...I'm not sure if going or returning is less relaxing? Before a vacation you are frustrated making sure everything is packed and you don't forget anything. If you also have a job you have the extra stress of making sure your work is caught up and everyone who will need to know what you know, knows it. Leaving a clean desk or house is also a trial unless you are already one of those super organized individuals who keep things clean all the time. All the other things that fall onto the 'to do' list before vacations include; clean the car out, empty the refrigerator, make sure you have enough clothes to vacate in without having to find a laundromat, confirm your reservations, map your trip so you don't spend hours going in the wrong direction, and if you are vacationing with extended family you can multiply that list by however many there are packing and driving.
Vacations themselves should be relaxing and mine was about 85% of the time but unfortunately if you have young children like my sister while vacationing the only relaxing times are while they are asleep.
Coming back brings on a fast submersion into the land of stress and frustration that quickly erases that 85% relaxation benefits. First, after a long, long, long day of traveling (11+ hours on the road with multiple stops) you have to unpack your vehicle and carry everything inside. (I don't have the kids to assign this task to.) After everything is in you then have to unpack the bags and return all your belongings to their rightful place. You may even find yourself doing a load of laundry in the middle of the night just so you have clean clothes to wear the next day. Your refrigerator is empty, the answering machine is blinking its receiver off, your email accounts are so full of junk and spam that you spend 3 hours just cleaning them out so you can reply to the important ones (if you don't accidentally delete them with the SPAM), and the snail mail is in a pile waiting to be sorted and bills are waiting to be paid. The next day at work you will find that; work has piled up on the desk that you didn't get cleaned off before you left, what you thought people knew before you left is not what they remembered, appointments and meetings have appeared on your calendar magically while you were gone, and everything needed to be done last week while you were gone so you get on it ASAP only to find out that you missed the deadline because you were on vacation when the task was delegated to you.
So here is the question is it more stressful to prepare for vacation or return from vacation? Does this mean that you should never take a vacation or should you just go on vacation 24/7 and forget about all the work and home stress? Can you get paid to vacation all the time and not have it be work? I don't know but I will tell you this, I'm back into the regular work routine and looking for the next time I can take a vacation! (I must thrive on stress)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
I wish I would have thought of it first...
...but I didn't so here are some Bogus Thoughts stolen from a favorite blog of mine "Killer Fiction".
"A Phew Filisophical Questions" by Leslie Langtry
Since the other week when I wondered why RAGE doesn’t burn calories, a couple of other questions have popped into my head.
I don’t ask Mr. A’s opinion anymore. One time a friend and I were having some serious e-mail back and forth regarding a shoe on James’ Cameron’s Titanic documentary. Seems the shoe is found completely buttoned up – with like, fifty buttons. So, we surmised a foot had been in it. What happened to the foot?
Well, we had all kinds of cool theories – a shark with a snail fork, etc. Then Mr. A ruins all our fun by saying the foot just dissolved in the icy waters over time. Bastard.
So, I spent Sunday trimming poor Muppet again. She looks like a tiny weasel with large, uneven bald spots now. Her hair grows ridiculously fast and mattes up if she sneezes. On the other hand, there is my pug. I wonder why in some animals, their hair is short all the time. The pug's hair grows only one length…ever. Why? And how can I get in on that?
Or maybe we can do what the Chrissy and Velvet dolls did. You remember? A button in her navel makes the hair longer and a button on her back makes it short. Sounds wonderful to me - I'm not using my navel for anything right now.
The second question comes from something a pet shop owner told me when I went to get food for the Beta we had named, “Margaret’s Fish.” The fish guy told me not to over feed the fish because, “Fish will eat until they die if you let them.”
I’d heard this before. It’s an old saw if you keep fish as pets, right? And yet, if that’s true, what about fish in lakes, rivers and seas? I’ve never heard of a fish hatching in the morning and dying by afternoon because it kept eating and couldn’t stop. Why is that?
