Back To Real Life

By Lara

I got home from Alaska on Tuesday morning. Aside from a slight nap on the plane from Seattle to Newark, I was awake for 35 hours. I don't plan to do that again any time soon. The Peach Perfection Jamba Juice I purchased in New Jersey went a long way towards curing my hunger and bad attitude, but there are some negative aspects of travel for which there is no cure.

Due to my sincere efforts to relax and catch up on sleep, we didn't make any year of the birthday specific plans for Beth's visit this weekend. Mostly, we looked through pictures, and I told her stories about the amusing Australian couple I met on my tour.

However, business is business. This afternoon, we sat down with our calendars and plotted out the rest of the year of the birthday. We have accomplished 12 of the 30 items already. There are still five or so items that require little if any planning. It's the rest of them that we have to worry about.

We have to schedule these events between soccer games, dance recitals, and my grandmother's 90th birthday celebration. I think we're still on track to finish, though. It's an exciting feeling.

Tomorrow I have to go back to work for real. I have a huge meeting that promises to be stressful. The wonderful sights and sounds of Alaska will be replaced by clipboards and monotony. I have come back to real life. Thank goodness that I have Beth and the year of the birthday activities to look forward to.