Things I learned from vacation:

• I do much better in a warm climate
• I do much better spending the day in the sun
• I do much better moving all day long
• I sleep much better when I move all day long and get plenty of sun
• It’s much easier for me to wake up in the mornings when I get plenty of sun/exercise and am looking forward to my day
• I eat better and less often when I’m active all day – it’s easier to pay attention to hunger signals vs cravings
• I want to work for Disney
• I wouldn’t mind living in Florida in order to work for Disney
• I like the way I look
• I like spending time with my kids when we are having adventures and are busy
• I don’t need television/Facebook/beer when I’m having adventures and keeping busy
• Television/Facebook/beer probably contribute to my depression more than I want to admit
• I didn’t miss my real life one bit for the entire 8 days I was gone and I feel like this speaks volumes about my life, my job, and the people I choose to surround myself with and that exhilarates and terrifies me all at once

 I don’t know that I’ve ever had a better vacation. I spent 6 days wandering Disney World and the surrounding area, in the hot Florida sun, with a 30lb backpack on (full of bottled water mostly), half the time also toting my 35lb 2 year old, and with my whole family in tow and it didn’t bother me or annoy me once - except maybe the 2 hours of excruciating back pain I experienced Wednesday evening. Some stretches and a hot bath took care of that well-enough and I was able to enjoy the rest of the week without incident. Even with the back pain I had a great time.

Shockingly, I rarely looked at my phone except to use the camera. I only touched my computer once. I only posted to Facebook once (outside of linking my #100daysofchange photos through Instagram). The only tv I watched was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for 30 minutes each morning while fixing breakfast for my family. I didn’t talk about work. I didn’t talk about any personal drama. I didn’t feel stressed out or depressed or anxious about anything (other than roller coasters). Because we stayed in a condo and not a hotel environment, I still had to do laundry, fix meals, tidy up, do dishes and all of the normal chores I would be doing at home. The major difference being I didn’t have to go to work every day. The other major difference being that I was, y’know, IN DISNEY WORLD. I’m not sure which might be more significant… but I think it might be the work thing more than I realized. Anytime Mike tried to mention anything I would immediately feel like I was going to throw-up. Unfortunately that’s not an exaggeration.

I’ve got some thinking to do and then some planning, and then some more thinking and planning. Some reflecting might be beneficial as well.

Tonight I’m back #onprogram with my strength training and hopefully my back will cooperate. It’s still a little sore, though not painful that it had been for those few hours last week. I’ll just have to be mindful.