Vacation

Today I went on vacation. And yesterday I did too. I live on vacation, actually. What? You don’t? You should! It’s pretty simple really and doesn’t cost anything.

It all started a few years ago when I was recovering from experiencing hurricane Katrina. Everyday turned out to be yet another fight with my government and FEMA and phone calls to my insurance company, hoops to jump though and more and more faxes and papers and files and a job no one should have to do to get half the money they need that they paid their taxes and premiums to get and learn they wasted their time. And in those darkest days I would look at the magazines I ordered before my life became this, back when electricity was a given and water was just there. Back when I got pedicures and lived in a secure world where I was okay and life was orderly and sane. Those stupid magazines just kept coming, month after month, like I was still that person, like still lived that life, like I had the time or the peace to care or sit and read them. Like life would ever be the same again.

And then one day in my misery, I decided I needed a vacation. Not the one Katrina gave me, a good one. A nice one. A vacation where I could smile. With no money to my name and gas prices higher than the Sears tower I knew that leaving town wouldn’t come soon. And I looked at those magazines and knew if I could just get a vacation I would read them and enjoy them. So I took my vacation. I got the kids busy. I dug out the candles that gave me light after Katrina, I ran the bath with hot water I didn’t have for a while after that storm and closed a door to a room where only weeks before the ceiling sat on the floor. And I locked the door. I sank into the tub, opened my magazine and took my vacation. When my cup of tea was cold, my water cool and my magazine wet, when the kids pounded on the door, I knew the plane had landed and I was home. I packed my bags, my towel, candles, magazine and went home. I greeted my family and with a new sense of gratitude I went back to work.

But the next day I was back to stressed out and sad and had to go to the store. As I passed the greeting cards I remembered how I used to love reading them even if I didn’t need to buy one. So today I took a vacation. I told the kids not to talk to me for a few minutes, that I had to read something. And they were quiet as I read card after card. I could do this, I thought, write greeting cards. I laughed and thought of different family members who would love this card or that one. And on the way home I called family and friends and just said hi. What a great vacation!

I found myself going to bed tonight wondering what vacation I might take tomorrow. The canoe is still out. I might sit in it, outside on the ground while the kids play in the yard, and read a book. What a strange feeling to sit in a canoe on the ground and read. I’ll bet that will be fun and strange. Or maybe we could sit on the kitchen table and play a game of cards, yes sit ON the kitchen table.

But what if you don’t have time to stop for 30 minutes to take a vacation? I keep a nail file in my car. When I come to a particularly long light, I pull out my nail file. And I put the parking brake on and I relax and file my nails. I imagine I’m at home, by fire or by a pool, and I just take my time and file away, admiring my nails and my hands. When vacation’s over I have adjusted my attitude and I drive differently. I breathe slower and hear the kids’ laughter more clearly. Of course their fighting I decide to tune out.

Sometimes I have to cook dinner and I just don’t feel like it. So I take a vacation instead. On those days I pour a glass of wine, turn on the radio and put on an apron. Instead of just forcing myself to rattle pots and pans, I decide to be in it. I make the atmosphere and really get in it. I dance to the fridge, I stir in beat, I really taste each sip of the wine when I stop to taste it. My kids think I’m funny, my husband comes home with a smile on his face as he has to catch me to kiss me and everyone comments on how good dinner smells. By the time dinner is ready, I’m wishing I wasn’t finished cooking it. But then it’s followed by sitting with my family and watching their faces as they recount light saber battles or a funny joke with a friend. What a great vacation!

Tonight I have to wash hair, and beg others to please wash theirs. I have to vacuum the bedroom before hubby settles in. Why do I always end up late and still not finished with what I needed to do? Well, it must be time for a vacation! So I tell my son it’s time to go swimming in the tub. We put on our swim suits and in we go! Body and hair gets washed and the bathroom gets wet, toys float and we break out the water color tablets. We make red which becomes purple which eventually looks like some morbid dark soup. Time to pack our things and go inside. We leave the bathroom and enter our “hotel room”, the room that has been newly vacuumed. I read him a story and watch him sleep, what a great vacation!

I don’t know when I’ll really go on a plane to another destination but I know that when I do it will be because of lots of planning and errands and packing and such. And that’s what’s so great about my daily vacations, no planning necessary, no packing and no stress. And when they’re over, no suitcase to unpack. Just memories and good times that I know will become the things I remember most when I look back on these “hard times”.

When she's not in the mountains or climbing rocks, Teresa Bondora can be found in Acworth, GA where she writes and supports other parents in teaching science and staying healthy and teaches rock climbing at her local gym. Teresa also appears a guest blogger on Sew Cute’s blog. Visit her anytime at www.HowToTeachScience.com