Today is the last day of my vacation, and it’s been a great one. I’m so glad we chose to stay at home this time. I needed some down time from work, and didn’t want to return to the office tired from traveling. Greg and I have spent some quality time together this week. I enjoy our chats about the future, our home, our writing, and our dreams. We’ve been swimming, shopping, hanging out in coffee houses, and working on our writing. We made a trip to the farmer’s market and bought fresh vegetables and organic meats. I feel so much better and grounded today.

I have been able to write again while I was off. I’m working on a new book idea, and so far it’s going well. As much as it started out being an avenue to push my own opinions and beliefs, it has turned into a challenge of my beliefs. I’m not sure where this will lead, but I am sure I will enjoy the trip.

One thing I have worked very hard on this week is tuning out the office. I left the crackberry on the bookcase all week! A friend of mine made a comment to me the other night that really stuck in my mind. “I like you better when you are on vacation.” Wow….what an eye-opener. I know my job sucks and stresses me out, but have I really let it affect those around me? I guess the truthful and uncomfortable answer is YES. So what am I going to do about it?

First, I need to be reminded of that comment every day. I typed her statement, printed it out, and posted it by my desk at home. I need to be reminded of this daily, or I will be drawn back into the ugly mire. I will also take a copy to the office and post it above my desk.

My job is just that, a job. There are going to be decisions made regularly that I don’t agree with, but I have to accept those and move on. I work with some people I do not like or respect, but I have to accept that and do my job as best as I can, and not be distracted by my own judgments of others. I need to learn to turn my work off when I leave the office. My evenings and weekends should be the time I enjoy being myself, not trying to unwind from the office.

I have given away too much of my life to the office. It was a choice I made, although I don’t recall making it. The stress is not good for my health, my life, or my relationships. My free time needs to be filled with my life, my family, my friends, and my goals.

So today I vow to let go of the work stress, and become a better me, in more control of my life. I will also work harder to be a better partner, a better parent, and a better friend. I don’t think it will be as easy as it sounds at first, but I will make it happen.

Thank you Leah for being honest with me….I needed it. Hugs!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Our Spiritual Connection to Nature.

We spent the day at Nashville Shores, enjoying the first weekday of our vacation. The park is larger this year, with added slides, a new wave pool, and the lazy river. I’ve heard a new company owns it now, but don’t know that for sure. The Shores is a great place to spend the day.

The wave pool is awesome, and the more people that are in, the better it is. One word of caution though, it will make you tired if you spend a lot of time in it. You don’t realize while you are in it how much of a work out it is. After you get home, your thighs will feel like you’ve been working out at the gym. And if you have a bad knee like I do, you might want to take it easy the first time. But playing in the wave pool beats going to the gym any day. Be sure to tighten those swimming trunks….the wave can take away much more than your float.

The lazy river is just that – lazy and relaxing. We floated around the course several times. It was more fun when the park first opened this year though. When the season started, you had to be on a float to be in the lazy river. They don’t enforce that rule now. There are people walking the course. Why?? And there are many kids playing with floats, swimming and running and playing under the waterfalls. I enjoyed the attraction much more when I didn’t have to worry about floating over the top of somebody’s kid. There is a huge kiddie pool available, so I don’t know why so many parents are taking their kids to the lazy river to play.

There are two things I don’t enjoy about Nashville Shores. First, their food and drink prices are outrageous. They don’t allow you to bring in coolers, so they have a captive audience and can charge whatever they want. Although we didn’t today, we usually bring a cooler and leave it in the car. You can leave the park and get back in, so it’s much cheaper to bring your lunch in a cooler, and eat in the car.

The second thing I don’t like is having to pay for the good floats. They have a few available at the attractions, but not near enough, and I’m sure they know that. You can pay to rent a float, but you need to hold on to it. We had our float stolen off our chairs one time, and noticed that happening several times today. Someone tried to steal the floats from the couple sitting in front of us three times today. Floats should be included in the admission price. But more importantly, people shouldn’t steal. It’s a real shame you can’t go get a drink without having to carry your float around with you. We finally learned today to tie ours to the chair with our towels. I think next time we will bring the bicycle locks.

