Posts Tagged With: mini break

the break we needed

Posted on July 2, 2021 by robynbird

YBW and I went to visit friends last week.
I’ve known this fam for nearly twenty five years, our kids grew up together, the mom and I taught together at the old preschool. They were here for our wedding in 2015, and YBW was enthusiastic about spending good time getting to know them. Y’all, he fit right into their family, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about that!

We needed a break.
We needed to get out of this house we no longer own before we move to our new house.
We needed to disconnect from everything here.
We needed to breathe new air.

Um…the air in Tucson is fucking hot! One hundred eight degrees is no joke!
Of course it is the desert.

But funky 4th Ave provided relief in one form or another.

We got to see all four of the (adult) kids, ranging in age from twenty-seven to about to be nineteen. Even my Goddaughter, the second eldest who lives just outside of Phoenix, was able to come down and ‘work’ from her mom and dad’s for a few days!
Joy is not a big enough word, y’all!

After a few days in Tucson, we (only the parent-y adults) drove six hours to spend a few days in their house in Carlsbad.
The perfect little Pacific coast beach town!

We’re back in Virginia where we belong.
Laundry, grocery shopping and tidying the house were on my list this week.
East coast time is our enemy…but we’re hoping to become friends again sooner than later.
After sleeping from only 10:15 to 11:30pm Wednesday night, I crashed about 8:15 Thursday night and woke at 9:40 this morning. Let us hope I broke the cycle.
As we head into the weekend, I’m disappointed we won’t be at the beach with our friends, but I’ve already hugged Meredith and Beau and their mommy this week, and this weekend we’re going to see Baby K for the first time since Sunday two weeks ago!

I came home feeling refreshed (apart from the wack-a-doo sleep schedule) and ready to organize and pack for our move the end of this month.
I knew I needed a break. I knew my husband would benefit from a break. Traveling is stressful, but visiting people we love is not.
We needed this break, this trip, this time with our family of friends.
I’m ready for what’s next.

Categories: me | Tags: beach, cocktails, come for a visit, family, fellowship, friends, friends as family, mini break, renewed of spirit, travel, vacation, vacay | 12 Comments

chaos and the need for ‘normal’ life

Posted on June 18, 2018 by robynbird

When I look back at the last six weeks I’m honestly amazed that we came out the other side as well off as we did.

Two deaths in two weeks.
Three birthdays in the same two weeks.
A mother’s day when there are no mothers.
Projects, exams, last month of senior year with senioritis in full swing.
Graduation.
Party.
Girls here.
(P.S. there’s still a hole in our house)

Now when read in a list, it may seem as though I’m exaggerating the impact each and every one of these things had on us. I’m here to assure you I am not. And while some of these things are in the biggest ‘Yay’ column, it was a stressful time.

Last week when YBW and I had our therapy appointment, we each talked about what we needed as we moved forward.
I wanted to take a break. Go away for a few days. Breathe new air. Get out of this house. Be near water. I was looking at it as kind of a reset, have a break to rest before we returned to normal life.
YBW wanted to get back to normal straight away. He expressed his weariness at the starting and stopping and starting he’s been doing for the last six weeks. He also expressed his desire to sleep.
Our therapist was on point, and while we didn’t settle on one or the other, we each began to consider the other’s point of view differently than we had before.

Later in the day I scribbled a note to myself.

The more I considered it, the more I began to feel that just saying what I need might be enough.
Which actually may turn out better as YBW is on call the last week of June which means we can’t go anywhere anyway.
We haven’t talked about it again. I did tell him my thoughts on expressing the need vs having the need met. I asked him how he was feeling about getting back to normal life. He remarked it didn’t feel like normal life.
Does he need to discover what his new normal is? I don’t know the answer to that. I do know he still isn’t sleeping all through the night.

What I do know is that from a very early age I learned not to express my needs because they wouldn’t be met. So to avoid that disappointment, I get vague af when it comes to expressing my needs. I actually think the phrase, ‘it doesn’t matter what I want or how I say it, I’m not going to get it anyway’. (Sounds pretty pathetic, right?)
I guess it’s the way I learned to defend myself.
Anyway, that’s where I am.
Desire to rest and recharge after the last six weeks before returning to ‘normal life’.
Only, here I am today, knee deep in normal life.
Blogging, GOOB with Lula, prob and stats, and instructional planning homework, hole in the house repair, teaching Thing G to drive, and just regular household maintenance stuff.