How is it that some fish cannot control themselves when it comes to gluttony and their inevitable deaths? How come other fish live for years? Do they have some kind of self-restraint that eludes the rest of all fishkind? And how can I apply it to my complete lack of willpower that comes over me when I see a Twinkie?
Maybe my own brain will start producing bogus thoughts soon but I hope you enjoyed Leslie's mind ramblings.
"A Phew Filisophical Questions" by Leslie Langtry
Since the other week when I wondered why RAGE doesn’t burn calories, a couple of other questions have popped into my head.
I don’t ask Mr. A’s opinion anymore. One time a friend and I were having some serious e-mail back and forth regarding a shoe on James’ Cameron’s Titanic documentary. Seems the shoe is found completely buttoned up – with like, fifty buttons. So, we surmised a foot had been in it. What happened to the foot?
Well, we had all kinds of cool theories – a shark with a snail fork, etc. Then Mr. A ruins all our fun by saying the foot just dissolved in the icy waters over time. Bastard.
So, I spent Sunday trimming poor Muppet again. She looks like a tiny weasel with large, uneven bald spots now. Her hair grows ridiculously fast and mattes up if she sneezes. On the other hand, there is my pug. I wonder why in some animals, their hair is short all the time. The pug's hair grows only one length…ever. Why? And how can I get in on that?
Or maybe we can do what the Chrissy and Velvet dolls did. You remember? A button in her navel makes the hair longer and a button on her back makes it short. Sounds wonderful to me - I'm not using my navel for anything right now.
The second question comes from something a pet shop owner told me when I went to get food for the Beta we had named, “Margaret’s Fish.” The fish guy told me not to over feed the fish because, “Fish will eat until they die if you let them.”
I’d heard this before. It’s an old saw if you keep fish as pets, right? And yet, if that’s true, what about fish in lakes, rivers and seas? I’ve never heard of a fish hatching in the morning and dying by afternoon because it kept eating and couldn’t stop. Why is that?
How is it that some fish cannot control themselves when it comes to gluttony and their inevitable deaths? How come other fish live for years? Do they have some kind of self-restraint that eludes the rest of all fishkind? And how can I apply it to my complete lack of willpower that comes over me when I see a Twinkie?
Maybe my own brain will start producing bogus thoughts soon but I hope you enjoyed Leslie's mind ramblings.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Never give up...
...never surrender! Unless....
Unless what! What is it that makes us 'give up' what is that final straw that makes us throw in the towel? I've heard that quitters never win but I also know that if you quit while you're ahead then you finish a winner.
Is it frustration, distress, pain, boredom, tiredness, deprivation, WHAT is it that makes us 'give up'? I have started soul searching this question because I want to give up and surrender to my eating addiction. I'm tired of having to make 'good for me' choices, I'm frustrated with having to tell myself no when it comes to foods I know taste good and I enjoy, I'm bored with my routine but don't have the interest or motivation to find a new one. I am also distressed that if I do 'give up' those 80 pound I manged to get off will race back on with all their friends they made while they were gone. (Several are already back but I hope it is for a short visit)
So what do I do now? Where do I find the determination to "Never give up...Never surrender"? Is it in willpower? My willpower disappears at the first pack of mint chocolate cookies. Is it motivation? I can't find any motivation before or after a full work day. Is it in setting goals to accomplish? Goals are nice but I have to believe I can attain them before it will change my behavior. Is it in counseling and therapy? I don't know I haven't tried that yet.
I think of other things I've accomplished in my life where I didn't give up. I earned a BA degree in 4 years when many people were taking 5-6 years for their 4 year degree. I earned my MLIS degree while working full time and without taking out any loans. I haven't had big relationship accomplishments because that's another area where never starting is easier than giving up or failing. I have managed to lose 80 pound in just over a year and if stop giving up I can do it again!
Unless what! What is it that makes us 'give up' what is that final straw that makes us throw in the towel? I've heard that quitters never win but I also know that if you quit while you're ahead then you finish a winner.
