on getting all my
ducks in a row
or, when life overwhelms, run away. And yes, I know these aren’t ducks, they are geese, but sometimes a girl gets to take a little poetic license, doesn’t she?
I seem to have depleted my batteries recently, and I just wasn’t running properly. I knew this, but couldn’t seem to break the cycle. So when my mother-in-law asked if I wanted to head up to the Thousand Islands with her and my sister-in-law and niece for a girls overnighter, of course my first thought was “I can’t do that, I don’t have time,” but then my second thought was, “Don’t be stupid.”
So I said yes and dropped everything, knowing it would all still be there, on the floor, when I got back. I never do things like that, but I knew that I really, really needed this one.
And off I went, and for the next day and a half I did only silly, relaxing, fun things. I giggled a little, I guffawed a lot. It helps when you have a silly eighteen-year-old with you and she does some really funny, crazy things. I also read a whole book. (Okay, I had started it the night before). It wasn’t even that great, but I lived within its covers for hours and hours anyway and that was its own little escape within my escape.
I never really used to believe in burnout, or at least I never believed it would happen to me, but lately I have begun to grasp the concept. Just in time, though, I am also starting to grasp the concept that no matter how much you have to do, every so often you need to simply stop everything and have some fun. Fun for the sake of fun.
They kept asking me what I wanted to do, and I kept saying, “I don’t care, I am just so happy to not HAVE to do anything.” But mostly I was thinking that I’d like to be sitting in a chair with my feet up, reading. We walked the little towns, we shopped, we ate, we went sightseeing. And then, finally, we sat in the hotel room and I read while they watched their shows (there were a lot of them). Basically, I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do the whole trip.
Well, except pay $12 for a friendship bracelet that is essentially a piece of string with four beads strung on it. I almost refused, I thought it was ridiculously expensive, but we were all supposed to get one, together. So I bit my tongue and plunked down my cash, and now there it is on my wrist.
But it might just end up being the best twelve dollars I ever spent, because every time I look at it now, I think of how hard we all laughed at 11:30 that night when my niece went to take a shower and was scared by a tiny little spider and dropped her glasses in the toilet. And she was appalled and grossed out and there was some gagging and it was just so funny and we laughed until we snorted because she is the kind of girl who would rather throw her glasses away than fish them out of the toilet.
And then, of course, we were on a roll, and we laughed hysterically for the next hour and probably kept everyone in all the rooms near us awake, but we just couldn’t stop and we didn’t stop and we all fell asleep with smiles on our faces.
And during the night I dreamed silly dreams
while all those things I left scattered
at home on the floor
moved themselves back into place.
June 16th, 2010 at 9:03 am
oh my goodness – you are right, we are on the same wavelength! I laughed right out loud – i kid you not – at this. loved it, loved it, loved it, loved that release of laughter that pushes so much icky goo out of one’s system. how wonderful to do nothing. and $12 well spent.
xoxo
June 16th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Love it… and such a great photo!
June 16th, 2010 at 9:25 am
those geese are so cute. and yes, i love it when i can just immerse myself into a book. starting one tonight,
June 16th, 2010 at 9:32 am
This made me smile:-)
I think this is one of my favorite blog posts. It speaks to the type of person you are, what you value and love, and it reminds me how thankful I am that you’re in my life.
June 16th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Very soon my trip is starting. I can’t wait. We have almost no itinerary and go somewhere lush to breathe. Your post got me all giddy just thinking about it. I’m learning to make these occasions rather than rare events.
June 16th, 2010 at 10:18 am
I think you needed that definitely and I’m glad you went! Now maybe you can regroup? We have a thousand island area here in Wisconsin, is that where you were?
June 16th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Good for you!
June 16th, 2010 at 10:57 am
So important to know when it is you need to step away and laugh. Because life is too serious to be taken all that seriously!!! So glad you found time and space for a little escape!!
June 16th, 2010 at 11:24 am
I love the poem at the end. This sounds like exactly what you need. And, don’t we all sometimes just need to laugh so hard and so long that we forget what got us started?
June 16th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
i love that you dropped everything and went…
and yes, burnout is real….really real !
and now, how about you drop everything and hop on a plane and fly here for a girls weekend at our cottage…i’ll invite a few more if you can make it….all bloggers of course 🙂
seriously, let’s talk !
June 16th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
I read this, feeling your overwhelm, understanding the “reading while away,” and laughed out loud – a real belly laugh! – when I got to the part about the glasses and the toilet.
I would have gagged too. If they were my glasses. Otherwise, I would have laughed.
Thanks for sharing this! I hope you are getting recharged!!!!
June 16th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
i am so into escapism. only usually my escapes involve only trips to the local home improvement store or grocery store. nothing as fun, memorable, and truly getting-away as yours. and never, not once, have my ducked been lined up when i got home. i’m glad for you. and jealous, actually.
June 17th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
beautiful photo. and i so am right there in the middle of burn out too.
June 17th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
joy and release just came zooming through this post!
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:43 pm
This is a wonderful post.
You made the right decision to go.
What fun!