Home Again

Did i use the word "whirlwind" at any point in my last post? If not, i should have. If so, i should have used it more. This vacation has been a real whirlwind. But in a good way.

We packed in a lot into the last 10 days or so. I continued to do yoga everyday, no matter what the time constraints were, because i am convinced that is what prevented me from going mad. It's physical activity AND time to myself when done in solitude, and that combined with my new Ipod Shuffle from Kathy really helped me keep a level of sanity and self-knowledge. That's important to keep doing when you're on vacation. It's so tempting to get bowled over by "the flow."

Crashing at the Bogs' house was one of the best things we could have done. We might have gotten a tad stir-crazy by the end of it, but that will happen anywhere. It was so important to have a homebase -- to have a room where we had our suitcases, a consistent bed to sleep in, the same refridgerator and bathroom to use. Q was also there, and some other people popped in for New Year's. We went in to Rockland a couple of times to check into the Second Read, to see Narnia with Mark and Stef (which i really enjoyed! It was extremely faithful to the book. People might say it hits you over the head with Christian Dogma, but it doesn't do that any more than the book does, which isn't all that much to begin with.) We ALSO finally got to see the new property that my Mum and her fiancee purchased -- it was a good long cold walk in the woods of North Union with gorgeous views, and the real fun of walking on frozen leaves. They bounce under you as you walk!

On New Year's, we spent the evening doing exactly what i think we all needed -- hunkered down and played games until the ball dropped. Mark and Stef were there, as were Razz and Abbi (YAY!), and we ate crudite and cheese and spinach puffs and drank even more mulled wine as we played Apples to Apples, then a rousing game of Twister (hopefully pictures are soon to follow -- people will be delighted by the girl-on-girl action shots), and Balderdash. We were having so much fun we almost forgot to turn the TV to watch the ball drop! Then some of the crazier of us bundled up and went for a New Year's walk. A cold New Year's walk. I had a blast. It was a great way to end our Holiday in Maine.

daN and i came back last night, stopping at Applebee's in Westbrook to visit Lee & Alan. We got home around 8:30. We launched immediately into unpacking and heavy domestication, which has been ongoing this morning as well. It started with putting away gifts and has resulted in a mass cleansing of my files and desk drawers. Whew! I have recycled so much paper this morning i could probably make a whole new ream and a half of pretty paper out of it if i knew how.

The vacation was wonderful and much-needed. And there's nothing like sleeping and waking up in your own bed to finish it off.