Back Home Again! by DL Larson

Coming home from a trip or vacation gives me mixed emotions. On one hand I'm not ready to get back to the grind and routine of my life, yet, I'm happy to be home and in familar surroundings again, hug my kids and sleep in my own bed! Then reality smacks me right in the face and I groan wishing to run away from the immediate tasks to be done. Trying to prioritize these tasks always shifts and I struggle to decide if I should unpack first and promptly start laundry - augh! Or should I pick up the mountain of mail and sort through that first? Should I read the last two weeks worth of newspaper or simply scan them? Throw them out? What if something important happened and I'm left unaware? Then there is the phone messages waiting on our land line to be dwelt with when I'd really just like to sit a bit and scan through the hundreds of pictures we took. Should I put them on the computer? An album would be nice, but I know I'll never have time to do that. Work beckons and I usually only have one day to reorganize before library demands take up my time. And my writing, well, I continually shuffle that to the top of the pile, but it tends to slip off and lay dormant for a few days. A big UGH over that!

Vacations are wonderful and I enjoy the time away. Getting back to a routine takes a bit of effort. Do you have a system for getting back in the swing of things after being away? What do you do first?

I usually do as I did when our kids were small - make a contest of getting things settled around the house. Who can unload their suitcase first? Who can sort their clothes without tossing the whole bundle in the laundry? Who has the most mail? Who has the most invitations? Who has their luggage put away?

My husband and I play a bit of an organizing game as well. He dumps stuff on the kitchen counter - usually mail. And I dump it back on his desk. The pile eventually melts away. The newspapers get messed up and we both pretend we've read everything and after a few days the remains end up in the recyle bin. Just don't quiz us on any current events; I'm sure we would both fail miserably.

So I'm back home and am pretending quite convincingly that I am rested with everything settled around the house. I look out the window and realize our really, really green grass needs mowing, the garden has weeds higher than the tomato plants and my flower beds look a little neglected. It's only 95 degrees outside with 100% humidity...

Like I said, I'm home, rested and ready to get back to work! How are things with you? Did I miss anything while I was gone?


Til next time ~

DL Larson