My Mini Vacation

This weekend has been a good one. It started with not working on Friday after a few days of long hours, and hard core interpreting. Friday I woke up and took my sweet time getting ready for the day, and then drove down to see my oldest sister who recently moved to Utah. My mom was staying at her house helping with the move and to juggle the kids. It wasn't a set plan until my mom called me and told me to come down. I hadn't seen my mom since last November at Thanksgiving, so was excited to see her for a little while. I drove her over to my grandparents house to stay as my dad was getting in to town on Saturday.

Instead of driving all the way back to Ogden, only to have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get back down to the South Towne Expo Center at 8 am, I decided to spoil myself a little and book a hotel all to myself. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express just off of 106th South for the night. I went and checked in to the hotel after dropping my mama off at the grandparents, and got all my stuff unloaded. Once I got all my stuff in to the room, I sat down on the bed and listened to my surroundings and all I could hear in my room with my king size bed was sheer and utter silence. It was pure bliss in that moment. I didn't have to be anywhere, say anything, call anyone, or do anything if I didn't want to.

This was bliss because I was able to relax after what had been a hard week personally. Some of my friends and family might read this and think I was over-indulging myself, but really this was me just taking a self-imposed "time-out" from the stresses of life and having "me" time.

I went over across the street to the South Towne Mall and spent a couple of hours shopping. No big purchases were made: a couple of new bras, makeup, and some skin care stuff to pamper myself with. This shopping trip wasn't made in a hurry while on a break between appointments, or with another person telling me where they wanted to go....it was just me meandering around an unfamiliar mall to stores I wanted to take peruse around in. It was true retail therapy, without buying tons of clothes I may or may not wear. It was also some good exercise as I wasn't just lounging around doing nothing.

This wasn't a trip or evening that lacked a typical "Lisa" moment however. I was making my way to the food court when I realized I didn't have my new coat I received as a gift. I practically had to stand still for a moment to think about where on earth I could have left it. I said a small prayer that I would know where to find it. I nearly ran back to the first store I had been and found my jacket. Thank heavens. If I had lost this jacket, it wouldn't have been the first to suffer the same fate of other new jackets (including a new Gap jacket I lost my first semester of marriage in the Old Main building at USU, but I digress).

I left the mall with Subway sandwich, chips, and sugar cookie in tow and went back to my hotel to relax. I turned on the TV to watch the Olympics a little and eat. But I took a long hot shower first enjoying the fact that hot water doesn't run out like it does at my apartment, then settled in to bed to eat my dinner and relax. Once again, utter bliss. I slept better than I have in ages due to the fact I was able to sprawl out and sleep.

I am thinking that as long as I volunteer at the Expo like I have for the last 3 years now, then I might make this a tradition. It is totally worth the $$.

The expo went well as can be expected, spent some extra time with my mama, met my dad at his parents to say hello, and then drove back to Ogden feeling renewed and refreshed.