DOING Things

It's Staycation time!

I've been counting down to this day for months now, and I'm so excited that it's finally here! Which day, you might ask? June 10th. That's which day. The first day of Summer - The Time I Am Not Required To Work for Two Months.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am pretty Type A. (According to my little brother, I am extremely Type A. What are you trying to say, dude? Anyway...) What this usually translates into is a constant state of stress brought on by the unrelenting feeling that I should be DOING something, and that something needs to be done immediately. 

The first time I tried to take a day off from everything was incredibly difficult. It was a Spring Break a couple of years ago. I decided that I would spend Sunday, that first Sunday, doing no work all day. To most people, this would probably sound wonderful. But for me, the thought of doing no work at all for an entire day made me feel like this:

What the heck am I going to DO all day?

I had no idea what to do with myself. In fact, I spent the three days prior to my vacation day stressing out about how I was going to spend it. I couldn't imagine a day without work.

Fortunately, I got over that and spent the day laying on the couch, painting my nails and reading. It was lovely.

Almost as good as this.

When I took my two-week staycation a few years ago (the one that started this blog), I was so stressed about what I would do for my two weeks that I actually googled "what to do on a staycation" and made a list. And last night, the first official night of this summer's staycation, I had a brief moment where I thought, Oh my gosh am I bored already? May I should have decided to work...

But I quickly came to my senses and went to Dairy Queen to get a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard.

As I was eating my amazing dessert, I got to thinking. What is this obsession with busyness? Why is it so necessary for me to be DOING something every minute? Every staycation has started out with a stressed-out attempt to find something productive or cool-sounding or just plain "busy" to do. And it isn't just me - everyone who asks me if school is over yet subsequently wants to know what I'm going to DO this summer. My first response is usually, "Sleep. A lot." Their subsequent question is, "But do you have any plans? Are you going to go anywhere? What are you going to DO?" I can't fault them for asking. It's a very good question. But it seems to come from the same obsessive place that my anxieties stem from - I can't spend my time just being. I have to DO all the time.

But the thing is, DOING is what causes my anxiety in the first place. Rather than spending this summer DOING things every minute, I need to get back to the place of peace - a place where I can just be. Over Memorial Day weekend, I resolved not to do any work. Instead, I slept in every day. I got out of bed when I felt like it. I took a nap every afternoon. I played with my 8-month-old niece (who is SUPER adorable!) every day. I watched corny Hallmark channel chick flicks with my mom and sister-in-law. And amazingly, slowly but surely, the spinning in my head finally slowed to a stop.

So this summer, my goal is not to DO anything. I'll do things. But not DO things. The goal of the summer is to just be. And enjoy it. No travel, no work, no stress.

And ice cream. Definitely ice cream.

So far, summer is delicious.

Mmmmmmm.

First Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Second Image courtesy of photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Staycation the Third: A Whole New Summer Experience

It's summer, ladies and gentlemen! This a very exciting thing. And for me, it's a totally new concept.

What? How could summer be a new concept? Don't you have one every year? Well, one might say that where I live, winter is so awful summer is like a totally new concept every year...something we spend months and months dreaming about until it's finally here. But no, this is not the reason summer is new to me. Summer is new to me because...(drumroll please)...

It's my first ever Summer Off.

The past four summers, I taught summer school. That meant I was still working all the time, just a little bit less. The two summers before that, I worked at a childcare program and went to graduate school classes. The four summers before that, I was a college student and worked at a daycare center, had an internship at General Mills, and did some other things I don't remember. One summer I worked at Curves for Women. I also worked at a credit union and as a nanny.

And before that, my mom gave me "summer homework." Literally. I was writing book reports and doing math sheets during the summer. Can someone give a sista a break? (Well, in this case I shouldn't complain since I graduated with honors and now have a Masters' degree...so thanks, Mom. You win this one.)

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. SUMMER! I am taking the summer off. In past summers, I was so Type A (nothing's changed, still am) that I thought if I didn't work during the summer, I'd spend all my time eating Ben and Jerry's and watching Netflix and trying to figure out what to do with myself, and I'd melt into a puddle of boredom and brain goo. However, after an incredibly exhausting school year, I have decided to dedicate the next two months to the art of relaxing. I am told this is a very enjoyable thing to do. I am personally not exactly acquainted with it. But I think me and Relaxation will be very good friends by mid-August. 

