In a Funky Fog
Foggy view from the front door of my house in Virginia
OK, I’ve been home 2 weeks now and boy, it’s been tough to get back into the swing of things. After over 30 days of no cooking, no cleaning, I come home to hungry men, a pile of laundry taller than my house, and cat hair everywhere. While it had been jacket and scarf weather in Berlin, it is summertime bloody hot here in Virginia. The first few days, I didn’t even venture out of the house, and when I finally made it to the garage, I found my car wouldn’t start. Dead battery – the second time this has happened this year. More work. Ugh.
You guys know we travel a lot, and I’m used to coming home, decompressing, and then attacking the next objective, whether it’s writing a book, taekwondo training, or getting together with friends. For the longer trips, it usually takes about a week of not really getting much done before I get energized again. You’ve heard the saying, “One week off equals one off week.” I don’t know if it was the length of this trip, or the breadth of it, but I am still not in full functioning back-to-normal mode. I’m doing all of the normal activities, but it feels like I’m just going through the motions. I really can’t afford “five weeks off equals five off weeks.”
The thing is, I’ve been thinking about the blog, because I’ve enjoyed writing it all this time, I wanted to keep going, even when we weren’t traveling. But I didn’t want to post whining and complaining; I mean, how lame is that? I am so blessed to have a great family, good friends, two cats (although one’s a bad cat) a nice place to live, the opportunity to do what I enjoy doing. Yet, I’ve been in a huge funky fog that not even a day at happy Busch Gardens can dispel.
There, I said it. My name is Julie and I am in a funky fog. I know what to do, get attention off of myself (yes, keeping busy, seeing friends, helping Morgan with school – so excited he’s writing a book!), exercise (on the elliptical trainer every day and doing yoga and hapkido), just get it done (laundry – check, vacuuming – check, dinner made – check ), self-care (massage, catching up on reading, etc), planning the next trips (had to finalize the apartment in Paris, get air for my Albuquerque conference, our annual cruise in December). Still, blah. Maybe it’s the menopause. Yeah, that’s it! It’s the menopause.
The good news is that this can’t last for long. A week from tomorrow, we’re driving up to Cape May, New Jersey to spend the night with George’s daughter, Julie, on our way to France by way of Philadelphia. We’re going via Cape May because we are going to pick up Annabeth, Julie’s oldest daughter, who turned 16 a couple of weeks ago. This is our sweet 16th gift to her, a trip to France with the intrepid Greene travel machine. It’s always fun adding a different person into the mix.
And maybe that’s just what it will take to lift the Funky Fog.
Practicing Travel 
Yeah, the Funky Fog hits me every now and then, too, even though I’m not a traveler. It sounds like you’re handling it pretty well; remember too, that like everything else, it’s temporary!
I’m just now getting back here to catch up with all the posts since the last ones I read. It’s a lot to take in all at once! A real whirlwind tour, but it makes me feel like I’ve really been somewhere!
I think you should definitely keep the blog going, even when you settle in for a while. You’re so good at it!
June 17, 2010 at 8:12 pm