Italy...I've Been Tryin' to Get Over You

Third day status post Italy and am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. The first night home I went to bed a little after 8 as I had realized that I had been up for 24 hours with maybe 2 hours of actual sleep in there. Not good for this girl! I slept until about 11 -- had to get up to use the bathroom. When I woke up though, I was very disoriented. My room didn't look anything like the room in Rome where I had been sleeping for the last three nights -- oh wait -- I'm home now! Once that little confusion was taken care of, I took care of my business and went back to sleep. Shortly after that, I started to hear snoring. I thought to myself, 'My, Cindy sure must be tired tonight! I've never heard noises like that coming from her the whole trip!'. I looked over and discovered that Mike had come to bed -- welcome home! Morning came for me at 3 a.m. I managed to stay in bed until 5 and then couldn't take it anymore so got up to tidy up the kitchen and start laundry. I did manage to get 4 loads of laundry done by 10 a.m. on Friday. Each evening I try to stay up a little later...actually made it to 9 p.m. last night but it was a fight to do so! Maybe if I get in the rut of my work routine it will help get my internal clock reset.

Another aspect of getting back to "normal" is my eating and drinking routine. I summoned up the courage to step on the scales and I had only gained 2 lbs. during the 10 days I was away. My body is kind of suffering though. There is no way that I can drink as much water as I am accustomed to in a day while on vacation, especially in Italy. For one thing, you just never know when you're going to come across a bathroom. When you do it usually costs to use it and it may be in questionable condition. That kind of makes me not want to drink as much as I normally would. Also, every meal you are fed cheese and/or cured meats. It gets to be kind of a salt overload. By the time I got home my lips felt like they had just gotten a collagen injection! So as soon as I got home it was time to flood the gates with water (therefore the need to get up in the night more frequently!). That area of life corrects itself a lot more quickly than the internal clock!

I have been really enjoying my last few days of freedom before returning to work. It was nice to just pick up in the middle of the day and go see my mom and go get groceries. It would be nice to have time to tackle some of the little projects around the house. I started to tackle a closet remake in Gabby's room so she will have more space for her clothes and stuff. Hopefully I can get to Menards or somewhere to get the materials needed and the next key will be for Mike to have the time and patience to work with me to get the project done! I don't know who requires the patience more though, time will tell.

While I was gone, not one but two of my nephews became engaged. Ben will be getting married on December 21st of this year and Dan and Nicole are planning for the year 2015 with no firm date set yet. Ben was born on the same day as Micah, just about an hour after Micah. I was teasing Micah that Ben is beating him "to the altar". Micah said he didn't seem real disturbed about that.

I think it was 3 days before I had time to see Gabby for more than 15 minutes. I get to visit with her today only because she has a little flu bug going on and couldn't go to work. Not the most fun kind of time to spend with her but these days I'll take what I can get. Reed came home last night to visit (as much as he visits, that shy guy!). It was good to see him again, seems like it's been a long time!

Micah called on Friday night and talked for a while. He comes home for Fall break on the weekend of the 19th. It will be good to see him and visit with him. I am looking forward to Parents' Weekend the first weekend in November so Mike and I can get away for a weekend. (I know, I know -- I just got home but Mike and I don't really get to spend that much time alone together!)

Saturday morning I had a manicure and pedicure. By lunch time I was really ready for a nap as I was so relaxed. After all that walking last week, a pedicure felt great!

Mike's aunt Alice Martin passed away last night so we are awaiting funeral plans for sometime this week. It seems I have been going to far too many funerals lately. Alice has been holding on by a the grace of God for a long time and it is good that she finally has found peace.

This evening I think I will try to lay things out for work tomorrow -- clothes, beverages, snack, etc. I suppose I had better try and remember my passwords and just what it is that I do there! I'm sure it will all come back to me, maybe I just won't be as speedy at it as most days. Hopefully I can stay awake all day!