Jitters

It's been years since I had any first day of work jitters.

Almost 14 years, to be exact.

But tonight, my stomach is in a knot. My mind is racing.

     "Did I make the right decision?"

     "Will I like this new job?"

     "Will I be any good at this new job?"

It's weird. I've been ready for this day for more than a month, yet it feels like it came out of nowhere. So many times today I caught myself thinking about what story I was going to do tomorrow. I even panicked for a moment when I realized I didn't have anything lined up. And I even thought about making some banana bread to take to work tomorrow.

Then I realized work is now a completely different place, doing a completely different job, working with completely different people.

That's when I freaked out a little.

Just a little.

I'm good now and ready, excited actually, to begin this new adventure. Change is good. It's sometimes easier to stay in a "comfortable" routine, rather than make a change that might actually be just what you've been looking for.

So, to those first day jitters, I say "get lost".

And to this new chapter in my life, this new adventure, these new challenges, I say: "Bring it on."

Vacation Hangover

"No man needs a vacation so much as the person who just had one."

~ Elbert Hubbard

Truer words have never been spoken.

I've never really had a vacation hangover before. Maybe because I've never really had a real vacation before.

Don't get me wrong. I've had vacations --- the family trips to the Mall of America, camping with the kids in the Black Hills, the Medora Musical. But those don't really count. I'm talking about a real vacation. A vacation without kids.

Brad and I finally had one of those, real vacations.

 

We spend ten days in Hawaii. It was awesome. Sun, relaxation, history, culture, good food. We even rented a Harley to explore the island of Maui. It was everything a vacation should be.

But ten days was a little too long.

I missed my kids like crazy.

Then there was the tsunami. I seriously hope I never experience another tsunami.

Now, it's back to reality.

As happy as I was to see the kids, I secretly kind of wished I'd have a day to catch up on sleep and unwind before diving back into motherhood.

That didn't happen.

I immediately jumped back into the "mom" duties of cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry, giving baths and getting the kids to bed.

I did all this on about three hours of sleep (the time I slept on the airplane doesn't count... that was too uncomfortable to be considered real sleep).

It's good to be home. Vacation was great, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But home is even better. I love the routine, the normalcy, and the hugs from my four favorite kiddos.

Still, I can't help wishing I could take a vacation to recover from my vacation...and to ease back into the routine that is my life....