Re-entry fatigue

I noted yesterday that we had gotten back from vacation. This first weekday back might be the toughest for me, especially since we had such a great time. I'd gotten attached to my kids being fully occupied in the mornings and evenings, attached to my new friends who shared breakfast, lunch and dinner with my husband and me each day, attached to the beautiful Vermont weather and no computer and no television. Such a complete removal makes you rethink your priorities...and it feels disappointing to come back home and slide right back in to my same old life, complete with television and laundry and STUFF. So I'm trying to pull back a little, at least be conscious of my attitudes as I go back to real, day-to-day life.

Being so removed from civilization meant we missed some really big events, like the fierce weather in Iowa, the floods and tornadoes. As we continue to suffer our drought here in Georgia the idea of too much water seems almost blasphemous. But there those poor people are, making the best of things as they watch their homes and crops and soil wash down the Mississippi.

And of course Tim Russert's death. I was lucky to see him as the keynote speaker at an actuarial conference several years ago. I came home and told my husband, "What a neat guy. He seems like the most normal, happy person I've ever seen." And all the coverage of his life seems to bear that out, too. As trite as it feels to say, my heart goes out to his wife, son and most of all his dad at this unbearable time for them.

Back to my real life. I think I gained at least eight pounds this past week in spite of daily bike rides and swims, so I'm going to try to work in a couple of fifteen minute walks along with my daily morning workout. We'll see. Surely these pounds aren't permanent.

One last note...my little travails with extra weight and extra laundry aren't meant to compete in scope or scale with the Iowa flooding, or even with one family's losing their center. These are just random thoughts as I try out this blogging thing.