Re-entry is Painful!

After spending 8 days with just my husband and no responsibilities, coming home is like hitting a brick wall. It hasn't helped that Mark got the stomach flu the day after we returned. Or that it snowed AGAIN this week. Or that I had two shows and Ashley's Baptism to get ready for this week. But 5 days later I'm still ready to run away and bask in the warm sun some more.

I should be getting ready for Ashley's baptism as I write this, but decided I needed a time out. Especially after Jessica just asked why I always stress. She told me it doesn't help to stress. Thanks for the advice. But just talking doesn't get the bathrooms cleaned or the food prepared or the talk written that I'm supposed to be giving in 15 hours.

So lets take a break and remember the 10 best things about our recent vacation.

1. Hands down the Dolphin Encounter in Nassau was the best activity we did. It was amazing playing with those smart animals.


2. Laying on the beach at CocoCay. But you must realize that Mark was under a shade tree with his shirt on and a towel over his legs so they would not get sun burned anymore. While I was laying in the sun, sipping a Coco Loco (virgin of course), reading a book (Pride and Prejudice) and wishing I had gotten tanner than I did. The only thing that could have been better is to eat chocolate, but it is kind of hard to do that and not have it melt in the sun.


3. Shopping!!!! Mark and I extended two days in Orlando after we returned from the cruise. Most people would have spent that time at Disney World or Universal Studios. But after seeing the prices for just a day or two we decided the money would be spent better buying new clothes. I believe I have gotten in trouble for mentioning how many new clothes Mark got and not disclosing my finds. Lets just say they were too great to number. But two of my favorite larger size clothing stores were in Orlando and the closest ones to Orem are in Las Vegas. So the last time I shopped at Catherines and The Avenue was a year ago during last Spring Break. There may have been a new dress, new skirt, several pants, many tops AND two pair of jeans. I was most excited about the jeans. I have a very funny shaped body and finding pants that fit my big birthing hips and are not too big in the waist are hard to come by. I haven't owned jeans in several years. Catherines just came out with "Right Fit" and they had pants cut specifically for a curvy shape. Yea!! Now if I only looked as good in them as the model does.


4. Eating at Cheesecake Factory! I know there is one in Salt Lake now, but we haven't braved the crowds and wanted to wait over an hour for a table. So we hit the one in Orlando on a weekday for a late lunch and got right in. Then took the cheesecake back to our room to enjoy after swimming at the pool.


5. No one yelling "MOOOOMMMM" 5,000 times a day. Really, how many times can one 4 year old say "Mom" over and over again??? Just this afternoon I asked my Mother-in-law while we were on the phone if she thought he would stop after not getting a response after saying it 100 times. No, then he just came into the room to interrupt the phone call. Though he was priceless this week when he decided he was going to give some of his money to Primary Children's hospital because they had cans up at Costco asking for donations. He even went to every member of the family to ask for donations. He wanted to go to the neighbors, but we stopped him there. We made a special trip to Costco so he could put all his coins in himself.


6. Someone else cooking food for me 3 times a day. I do enjoy cooking, but if I could I would probably eat out every meal. Having someone else fix it is just so much nicer. Though it has inspired me to try new recipes since returning. My new favorite site that I added to my Google Reader is CDKitchen. I've tried two new Crock Pot Recipes from there this week. Tonight's was especially good, French Onion Beef Casserole. The only one that didn't enjoy it was Ashley, no surprise there.


7. Having someone clean my bathroom on a DAILY basis. And on the cruise our little steward had to clean it twice a day most days. I'm lucky to get to them once a month.


8. Flying in an airplane. In 5 hours we crossed more ground than the pioneers did in months.


9. Pampered Chef paying for most of the trip. We would have never been able to enjoy such a great trip if I hadn't earned it through Pampered Chef. When they were paying we stayed in a 4 star hotel. When we were paying the last two nights we stayed in a 2 or 3 star hotel. It was probably ranked 3 star, but should have been 2!


10. Driving around in our cute red little PT Cruiser that we rented for the last two days. I believe Mark commented that maybe getting a new car might be nice. He drives the 15 year old Toyota Camry around that John just put scratches down the side as he brought his bike into the garage this week. Mark's goal is to hit 150,000 miles with the Camry and he is almost there.

Alas, reality is here and I must face the world. So I'm done with my time out and must go finish getting ready for tomorrow. But while I've been hiding in the bedroom I've heard the tables get set out and the front room vacuumed. Thank you honey!