought back to our Washing DC trip, remembering my complete awe with Georgetown, and how excited I was over the train station, etc. I don't know, I think we are just SO very lucky to have what we have, and so very lucky that our home is our paradise.

While I worked out in the gym on the boat, I was looking out over the water and thinking it was so much like home. Hell, I was wishing I was home, because at home, I would have my ceiling fans on and my a/c blasting. It was hot in the boat's gym!

This was an exhausting trip for the wife and I. We were running around 6 straight days, hanging out with people, which we rarely do, having drinks, which the wife only just took up again, gambling way too much, staying up all hours and getting up early so we could squeeze in a coffee and bagel, before we went to hang out with people.

Like I said, our home is our paradise and our peaceful space. I am thankful for my life, for my wife, for my kids, for my furry babies, and I am so thankful to wake up every morning, to my beautiful views inside and out.

We decorated for Christmas before we left on our trip, which made me doubly excited to come home. I'm the kind of person who loves to have her tree up for an extended period of time, but never past the New Year. My Grandmother always said keeping your tree up past new year brings bad luck, and to make sure you're doing what you enjoy most on New Year's day, because that is what you'll spend the majority of your time doing the rest of the year. I sure do miss her.

At the end of this post, you'll find some pre-holiday pictures of some of our decorating efforts...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday if you celebrate Thanksgiving, and if you don't, I hope you had a wonderful week last week, and a wonderful one to come!!







2 comments:

Anita said...

I guess vacations fit into the category of "you win some, you lose some" as with most things in life. Glad you had the opportunity to go, even though you didn't give it a grade of A+.

Makes you have even more of an appreciation of home - like you said.

I LOVE your Christmas decorations. Based on all the pictures you've posted of you home on this blog, I can definitely say that you have very good taste. Or is it the wife? :)

Aeria said...

I loved this post- such wonderful Thanksgiving thoughts and expressions.

I would love to go on a cruise, probably will never happen but I know that if I did, I would miss my little, crowded and completely loveable home. Makes me thankful for all the awesome things and people I have in my life :)

Beautiful pics of your decorations!

Hugs~