I don’t feel short-changed or whatever. I feel like being specific regarding my needs is a big deal and even if I don’t actually get what I said I need, I suspect I got some little bit of what I needed just by saying it out loud.
Go me!
I’m growing as a person and all that.
I mean, sure being near water would be perfection. But so far, on this first day of ‘normal life’ since the second day of May, I’m feeling fairly content.

Categories: death, loss, love, peace and wellbeing | Tags: death, family, getting back to normal, graduation, grief, loss, love, mini break, recharge, reset | 2 Comments

The End of Longing

Posted on May 24, 2017 by robynbird

I read about this play and got excited!
I absolutely adore Matthew Perry. Not as much from Friends, but more so as Matt Albie on Studio 60. When I read that Jennifer Morrison (she was Cameron from House and Emma on Once Upon a Time) was also a member of the cast, I was even more intrigued.
Anyway, YBW seemed game,so we’re heading to New York to catch it Saturday in the limited off broadway run.
Not to make a trip for nothing, we decided to make a weekend of it. We’re taking the train up and back and staying in the Village not far from the theater.
YBW’s all, “What else do you want to do?” And honestly, all I can focus on is seeing the play. So anything else is just ice cream! But I am feeling a desire to visit some vintage shops while I’m in the Village.
Who knows? We’re kind of flying by the seat of our pants for this trip! (and I’m not super anxious) The only absolutes are train times and play tickets. I suspect we’ll spend a great deal of time wandering with our cameras.
I’m ready for a mini-break. I think YBW is too. And this is a pretty cool one.

Check out Mattew Perry on Jimmy Kimmel talking about the “F” word in his play.

Categories: me | Tags: Greenwich Village, Jennifer Morrison, Lucille Lortel Theatre, Matthew Perry, mini break, NYC, trains | 3 Comments

What would you like to drink?

Posted on October 29, 2016 by robynbird

In Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt recounted what Miss Mary Harty shared with him about Savannahians.

“We have a saying: If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, ‘What’s your business?’ In Macon they ask, ‘Where do you go to church?’ In Augusta they ask your grandmother’s maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask you is ‘What would you like to drink?”

Now, I’m a fan of cocktails…and (mostly red) wine…(some) beers…so YBW and I decided to embrace this particular Savannahism as we rolled in last Sunday afternoon.

We spent Saturday afternoon and evening in Charleston with my friend and mentor. The first thing we did was go for drinks at The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Island.
I had what’s called ‘The Yellow Jessamine’

And let me tell you it was absolutely delicious!
My friend and mentor was quick to share with the staff we were celebrating our wedding anniversary, and it was only a moment before the bar manager came over with a little treat for us.

How precious was that?

Monday we celebrated our anniversary with dinner at a.lure. Were the food was to die for!
YBW had what he called the “Warner Brothers Dinner” starting with the braised rabbit “open ravioli” then duck a la rootbeer float. (Yes, we actually sat at the table and said, “Duck season. Rabbit season.”) I started with deviled eggs and house made pickled vegitables. The rosemary pickled purple carrots were some of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. I had the pork shank for dinner, served with some of the best grits of all time.
Cocktails before dinner looked a bit like this.

YBW had “Apples & Oranges” and I had “The Black Cat” martini.

We went to Crystal Beer Parlor where I had a blackened salmon BLT with house cut onion rings and Abita Amber. YBW had a cup of chicken and sausage gumbo and half a BLT with Treehorn Dry Cider.

The city of Savannah has an open container law. This means you can waltz around the streets of Savannah with (only plastic) cups of alcohol. We took full advantage of this when we were visiting the city. In the afternoon we carried boozy slurpees as we walked and shopped down on River Street. In the evening we poured left over margarita from the Cuban joint into styrofoam ‘to go’ cups and went down to the Savannah Film Festival hosted by SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design)

I don’t remember what else we drank…but I can assure you that I was all about taking the advice Joe Odom gave John Berendt:

“Rule number one: Always stick around for one more drink. That’s when things happen. That’s when you find out everything you want to know.”

Categories: me | Tags: A.lure, anniversary, Crystal Beer Parlor, John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, mini break, open container law, Savannah, vacation, what would you like to drink | Leave a comment

no tiny wine plant in here

Posted on January 20, 2015 by robynbird

YBW and I made a whirlwind thirty-six hour weekend trip to NYC to see Alan Cumming in Cabaret and I documented the trip via Snapchat. It was out of character for me to not pull out the Lumix…but I felt playful and wanted to do something completely different.

Thing 2 sent this in reply to a pic of YBW and me in the security line:

(A tiny wine plant being a reference to the movie French Kiss.)