Is it frustration, distress, pain, boredom, tiredness, deprivation, WHAT is it that makes us 'give up'? I have started soul searching this question because I want to give up and surrender to my eating addiction. I'm tired of having to make 'good for me' choices, I'm frustrated with having to tell myself no when it comes to foods I know taste good and I enjoy, I'm bored with my routine but don't have the interest or motivation to find a new one. I am also distressed that if I do 'give up' those 80 pound I manged to get off will race back on with all their friends they made while they were gone. (Several are already back but I hope it is for a short visit)
So what do I do now? Where do I find the determination to "Never give up...Never surrender"? Is it in willpower? My willpower disappears at the first pack of mint chocolate cookies. Is it motivation? I can't find any motivation before or after a full work day. Is it in setting goals to accomplish? Goals are nice but I have to believe I can attain them before it will change my behavior. Is it in counseling and therapy? I don't know I haven't tried that yet.
I think of other things I've accomplished in my life where I didn't give up. I earned a BA degree in 4 years when many people were taking 5-6 years for their 4 year degree. I earned my MLIS degree while working full time and without taking out any loans. I haven't had big relationship accomplishments because that's another area where never starting is easier than giving up or failing. I have managed to lose 80 pound in just over a year and if stop giving up I can do it again!
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Sorry Zach...
...I just don't know what to write!
So here is a bunch of bogus thoughts based on the Word.
1. Why is it so much easier to see the splinters in our neighbor's eye when we have a beam in our own, yet if we take care of the beam in our own eye we don't notice the splinter in our neighbors?
2. When the prodigal son returned the Father (God) came to meet him. The prodigal did not feel worthy to be a son and hoped to be a servant. The father welcomed him back as a son and threw a party. The older son never left his father but lived his life as a servant instead of a son. When the Father came to him and asked him to join the party the oldest son refused to even enter the house. Both sons were lost but only one was found.
3. Mary and Martha had different priorities. Martha was a doer who showed her love and devotion by working and preparing a welcoming home and meal for Christ. Mary was a listener and learner who showed her love for Christ by breaking free of the rules that governed proper behavior and sat at the feet of Jesus (A place no proper woman should have been in that day and age) and listened to his teachings. Both loved the Lord and were doing as they felt lead. Martha got into trouble though when she decided that Mary should be showing her love for the Lord in the exact same manner as Martha was. God speaks to us differently and welcomes our individual worship and devotion no matter what form it takes as long as it is honest and from the heart.
4. Only human kind has eternal life for it was only man who was made in the image of God and has God's eternal breath in him. And as woman was made from man they also share that image and breath.
Okay hope that's enough for now. My brain only thinks oddly for a little while.
So here is a bunch of bogus thoughts based on the Word.
1. Why is it so much easier to see the splinters in our neighbor's eye when we have a beam in our own, yet if we take care of the beam in our own eye we don't notice the splinter in our neighbors?
2. When the prodigal son returned the Father (God) came to meet him. The prodigal did not feel worthy to be a son and hoped to be a servant. The father welcomed him back as a son and threw a party. The older son never left his father but lived his life as a servant instead of a son. When the Father came to him and asked him to join the party the oldest son refused to even enter the house. Both sons were lost but only one was found.
3. Mary and Martha had different priorities. Martha was a doer who showed her love and devotion by working and preparing a welcoming home and meal for Christ. Mary was a listener and learner who showed her love for Christ by breaking free of the rules that governed proper behavior and sat at the feet of Jesus (A place no proper woman should have been in that day and age) and listened to his teachings. Both loved the Lord and were doing as they felt lead. Martha got into trouble though when she decided that Mary should be showing her love for the Lord in the exact same manner as Martha was. God speaks to us differently and welcomes our individual worship and devotion no matter what form it takes as long as it is honest and from the heart.
4. Only human kind has eternal life for it was only man who was made in the image of God and has God's eternal breath in him. And as woman was made from man they also share that image and breath.
Okay hope that's enough for now. My brain only thinks oddly for a little while.
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