no blogs but still giving! Day 6-11, May 6-11

Got back late monday night from my weekend away. It was nice to get away, nice to go to the beach, be with my parents and old friends, take a break from work and the responsibilities of my daily life. Generally speaking I would say the whole 5 days was a gift to me! Also a gift to my parents. Because of this whole rather tumultuous last year, they are worried about all of us and they do their best to protect us but cannot fix our problems, though they wish they could. So having us around is the best I can do for them.

Day 6, May 6: Woke up at 4 am and headed to the airport. Mom picked me up and we went out to lunch and did a little shoppping. Bought the cutest hat with birthday candles on it for my favorite little 1 year old.

Day 7, May 7: Definitely a gift to me, this day! Beautiful sunny day, rented a car that turned out to be a VW beetle, cute as can be, drove down the coast, solo, blasting music, stopping at random beaches along the way. The ocean brings tears to my eyes everytime! I gotta get back here someday.

Day 8, May 8: Spent the morning with my ex-bro-in-law and my nephew. My sister passed away last summer, and I had not seen my nephew since then. His dad has some health issues as well and I definitely wanted to see them and check in. My nephew seems to be doing well, surprisingly. He gave me a mother's day card from him and his dad. So sweet. He was pretty chatty, and very tuned in to me and what I was saying about my life and my perspective these days. It was a good visit for sure and I'm glad I made the effort to make that happen.

Day 9, May 9: Mother's Day! Made every effort to get up and make breakfast for my mother, but as usual she cannot help herself to busy herself and is hard pressed to just sit and do nothing. At least she let me clean up. I bought her 2 beautiful plates from a shop in Santa Cruz. They had cherry blossoms on them and would look great in her kitchen. I think she liked them.Sent a mother's day wish to my soon-to-be ex mother in law, though she has been asked to not communicate with me. I hope she got it and that it felt good to her. It was a busy day filled with lots of visits from and with old friends. IT was a rather emotional day, but good. Lots of kind, productive conversations with my old friends making sure I'm looking forward and not back, loving me and believing in me.

Day 10, May 10: Last day of "vacation"...up and out to meet more friends ,return the car, and head to lunch with my brother before I fly back home. Gave up our seats for a group of ladies at the cafe that needed more room.

Day 11, May 11: Back home, back to work...glad to see my kids. Went to visit my son at school at lunchtime cuz I couldn't wait til 5! Would have done the same for the girls but they would have been mortified if their mother showed up at lunchtime! Worked, worked, worked! Lots to catch up on. Spent the eve at home, just us, some homemade pizza and gifts from California which they all seemed to love. I love it when a gift is received with such enthusiasm!

Today is May 12! What gift will I give today? I'm going to exercise today! I didn't have any liquid refreshment lastnight (except for milk) and I'm ridding myself of other nutritional nasties that have crept into my life this last year. Time to clean it all up! Move forward! Get healthy! That's my gift to me and my kids!