Wow! What a nice, relaxing vacation. :) The first day I woke up at my normal 4am start time, but by the second morning, I had the sleeping-in thing figured out, and managed to remain in bed until nearly 8am! Pretty impressive I'd say. My parents were the only other ones up at this time, but they are seniors now, and I guess that's what seniors do-- get up at the crack of dawn, read the paper, and go out for breakfast.

I started each day with a small run: part road, part beach. Yes, I know I was on vacation, but I still wanted to keep up the miraculous momentum I've had these months since my first 5k in April. I imagined it would be majestic running on the beach-- like in a movie or on a cool, inspiring poster you see in the dentist's office, but it was actually pretty difficult. Walking was nice, but running on the sand (yes, I ran on the wet sand) was killer. But what was super cool was when my feet landed back on the road after being in the sand; I felt so light and fast. It was really neat. Not neat enough to do it again though. The next morning, I stuck to the road and took a slow walk on the beach with my girls later that day.

We cruised up and down the boardwalks of Ocean City, MD and Rehobeth. (I preferred the latter.) I enjoyed the quaint shops of Rehobeth and a little smoothie bar named the "Greenman". I spent very little money (yay), but did buy some running apparel at the outlets for dirt cheap-- pretty pumped about my pink Under Armor Shirt :)

It was too short a vacation, but I am very thankful I was blessed to have it. My parents picked a beautiful home overlooking the bay, my girls got to spend time with their cousins, and I got to be with my sister.

Countdown to vacation

I am up at 4am, 365 days a year, to do a paper route. I've thought of quitting a million and one times, but can't stand the thought of giving up the money. It started as my daughters route and when afternoon routes were cut two years ago, we accepted a morning route. It proved to be too early for my teen, but I ended up keeping it for myself after getting used to the cash. :) Most of it goes to extras and savings, and I can do my route and be back home before the girls even know I was gone. It works out very well with homeschooling and I have a great sub for when I want to take off. I have not taken a day in eight months, so I am very much looking forward to our mini-vacation to the beach this Thursday through Sunday. "Sleeping in" will be wonderful, although my idea of "sleeping in" probably won't be later than 7am. I'm even more excited about staying up past 9pm. I wonder what goes on in the world that late at night? I'll find out in five days!

It's been a good week-- although I had to look at my calendar to see what I did over the past few days :). I am continuing to tackle the garage, and it is looking wonderful-- that is compared to what our garage has looked like over the first 17 years of our marriage. I consider my husband a "pack rat", but he is learning to give things up. Although he still has his Nintendo from the early 1990's. I, however, do not like clutter, and think hard about what is important to keep. If it were up to me, I would move into a 500 square foot tiny house when our girls are married and on their own. I don't like to take up a lot of space and I think I would enjoy the freedom a small place and minimalist lifestyle would afford me. My hubby does not agree, but I shall keep working on him over the next 5-10 years. I certainly don't wish my daughters out and get "empty nest" just thinking about it. But I do enjoy looking at tiny-house plans from time to time.