Everyone should retreat once in a while.
T
he weekend was fabulous—no doubt about it. I laughed, drank, danced, talked, partied, napped, ate, planned, got massaged… ahh. The Playfriends stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking and bonding—all I needed was someone to braid my hair and it would have been totally girly.
I always come back from the retreat ready to tear into my book and just write. Sadly, my life is always waiting for me when I come home. Piles of laundry, school stuff for AC (oh, the trials of being Room Mom—but that’s a whole ‘nother blog), the realization that Halloween is just around the corner and the Holiday Crap will kick in to high gear, etc, etc, etc—I’m sure you know the drill. (And let’s just say my house is barely fit for human habitation at the moment. DG and I have a deal—the Parent In Charge of AC only has one duty: keep everyone alive. If everyone is breathing when the other one comes home, then the Parent In Charge has done his/her duty. Anything else accomplished during the absence of the other—housework, errands, grocery shopping—is just gravy. The deal does have its upside; none of that “what did you *do* all day?” business. The downside is…well, I’m sure you can imagine the downside.)
It’s enough to send a girl screaming back to the mountains begging them to take me in and adopt me.
But retreating with like-minded people does wonders for the psyche. I get inspiration, validation and encouragement. I come home feeling like I can do this and that does wonders for chasing away the funk that’s been creeping up on me.
What do you do when you need to recharge and chase away the funk? Who do you do it with? And how bad is your house when you return?
T
he weekend was fabulous—no doubt about it. I laughed, drank, danced, talked, partied, napped, ate, planned, got massaged… ahh. The Playfriends stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking and bonding—all I needed was someone to braid my hair and it would have been totally girly.I always come back from the retreat ready to tear into my book and just write. Sadly, my life is always waiting for me when I come home. Piles of laundry, school stuff for AC (oh, the trials of being Room Mom—but that’s a whole ‘nother blog), the realization that Halloween is just around the corner and the Holiday Crap will kick in to high gear, etc, etc, etc—I’m sure you know the drill. (And let’s just say my house is barely fit for human habitation at the moment. DG and I have a deal—the Parent In Charge of AC only has one duty: keep everyone alive. If everyone is breathing when the other one comes home, then the Parent In Charge has done his/her duty. Anything else accomplished during the absence of the other—housework, errands, grocery shopping—is just gravy. The deal does have its upside; none of that “what did you *do* all day?” business. The downside is…well, I’m sure you can imagine the downside.)
It’s enough to send a girl screaming back to the mountains begging them to take me in and adopt me.
But retreating with like-minded people does wonders for the psyche. I get inspiration, validation and encouragement. I come home feeling like I can do this and that does wonders for chasing away the funk that’s been creeping up on me.
What do you do when you need to recharge and chase away the funk? Who do you do it with? And how bad is your house when you return?
PC
10 comments:
When I need to recharge and chase away the funk, I take a long drive. (And as you learned at the retreat, my drives can be rather interesting ;)
Who do I do it with? Since you know about those drives, you should also know that I'd only take a drive with a Sexy Cajun by my side ;)
And how bad is your house when you return? Who cares? ;)
Kelley, not sleeping but having fun just the same
The actual burning question here is how bad is my house when I leave? I recharge my batteries twice a year with the BentQuillPosse.
I've got to give my dh some props here. I came home to a house that was MUCH cleaner than when I left it. Laundry done, floors swept, various piles of crap put away. It was nice. :-)
When I get back from a Playfriend trip, all I can ask for is that nothing is broken. Nothing will be cleaned. There will be dirty pots, an empty dishwasher with dishes stacked in the sink and all over the counter. Plates on the coffee table along with slews of magazines and other mail. Sigh...
The minute I walked in the door DH tore into my luggage to start laundry. I was the only person left to go for the weekend and he wanted to get it over with. I can't complain because the only thing I needed to do was grocery shop. :-) I have it so good.
There's just something about recharging your batteries with people who GET you. It's completely different than getting away with DH or with my family. Then I have to worry about whether everyone is having a good time and is being entertained. When I retreat with the playfriends all I have to worry about is me.
Instigator
I came home to a pizza box in the fridge (of course -- no way in hell will the man cook and if I wasn't around he'd die of pizza poisoning), an empty Wendy's cup on the counter (is there a reason it's not in the trash?) and a husband upstairs on the computer who couldn't be bothered to come down and see me. Oh, he'd be mad if he knew I was saying that because he was actually on the phone with computer support and couldn't leave the computer, but still. It's MY story. ;) He did take me to dinner later, so that was nice.
As for recharging, I typically go shopping. :) Or meet writer friends for lunch.
The dirty laundry she refers to is the stuff she took with her. I actually did do the laundry and dishes while she was gone. And I don't think we added significantly to any mess that was not already that way before she left, but it is also true that I did not attempt to scrub any floors or bathtubs while she was gone.
Then again, I didn't think the house was that messy. Lets just say that PC and I have somewhat different tolerances to mess.
Man, that's two weeks in a row I've had to defend myself on the blog... not a good trend...
Well, DG, there's clean enough, then there's clean for company. Very different. DB has offered to stay in a hotel between the cleaning lady coming and the party on Friday. I wish his apathy didn't rub off on me like it does.
PM here checking in after some minor surgery yesterday. I'm doing well but still have a little discomfort. I'm hoping tomorrow all that will be gone, especially since I have to drive to Mobile for my cruise with my sister.
Speaking of which, we decided a few years ago to do at least one "girl's trip" a year. It's a great chance to get away and to reconnect since we live a day's drive apart.
With the boys grown and gone, my house stays pretty clean now. It's just dust and cat hair and the unavoidable.
I'm heading back to bed to rest some more. That sounds like it would be recharging, but when you don't feel well and you want to feel well, it's a bit of a bummer.
PM
Glad you're doing well, PM.
I usually recharge with the Playfriends, whether over dinner or a weekend getaway.
My hubby doesn't really see dirt, so when I come home the place is rather messy. I would drop dead of surprise if he actually washed a dish. But he has gotten better about picking up kid clutter. Not sure why...
Angel
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