Hello, I’m back! Back in the groove. Kids are at school. I’m at my computer. Happy 2013 my beautiful ladies!
For the first time in over three years, I did not check in once while on a blogging hiatus. I felt guilty for not connecting with you these past two weeks, but I really wanted to decompress, rest my head, spend time with my family, and be fresh for 2013. I feel ready.
Well not really.
Hello all! Checking in from vacation.
Week 1 was spectacular, because, admission: I took all of last week for MYSELF. The kids were in camp, hubby was at work, and then there was me– goin’ nowhere fast. It was quite blissful. I did things like walk around aimlessly with a coffee, spend the morning at the spa, and talk on the phone with my girlfriends for hours. Things I hadn’t done in a long while.
I guess that’s what regrouping is for.
But here’s what’s remarkable: what I witnessed last night. I experienced something truly incredible.
We were taking the kids to dinner in Mont Tremblant- a lovely area in the Laurentian Mountains. All was good- until my 5 year old literally turned FIFTY SHADES OF GREY in the car and said he was going to throw up. We swerved the car to the side of the road, and I jumped out with my baby. Let’s just say that was the first of MANY pukes to come. I brushed it off as sun stroke, as he really hadn’t drank much water yesterday, and had been out and about in the sun all day. I figured the vomit was a one-timer. We were 40 minutes from our lakehouse, and I had an 8 year old who was famished. We bought some Advil to help his headache, and continued driving the remaining 10 minutes to the restaurant. One more pitstop to puke, and we were finally at the restaurant.
Girls, I am taking my annual 3-week July blogging break starting today. I do this every year for my mental wellbeing, and for the quality of this blog. It is my gift to myself. It is not easy to continuously keep things fresh, relevant and interesting, so every July, I rest my blogging brain to come back recharged, refreshed, and ready to give you more.
Over the next three weeks, I will be working, relaxing and traveling. The end of my 3-week blogging break will mark my favorite time of the year– our annual blogging conference in NYC, called Blogher. There are no words for this weekend of networking, partying and sharing with some of the smartest, savviest chicks I know. I simply cannot wait.
So, I wish you all a wonderful upcoming 3 weeks. I hope you find some time to yourself to reflect, and map out your goals. Summer is a great time to do that. As always, I am known to check in every now and then, so do come and visit. Please consider this your time to catch up on “rerun” blog posts, as well. 
I will be on Twitter and Facebook, so come say hi over there!
So my husband cannot believe that I haven’t checked in while on vacation. “Don’t you want to write a post?” he asked me.
But the truth is, beside some Twitter and Facebook updates, I have been resting my fingertips. And my brain. And just enjoying my time with my family. You never get these moments back, so I have been seizing them.
We are at the beach in Maine. I have surrendered to cottage cheese thighs, loads of ice cream, fries and wine daily, tons of New England clam chowder (my all time favorite) and lotsa lobster. I’m feeling fat and happy and free. And oh how great it feels.
So to my husband who can’t believe I haven’t written, I leave you only with a Wordless Wednesday. I think it depicts my head space in the most perfect of ways.
I don’t think I’ve ever reposted a blog post, but this morning I re-read an old vacation alert on WomenOnTheFence.com, and I realized I’m in the same boat today. So… here goes… a re-post.
As of today, I’m officially on vacation until August!
And as much as I love my writing– (it’s my passion you all know), sometimes we need a breather. Maybe I’ll drop in and say hi, and maybe I won’t. I’m not sure. And me the planner isn’t going to plan much over the next couple of weeks. I’m gonna seize the moment, be with the kids, swim, go to the beach, give my husband some good lovin’, and as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman, “Be still like vegetables. Lay like broccoli.”
It’s Thursday night. I just finished putting two little boys to bed, with fever, and Motrin. Funny how when your kids get sick, they ALL get sick at the SAME TIME, and then mommy gets sick too (I’m warm now). Today they were out playing, tonight they’re out of commission. Daddy just got home from the pharmacy with more Motrin, and BRING THE NIGHT ON!
But truth is, for the first time, I don’t care. We’re all sick, we’ll all get better. And as of today, I’m officially on vacation! For TWO WEEKS.
Yes, in the over one-year of Blogging, I have never unplugged. Not once. But I promised my family this holiday season, I’d give my undivided attention. No more Blackberry and Twitter addiction– well, I won’t quit cold turkey, but I will definitely ease up. No more churning out Blog posts. No more constant replying to emails. Just solid, good ol’ fashioned family time. Playing with the kids, sipping peppermint lattes and going back to the basics. We need it. It’s been quite the year.
