Gotta Get Away

I need a vacation. In fact, I have needed a vacation for quite some time. For months now I have been promising myself a get away to celebrate the success I have had on this journey and I just haven't been able to make it happen.

So today when I realized that:
a) I am feeling totally overwhelmed and under appreciated,
b) I am noticing that my normally sunny demeanor is taking a back seat to a less patient and more abrupt version of myself, and
c) one of my best friends is in possession of an unoccupied apartment a few hours away even though they are not actually moving there for another week or two,
I decided to take action.

Thus, I am packing up an overnight bag and heading out to spend a couple of evenings with myself. The price for getting to where I am going and back is negligible, and I have free accommodations thanks to my friend handing over his keys tonight. So, thankfully, the only real expense for this trip (apart for the emotional cost of being away from my darling hubby) will be food.

My plan is to keep completely on track with my meals and exercise; there is no reason for me to do otherwise. I know that I may end up with a little extra sodium in my diet as I will be eating out more, but I don't think that it is something that has to be extreme so long as I pay careful attention to my menu selections. Admittedly, I may make a special allowance for an ice cream cone, but we will see.

I also invested in something tonight that will make this holiday extremely fruitful. I bought a netbook. I have been debating doing so for about a year and have been doing a lot of research into them over this past month, and this evening I finally took the plunge. I am going to be catching up on a lot of writing (and hopefully blog reading, depending on available Internet service) while I am away, and my new tool will make that process a whole lot easier. In a way I suppose that makes this little mini vacation more of a working trip, but I am so passionate about putting pen to paper - or fingertips to keyboard, as it were - that it makes such tasks enjoyable. I think it will actually relax me to spend time completing some of my writing projects.

Hopefully I don't have any issues with posting here while I am away. I intend to still put up my normal entries, but if something goes wrong than know that I will be back to the homestead on Friday.

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 8 glasses of water
- 1 wrap on a soft tortilla shell with deli ham, cheese, dried cranberries, spinach, fat free Miracle Whip, mustard, and pepper
- 3/4 cup fat free raspberry yogurt with 1 cup cranberry almond granola cereal
- 4 cups spinach salad with cubed cheese, croutons, dried cranberries, tomato, mushrooms, and calorie-wise Greek feta and oregano dressing
- 1/2 large Spartan apple with cinnamon
- 1 mug caramel latte
- 1 banana
- 2 1/2 cups Caesar salad with bacon bits, Parmesan cheese, and croutons

EXERCISE:
- 2 hour walk
- 1 hour and 5 minutes of rowing a dragon boat