There are so many changes that happened inside me (some intentional and some not) during the preparation of my two week vacation to California
Sometimes I get into a mode where I look at my to-do list and lose sight of my accomplishments. It’s possible to then beat myself up and think I don’t do much or don’t do enough. I also need to realize the good after I do make a decision! I do take people’s advice into consideration and decide what the best decision would be for me.
To stop myself in my tracks and recognize what I DO, I listed some of them out…even the things that seem automatic – they count.
Before vacation:
- Make plane reservations (This was a big celebration for me. I don’t do this often enough to know if I am getting a good deal or not. Since I am going with Southwest airlines until they change their great customer service, I can’t go wrong with the airline. It then comes down to choose the right time that works for my schedule.)
- Make car reservations (This was an even bigger thing to commit to. I never rent a car for personal use! Which place is going to give me a good deal and not nickel and dime me to death? I procrastinated on this decision and talked to a lot of people and ended up with something that I was VERY happy with –
- Decisions about Zac’s before-trip activities (I was acting as a single parent for the week before our trip. I also was working. Zac had final exams at school. I relied on the support of my friend/neighbor to help with driving to school for exams and other activities J Not having my husband around to discuss or agree on activities was a challenge. At the end of the day, the decision and responsibility was mine. I have total respect for parents who have to act in this capacity all the time.)
- What to leave and work on at Pfizer (I discovered quickly that time was limited. For my sanity, I was forced to look at my list of things to do at work and decide what was important, what had to be done by me and had to be done before vacation. There were things that I asked others to handle in my absence and other things that would just wait. It was an interesting and productive mode to be in and one that I will work to be in most of my days.)
- Emails/arrangements for church responsibilities (Another area that I have a lot going on with is at church. I lead a team of responsible and helpful people! I listed what was going on while I was gone and people stepped up. Again, a look at the list of things to do and identify what had to be done by me, what someone else could do and what could wait.)
- Packing (I have gotten better with packing over time. I do pack and carry things “just in case”. I do realize that weighs me down in a couple ways. I tried to be reasonable knowing that we could buy things that we forgot and that we would be able to take advantage of washers/dryers where we stayed. As it turned out, I did pack too much but the good news is that my suitcases weren’t over the 50 lb limit!)
During vacation:
- Using body lotion (This might be too much information for some but I didn’t always use body lotion. I do know the benefits but I really thought it would take too much time to do every day. Well, seeing how much the air planes dry out my skin was clue #1 that I needed to buy some body lotion when I got to
- Blogging (I love to write and keep in touch with people. I committed to writing about our trip and shared the link with a few people to share. I won’t get too much into the fact that I haven’t finished blogging about our family vacation but I am almost done and will complete it soon.)
- Discussions about next town to stay (This could have been a trouble spot. It took agreement from all of us to speak our opinion and listen to each other about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. We used a couple of resources and it turned out to be very enjoyable.)
- What to see, where to eat and what to do (This could have been another trouble spot…but we discussed respectfully and made decisions. I don’t think anyone had any regrets.)
- What to buy (The key that helped us here was that we had put aside money to spend on this trip. We all knew it was a big trip for us and didn’t want to feel like we had to be too cheap about things. Our mantra of “we aren’t here to nickel and dime” was perfect! We were reasonable and had fun at the same time. Whenever one of us was contemplating buying something or doing an activity, another one of us would bring up our saying, which helped us make a decision!)
After vacation:
- Time to rest (I have learned from past experiences that taking a day or two after vacation to rest and transition back into routine is a great idea! Some vacations involve a time change. And although 3 hours doesn’t seem like much, when you have been on vacation in a place 3 hours behind it DOES take time to readjust. At the same time, this rest time helps solidify the experience in my mind and in my heart. I can go through receipts or brochures or photos and really enjoy them without being weighed down with work or other responsibilities.)
- Unpacking / laundry / grocery shopping (Taking the time to get to the grocery store, unpack suitcases and do laundry is nice. Yes it could have been shoved in the time before or after work but it was nice to do it at a leisurely pace.)
Going over my list, there were things that I did that I had doubts about the outcome but they had to be done. I did have to ask myself “what’s the worst thing that can happen?”. There were no awful “worst things”! The worst I could come up with was a task wouldn’t get done until I got home or I would spend more money than I needed to.
New things always challenge me and challenge me differently depending on what they are. When others are involved, I think I put more pressure on myself than necessary. If I forget about how good I want to appear and how well I want the outcome to be and if I trust that the information and gut feeling that I use to make decisions will help everything turn out the way it should!
