I Need a Vacation from my Vacation

va·ca·tion

–noun

1.	a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday: Schoolchildren are on vacation now.

2.	a part of the year, regularly set aside, when normal activities of law courts, legislatures, etc., are suspended.

3.	freedom or release from duty, business, or activity.

4.	an act or instance of vacating.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to take or have a vacation: to vacation in the Caribbean.

It's been about a week since we got home from vacation - sadly not #5 definition ;) & I'm still not in a routine. More like a rut, everyday I feel like I'm catching up on stuff around the house, scrambling to finish this or that & not ever getting to all that I was hoping to. I have started making to do lists & that has helped some but I need more structure. I was thinking about this the other day & remembered that sometime way back when I had the household chores assigned to a day(s) and a general daily routine for the kids & I. I could be flexible with it when needed/wanted but I had a schedule. I remember liking it but I don't quite remember how I did it. I can look at the spreadsheet I made that has the schedule {yes, I'm that anal} I just can't picture how it went. I have to do something about it though, being scattered during the day has left projects/tasks/errands unfinished & keeps me up at night which makes for a more challenging day following - exponentially each day is more overwhelming because I'm more tired & feel more out of control. :SIGH:

I've had some comments about the vacation I took, most common is that it was 5 weeks and how did I pull that off? Basically it's because my husband is gone. Not to say I wouldn't go visit family while he's home but it certainly wouldn't be for 5 weeks, ideally it would be a long weekend & he'd go along too. 5 weeks is definitely a long time to be away from home but we went before Michael started daily pre-k & I don't have a 9-5 job to take time off work. In fact, my work goes on the road with me & since the kids go with me too the only thing I had to get taken care of was someone to mow the yard & keep an eye on the house. Similarly, to the last vacation I took I wanted to make the time spent worth the effort getting there. This time traveling took less time but was just as tiring, and there's the expense for the decreasing convenience of flying. For just over what I had planned to spend on a trip to California & back the kids and I ended up going to New Mexico also & I even made a detour {on my own!} to Dallas. Being so far from family & close friends we really only see them once, maybe twice a year so it was nice having more than a quick weekend to visit.

Now with Michael starting school & Lydia turning 2 soon {read: no more free airfare} I'm not sure how often we will make it out. Not only that but traveling with two kids on my own really isn't too fun. So I've told family & friends that it's their turn to visit us. Since moving we've gone to California & New Mexico twice so someone else can visit next. Though I'm not sure I should blow up the air mattress just yet as I was told {by someone who will remain nameless, **cough, cough, SHELL, cough, cough**} I would get a visitor under three conditions:
1. I got married {obviously I won't be sending out invites anytime soon}
2. I had a baby {again, no announcements going out anytime soon - if ever}
3. We moved somewhere more interesting than Kennessee {Kentucky/Tennessee}

Since the first two are out & the Army is in control of the third we may not ever need that air mattress. Ah well, the kids can visit when they're old enough to drive and/or buy their own plane ticket. ;) LOL

Updated to add: Yes, Rachelle, I do in fact have an air mattress - queen size & sits higher off the ground, even has a built in air pump {which is totally useless for blowing up a pool btw}. ;) AND there are almost always good concerts going on out here - I'll check it out & forward the info to you so you can plan for one during your visit of less than 5 weeks. ;)

I also wanted to add that what I said about family/friends visiting us next was only because it would be fun to have them out - not trying to make anyone feel bad here. I realized that it could have come across that way. Traveling can be hard for anyone these days between balancing kids, finances, schedules, work, etc...lots going on & the airlines aren't exactly making people want to jump on board with high ticket prices, cramped seats, little to no food & very limited luggage allowances. I know Shawn wants to make trips out to California & New Mexico sometime after getting back & there will likely {90%} be another deployment even if he doesn't reenlist, in which case I'll be toting the kids around during the summer at some point I'm sure. :) Though if I had visitors we'd see each other 2 or 3 times a year rather than 1 or 2. :D {again, no guilt trip}