To which I replied:

I sat in the absolute worst spot waiting to board the plane:

(A la the knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.)

We rode the E train from JFK to 7th Avenue:

(Their subway is FOUL!)

Checking in at the Wellington:

Walking through the park just the other day baby. Whaddya, whaddya think I saw?:

(It was 12 degrees but we loved it.)

A trip to the Met after the long walk through the park wore us out…we sat in the floor for a while, YBW Ingressed and I gave my still healing foot a rest.

Our view was pretty though:

Dinner before the play. Two pints of my beloved Harp:

(From BBC’s Coupling, but Sally and Patrick had martinis not beer.)

The Kit Kat Klub at Studio 54:

(YBW asked me not to take pics while Alan Cumming was on stage so as not to get us thrown out, please and thank you.)

Whirlwind but SO MUCH FUN!

I’m glad I’m writing again.
After a three month term break, I’m back to school…
My co-teacher and I are committed to bringing Dot to life…
These things will take time, but I will MAKE time to write…for me and for you.

Life isn’t always a cabaret old chum, but we can leave our troubles outside.

Categories: me, Uncategorized | Tags: Alan Cumming, beer, Cabaret, cold, Coupling, dinner, flight, fun, Harp, life is a cabaret, love, mini break, NYC, playful, snapchat, theater, weekend trip, whirlwind, YBW | Leave a comment

cheer up cheerily

Posted on March 19, 2014 by robynbird

It has been a…what’s the word…curious(?) couple of weeks. I have been completely overworked at school, and editing that book, as well as finishing up my school term, not to mention still trying to process my personal feelings about my little friend whose mother died.
But(!) the curiousness is actually the best part!

Robin birds in the spring are a SUPER big deal for me, (Gee, I can’t imagine why.) but since my mom died, I’ve not seen them anywhere near as frequently or in as great of numbers as it seems I always have in the past….and if I have seen one, I’ve been with either Thing 2 or YBW only.
A part of me was relieved I wasn’t seeing them in great big amounts because it was painful, made me miss my Mommie, but a part of me was disappointed, because it is one of my favorite “rites of Spring”. My theory was “God” (by whatever gender or name) kind of knew I wasn’t ready, that was why the sightings were so few and far between, or I was with those particular people.
This year however, I have seen more robin birds than I have been able to count! They’re EVERYWHERE! Even with all this snow, they’re flying and chirping and skibbling all around on the lawns. My joy is immense at hearing their “cheerily cheer up cheer up cheerily”!
It must be time. Either I’m finally healing on own, or Mommie is ‘up there’ pulling strings to make me heal (Of course she would still be trying to boss me around.)

The second ‘wonderful’ aspect of the curious is YBW. I had a total crap day yesterday and he just happened to be home when I came home for lunch, I honestly can’t remember the last time I was that happy to see anyone. He hugged me and I just breathed in his scent and felt so much better straightaway …I was instantly safe and comforted and so very grateful. I was just enough to bolster me to get through the rest of my day.

I went to see the holistic doc and he was worried about my appearance, when I told him I was just worn out, he was worried it was the book. No, my job…the strangest thing…he offered me a job right on the spot! I thought and thought about it…made the pro and con list in my head, talked with Sundance and YBW about it then went to school this morning and met with my director (For three hours!) discussed where my ‘heart is’, made plans for positive changes. I walked into her office completely devoid of hope and walked out three hours later quite full.
Got an email with a new chapter for the book with a note asking me to let him know about the position. I’m going to decline…I know how to run the office because I did it for my doctor before I came here, and it is very seductive to receive all that free healthcare, and there are so many positives, but there are negatives, too…but ultimately, it isn’t where my heart is.
If I am going to leave my school I need to do it in a mindful way, not a reactionary way. I’m not ready yet, my time there isn’t finished.

The robin birds are singing just for me, “cheer up cheerily”.

Oh! P.S. YBW and I are going to the beach the day after tomorrow! Hello, Jewish Mother for breakfast! Yay for YBW and yay for the mini break!

