family adventures

If you read my last post, you know that I wasn't really doing 100% fabulous. Life was wearing down on me and it was the end of the month, so my boss told me to take a few days off. So that's what I did.

We talked it over as a family and decided, "Hey, why not take a short little mini vacation?" We were technically supposed to be in Disney this week, so it's not all that surprising my mind and body were craving a break. So Dad, Skylar and I took off for a few days.

We left Thursday morning and drove to Luray Caverns. Skylar and Dad went last year and really enjoyed it. I hadn't been in forever. So it seemed like a good stop to make and it was! The caverns were beautiful and we got lots of good pictures. Skylar's favorite part was buying a bag of sand and sifting through it for gemstones :)

From there, we drove to a hotel in Staunton, VA where we got some dinner and relaxed in the room for the evening. Friday morning we left for Monticello! That was my favorite part of the trip. It is so so beautiful with such rich and interesting history. We didn't stay for long because it hit 90 degrees and it's mostly an outside thing. But once again, we got some excellent pictures and picked up a few cool souvenirs.

We drove back to the hotel that afternoon and put on a Harry Potter marathon and just relaxed away the day with some reading, coloring, and TVing.

Saturday morning we got a leisurely start and drove home via Skyline Drive. It was rainy and foggy, but still beautiful. We saw some deer and caught a few sweet views, the pictures of which just don't do them justice.

(photo cred: Bill Bowen, Jr.)

It was a nice 3 day trip. We got out of the house. We didn't squeeze in too much. It felt relaxed. And we still had a whole day and a half to unwind before work starts back up again tomorrow morning.

Emotionally and physically I'm still a bit unstable. Part of that might be because it turns out I was taking one of my medications wrong. I was taking it first thing in the morning and not eating until several hours later. Turns out you're supposed to eat before you take it. My bad. So that might be part of the reason I've been feeling so crappy. Hopefully after a week or so of taking it correctly I will start feeling better? Gosh I hope so, because this really sucks.

But despite not feeling 100%, this trip was just what the doctor (or in this case, my boss) ordered. I feel refreshed and a little bit more hopeful.

The fact that I've been stuck in my home since March is depressing. I don't think I really stopped to think about it and then it hit me like a brick about 2 weeks ago. Just how lonely and stir crazy I was. We weren't meant to exist like this. We are social creatures. Not social media creatures. Even us introverts. We crave human interaction. Real, genuine, relationships. And a weekly trip to work, the grocery store, the pharmacy, and (let's be for realz here) the occasional trip to Home Goods just wasn't cutting it.

Yeah, we had to wear a mask everywhere we went. And no, we didn't get to eat at any of the local restaurants. But it was still nice to get out and see that...the world is still spinning. There are still things to do. Places to go. People to see. That we must take precautions, but that doesn't mean we must live in fear. And I realize now that the fear had become more and more paralyzing. Not that I would catch covid or that a loved one would die because of the virus. Not that one political party will win the election and ruin the country and life as we know it (as you hear said by both red and blue). But the fear that there really was no hope for the future? That's what became paralyzing.

But yesterday I got back from a lovely vacation. I saw beauty. And today I worked a little more toward my degree and I sang to Jesus and I'm sitting out on my porch blogging. All things that give me a sense of purpose. I don't really know what I'll do next. And I know that as tomorrow draws closer, the feeling in my chest will tighten and my head will start to spin. But for now I'll hang onto this absolute. perfect. temperature. And the way the sun hits the trees and casts a shadow over the yard. And the smell of freshly cut grass.

I'll figure out the other stuff later.