Vacation at Home

I'm on vacation from work this week. It's one of the REALLY rare times I get to enjoy staying home. Usually it only happens when I am sick, but not so this time. I planned it. We usually visit my in-laws during the week between Christmas and New Year's, but this year we did something different and stayed home. (Don't worry: we visited my husband's parents at Thanksgiving, and he will be visiting them again next week.) It's a lot less stressful: no driving in holiday traffic, and no sleeping on sofa beds. We have plenty of time and all of the comforts of home.

You may be shocked and disappointed to learn that I have been indulging in holiday treats, and have slacked off of my ambitious walking schedule. I' m not worried about it. Life goes on, and I will be back to my usual schedule next week, mileage, calorie-counting and all.

So, what have I been doing? Well, first of all, I've been getting a little more sleep. Everybody needs some of that, and I sure needed it after I got done making all the holiday gifts and preparing my house for the festivities. I also have a creative side that is totally at odds with my normal professional, analytical, full-time working self. So I took some craft books out of the library, tried some new card designs, made some more of my favorite ones, and started learning my way around Photoshop Elements 6. I also started reading a book I got from the library called: The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece. It's the true story of Edvard Munch's "The Scream," which was stolen from the National Museum in Oslo, Norway, coinciding with the opening of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994. I'm about half way through it, and it's fascinating.

I was in the middle of responding to Sparkpeople messages last night when my Internet connection failed. Instead of getting frustrated or upset, I took it as a sign that I needed to be doing something else, so I turned the computer off, and started reading my book.

I'm sure I'll be back to my usual self next week. Meanwhile, I'm feeding my mind, drawing inspiration from my creative activities, enjoying a sense of well-being that has been absent for most of this year, and reflecting on all the people and things I have to be thankful for, including you!