Categories: me | Tags: beach, birds, blessings, book, come to Jesus meeting, early childhood education, early morning, editing, feelings, healing, hope, job, love, mindful, mini break, mothers, new chapter, new job, overworked, peace, reactionary, robin bird, robins, sadness, school, song, spring, the Jewish Mother, VA beach, weekend getaway, where your heart is, worn out | 2 Comments

weekend at the beach?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by robynbird

I’m ready for a mini-break.
Only a weekend, doesn’t even have to be a long weekend…just a few days away. I’m leaning towards the beach. I love the beach when it’s cold I love getting to do all the fun beachy stuff without the myriad people all up in it.
So the question becomes which beach. Ideally I’d head to Duck, but that’s a bit of a schlep for a simple weekend, VA beach has The Jewish Mother, and is close enough to be a short weekend jaunt. Or I could head north to Delaware or Maryland.
Honestly, I don’t care where the mini-break is…I just want to get out of this place for a little while…away from school and home and the responsibilities. I want to be quiet, but not at home.

I’ve been quiet since the sad news last week, I’m not sure YBW knows quite what to do about me. He keeps asking if I’m OK. Yeah, I’m OK. I mean, seriously, this puts everything into perspective, right? But I’m quiet. And I’ve learned that when I’m quiet, he’s quiet…withdrawn quiet. (I don’t think that’s his intention, I think it’s how it feels to me…I think he doesn’t know how to help so he’s respecting the quiet, but it makes me feels icky.)
I don’t know how I’m processing what’s going on with people I care about, I mean I cried because I returned a pillow to Pier 1 on Sunday.

I was looking for a project around the house, not one that’s too big, but something I can control and execute, to feel as though there is order. I am a great admirer of order. The pillow was to be part of that project, and though I absolutely adored the pillow, it was not working so I returned it. Then I was left feeling as though I have no purpose. So I can move on to another project idea or I can stop and take a great big breath.

Mini-break.
Makes sense to me, examine how I’m processing all that I’ve experienced in the last week without redirecting it into something I can control. (Though I really do want to paint some things around the house.) A couple of days at the beach, walking the sand, doing beachy things, being quiet away from the places I have responsibility. As I’m writing this I’m considering whether or not I want to take this time alone or with YBW…I honestly don’t want to be alone, I just want to be quiet, until I’m ready to talk. I want to feel cared for and coddled without compromising my dignity (or his) I want to be in the moment together.

He’ll be home soon and when he gets here I’m going to see if I can interest him in a beach weekend.

Categories: me | Tags: beach, coddled, feelings, grief, healing, irresponsible, lack of responsibilities, loss, love, mini break, peace, protective, quiet, sadness, sand, surf, weekend getaway, wellbeing | Leave a comment

mini-break bliss

Posted on November 19, 2013 by robynbird

We’re home from mini-break and back into the real world.
Please let me tell you that 5:15 came damn early this morning.

We had the most lovely weekend! The American Shakespeare Center/Blackfriars Playhouse and it’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well was spectacular!
We walked everywhere all weekend, ate delicious food at the quirkiest little places, my favorite of which was Cranberry’s Grocery and Eatery. We wandered through quaint little shops, even visited the Woodrow Wilson Presidential library.
Saturday morning we accidentally came upon Thornrose Cemetery and both had a wonderful time exploring!
We discovered a teeny little camera museum and I listened with awe to the strange little man talk about the history of photography and cameras. (Did I mention I’m a dork?)

We chose well when we decided which winery to visit on our way home and came away with five bottles!
The only thing we didn’t get to do was have decadent dessert and cappuccino…but that’s OK because I had slice of delicious cherry pie after my lunch on the way home.

The short time we were away seemed so long! It was the perfect opportunity to “check-out” for a little while. We enjoyed just being away together…but when we got into bed last night, each of us expressed our happiness at being able to sleep in our own bed.
Dorothy knew what was up when she said, “there’s no place like home.”

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: american shakespeare center, autumn, blackfriars playhouse, cranberry's grocery and eatery, fall, fun, historic Virginia, holiday shopping, love, mini break, thornrose cemetery, weekend getaway, window shopping, winery | Leave a comment

let’s get this show on the road

Posted on November 15, 2013 by robynbird

YBW and I are going on a mini-break this weekend and I am so ready to get on the road. Two year olds make for exhausting playmates, I’m looking forward to spending time with my grown-up playmate.

It’s Autumn! My favorite time of year and we’re going to wander the streets of a small historic Virginia town and catch a Shakespeare play. I plan to do a bit of holiday shopping…never know what I’ll find in those cute little shops on the main street.
I want a ridiculously decadent dessert and a frothy cappuccino late at night for absolutely no reason! I want to hold YBW’s hand and walk down the sidewalk in the crisp air without a care in the world. The only specific thing YBW said he wants to do is visit wineries on the way home…though I think he’s excited about the play.
We’re both just ready for a little time off…to be together away from home…just a mini-break from the daily goings on.
I think we deserve it.