I copied this post from someone’s facebook status today:

“I believe it takes special gifts and graces to join one of our armed forces and serve our Country. I believe that God chose those individuals and equipped them with those gifts. I today thank God for those He chose and for those that accepted His call. I appreciate all you’ve done and all the sacrifices you have made for me, my family and this country. Well done good and faithful servants! God Bless!”

I know this poster meant well, but I don’t think all the men and women who serve in the armed forces would agree with her way of thinking. First of all, not all soldiers are christian, and we have to recognize and accept that fact. I find this post to be a bit offensive, albeit unintentionally, because it takes away the free will and courage of our soldiers, and their desire to serve this country.

These men and women made a choice to serve our country. They put aside some of their own freedoms, left their family and friends behind, put some of their careers on hold, to make a commitment to our country and those living in it. Neither I, the original poster, nor anyone else has the right to take that choice away from them. I’m sure god is proud of them what they have done, but I don’t believe he molded and guided them to do it.

Especially on this Memorial Day, the men and women of our armed forces deserve our respect and gratitude. They do not deserve to have that taken away from them, and given to someone’s impression of their god. They deserve ALL the gratitude and credit for the choice they made.

Thank you, all men and women, serving in the armed forces to protect my country and my freedoms. May you receive all the respect you deserve today, and every day. May your god be proud of you for wonderful person you are.

One of my goals for this year was to quit smoking, so it’s time to get started. I went to the doctor this week and got a prescription for Chantix. My employer is promoting smoking cessation heavily now, so they are offering a deal thru our health insurance to get Chantix, patches or gum for $5. My doc gave me a 12 week supply of Chantix, and a 60 day supply of patches. She said I could use both together if needed help with the withdrawal. When I filled the prescription the pharmacist said she had never seen anyone use both, and thought I would only need the Chantix. Let’s hope so because I would rather get the nicotine out of my system quickly.

I took the first pill today, so if I follow the plan, I will quit smoking in one week. I have to admit I’m a bit nervous about taking it. There were several side affects listed in the brochure, and I’ve seen a few commercials from law firms about the drug. I’m going to take the chance though. I can survive 12 weeks of weird dreams for the benefit of quitting smoking, as long as I don’t the anger or suicidal side affects.

My intent is to blog my way thought my stop smoking progress. Writing this blog is my public announcement of my commit to quit. Physically going to the doctor and the pharmacy was part of that commitment too. I have to put forth the effort on this journey, or I will never succeed.

Wish me luck!!!!

OMG….I may never eat meat again! I heard about the movie “Food Inc” a while back, and finally watched it this past weekend. The cruelty to animals that I witnessed in this movie is unbelievable. I was so upset watching this movie, I thought I was going to cry and throw up at the same time. Michael Pollan is the writer, and you see a list of his other books here http://www.michaelpollan.com. I am definitely going to buy his other books and read them too, as soon as I can get my stomach to calm down.

I am really tempted to purchase this movie on DVD so I can watch it often. I want to keep this idea fresh on my mind, and fall back into my bad ways of eating. I definitely do not want to go back to eating meat that came from industrial food farms. The scenes of baby chicks being hatched in a drawer so full they couldn’t move, and then being poured down a chute to a conveyor belt and having their heads painted for branding just made me want to run outside and pet my own chickens. I had no idea that the life cycle of these chickens is only 49 days! These chickens are fed so many steroids and growth hormones that they grow into full size adults in only 49 days after hatching. As adults they look unnatural with huge breasts and tiny legs that can’t even hold them up. The cows and pigs weren’t treated any better. They just stood around in the own waste and disease waiting to die so a million people could have a roast for dinner tonight. Even as I type this, my stomach is getting upset again.

I’ve talked before about becoming a vegetarian. I never put any real effort into changing, but for a while I did add a lot more vegetables to my diet, and tried some new things. As usual, I changed back to my lazy comfortable ways over time, and haven’t been eating as well lately. I guess those days are over now. I went to the grocery after work yesterday and bought a shopping basket full of fresh vegetables and other vegetarian goodies. For now I am a vegetarian, unless I can find a local farmer that sells meat and I can be sure they are free range, fed proper foods with steroids or antibiotics, and are treated like living beings during their life cycle.