TWTW - the one where vacation ended

A lovely vacation came to an end on Saturday morning. I got up before the sun to see it rise over the ocean one more time before we left. I am so grateful to have spent a week beachfront with my family in Emerald Isle. You can see the beginning of vacation in this post and pics I put up on Instagram here. The full vacation post will be up on Wednesday. We left Emerald Isle at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Travelling on the Fourth sucks it.

Trip home happenings: I made my own DD iced coffee at some Hess gas station in Vanceboro, NC; we stopped to pee and happened to find ourselves in Dismal Swamp where the water was...dismal; and I had a toddler-like hanger episode and ate McDonald's for the first time in over a year. Otherwise it was nine hours in the car and by the end it was like Survivor up in that bitch.

MFD and I got home at 5. Geege was overjoyed, Mae growled at us for a while. Gus was so excited before he remembered he was supposed to be angry. So he puked dramatically and then ignored us all night. Home sweet home. I love being on vacation but I miss my dogs so much even though I know they're in good hands with my dog sitter.

The awesome thing about a vacation with a washer and dryer is that you come home and all of your clothes are clean. So you have time to wash sheets and towels and all that you left for yourself before vacation and go through all of your mail.

Other Saturday night things: Wawa hoagies, Orange is the New Black, and restraining Geege and Mae for hours while 1776 fireworks went off every minute. Fun times.

There's no way in hell I was going food shopping, and we were totally washed out of food. Peapod wasn't delivering on Sunday so I used Instacart and had my groceries by 10 a.m. Sunday morning. Weekly food prep: breakfast burritos from the freezer for breakfast; strawberries/peaches/plums and celery for snacks; greek orzo salad for lunches; grilled chicken thighs, steamed asparagus, and caprese salad for dinners.

I had to pay some attention to the flower beds too for the dead heading and all that crap.

Otherwise, I hung with the dogs, read, finished the third season of Orange is the New Black, and just enjoyed doing nothing before getting back into the swing of life.

Back to work for me today. Back to targeted exercise. Back to not eating a bunch of crap.

How was your Fourth? How have you been? 

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending

Ways to Define a Day

Before I go to sleep at night, I turn the lights out, settle in just so, put my trusty sleep mask on, take a deep breath of the lavender I've sprinkled on my pillow, and reflect on my day.

Did I survive? At the basest level, I define every day by me still being there at the end of it. No matter what happened,  even if it was awful, it's over. I can take the sleep cure and wake up to a brand new chance. In that sense, every day truly is a good day.

Was I grateful? Every day, not just on bad days and near Thanksgiving. It is not happy people who are thankful. It is thankful people who are happy. There is always something for which to be grateful.

Was I productive? Did I cross most things off the to do list? If not, did I at least take care of the important items? Did I work hard at work? If I didn't, chances are I won't sleep soundly that night.

How did I treat others? I can totally be a snarky asshole with my BFFs and tell it like it is, which is sometimes not a nice way to be. I need to balance that by being kind to people where I can. Did I help anyone today? Was I open to offering some supportive or encouraging words to someone who needed them?

Was there laughter? There has to be laughter. Every day, even in situations that aren't funny. I can't get by without it. If I feel like I haven't laughed enough, I'll think of something that always makes me laugh so I can get it in.

Was there time to just be? Was there time when I wasn't working, doing, reading, looking at my phone, cooking, cleaning, exercising, driving?  That's not to say I don't do some of my best thinking during those activities...but to me, just being implies stillness. Just being lets my mind wander where it will, glossing over things and snagging on others. Out of all the ways to define a day, this one is most crucial to refueling. Time spent just being, sitting outside and watching the sky go by, thinking of everything or nothing, is time well spent no matter how busy the day was.

What are some ways you define a day?