I have decided that my goal will be to not do things that feel like work. Or sound stressful. Or are stressful. I considered traveling to Guatemala, but that would have been stressful. I considered finding some summer employment not directly related to my job, but that would have been work. I considered subbing for summer school...but that also would have been work. So instead, I'm Not Working. And you know what that means...Staycation Time!

Naturally, if I'm staycationing, I have to blog about it. I'm really excited!

Afternoon, in pictures

What a lovely afternoon! 

I started out at Zumba class here:

 

Then went to the store and bought these.

 

On my way out, I found this: 

 

Stylish, no? The hilarity of it all made me thirsty, so I bought this:

 In a haze of delicious orangey-creamy goodness, I came home and fell in love with these.

Which helped me to finish this: 

And now, I'm off to do this: 

Um, I mean this: 

Goodnight!

Vol. 3, Day 3: More Novel Ideas

As always, vacation is a great time to do two things: wear super-comfy clothes and read novels. I am partial to Chick Lit--books that basically chick flicks that haven't been made into movies yet. Why do I love them, you ask? Because I hate drama in my life, but I like it in fiction. And also because the amount of mental effort required to read the book is about this much. And that's the way I like it.

This week's novel is

which I am reading while wearing these:

These socks were given to me my by freshman roommate in college, who clearly has excellent taste in socks (though she never seemed to be able to find matching ones when getting dressed). Speaking of whom, happy birthday, Rachel!

This particular novel is about a chick who used to be overweight and insecure, and decided she wanted to change. She was so successful in changing that she lost 75 pounds and became an image consultant. Her company now pays her to teach people "how to be cool." Sort of ridiculous idea? Yeah. Something that could probably happen in real life? Yeah. Great book for the beach? Heck yeah.

Maybe I'll head there tomorrow...

Vol. 3, Day 2: Bella Vista

Sunday was Mom's Birthday, part 2. We had a brunch cruise on Lake Minnetonka, which meant eating crap-tons of amazing calorie-packed goodness while floating around and looking at gigantic lake houses.

Our lovely boat

Um, did I mention I get down? Yeah, buddy.

Dessert! (like I really had room for it after all that food...but heck, I ate it anyway. It was delicious!)

After that awesome brunch cruise, I went home and watched the Olympics. I love the Olympics! Last night's highlights:

1. Bolt doing the "Bolt", and the cameramen chasing after him as he showboated down the track after reestablishing himself as the fastest man in the world

2. Maroney falling on her derriere and still winning the silver medal on the vault. I know she was really disappointed that she didn't get the gold, but to fall on your butt and still go home with a medal is pretty darn awesome in my opinion.

3. Pistorius, the paralympic gold medalist, competing in the men's 400m semifinal. He didn't win, but for a double-amputee to compete in the Olympics is an amazing feat.

Check out the story here.

Loving vacation!

Staycation Volume 3: Short and Sweet

Whoo! Summer school was fun, but I'm glad for a break. I've got exactly 11 days off of work before fall training and things, so I've got to make the most of it!

So far, it's been good.

Friday I went to Zumba at the gym, spent most of the day in my pj's, and then finished it out with a fabulous evening at the Chatterbox playing board games and eating caramel-covered carrot cake. Mmmmmmm.

Saturday was Mom's birthday, part 1--a picnic in the park.

Happy birthday, Mom!

The food was delicious. When we eat, we get down.

Summer Fun

It's finally summer again! I will be working a LOT this summer, finishing my Capstone, teaching summer school and going to tons of training sessions for work. So in between, my goal is to get in as much relaxing as possible!

I had a few days off work this week, and I was going to try and clean the house, do some at-home projects, work in the yard, wash my car, start work on my paper again, etc...and then I realized, I'll be working for the next seven weeks. Why start now? 

So instead, I...

Read three novels, 

Went to see a movie in the park, 

Salsa-danced with friends, and

got caught up on the latest season of Drop Dead Diva. 

Oh--and of course, spent three days in my pajamas. 

I love summer!