Back From Retirement Living....

I just spent a gloriously hot and sunny week in Florida at the inlaw's trailer in a Seniors community near Orlando. I know "gloriously" and trailer park, heck even inlaws, don't seem to really go together most of the time, but this was pure bliss.

I mean, once landed and off the plane. I'm a VERY nervous flyer. I get super anxious and kind of freak out a little, or a lot, depending on your viewpoint. My family know the rule is to just get me past security and then they can talk to me again. I'm not even kidding. The moment I enter the building until I put my shoes back on is the blackout zone. I barely speak and I just try to move swiftly through the process.

Once I'm settled in my seat, I'm generally okay unless there is turbulence, and on touch down. I'm not going to lie, I cried landing in Orlando (bumpy landing!) and I cried in the air flying back home as we hit some not so great air. My husband tried to reassure me with a "It's fine, it's fine" but my irrational self answered, "It's NOT fine for ME! Do I look FINE?"  Poor fella might have also had a broken hand from how hard I was gripped onto it.

The week itself looked a little like this:

730am Wake up and throw on shorts/tshirt and runners. Hit the road to run at least 5k. (I ran 5k several times, a 6k and a 7k while there)  On alternate days, we'd run to the community center and use the awesome weight room. I'd use the Nautilus equipment, and then do some free weights, and then we'd run back home.

830am Breakfast. Mother in law would have it waiting when we got in and it generally consisted of whole wheat apple sauce pancakes, Chobani, fresh fruit, coffee and walnuts.

1030am Head to the pool for aquafit classes with mother in law and sometimes my eldest daughter, while my husband and youngest swam and laid in the sun.

*After aquafit was "lay in the sun time until our stomach's called for lunch" *

100pm Lunch time and then a walk after lunch

Afternoon activities included petanque, (my family all had never played and were surprisingly rock stars at this game! Even my youngest was a pro! We're thinking of having jerseys made!) bike rides, moped rides(my husband drove with me on the back and asked if I'd be his "old lady" and ride on the back of a motorcycle if he got one. Um, no), hikes in state parks through orange groves and alligator swamps (more anxiety! Saw one gator and almost took off running!), and a wee bit of shopping. More on that later.

530pm Dinner time

630pm Last walk of the day

8pm Setting up beds and watching a show or chatting

10pm Lights out. I'm not even kidding, and for those of you that know me and my lack of sleep tendencies, this should be shocking as heck. I was asleep by 11pm every night, most nights by 1030 even. I got a crazy amount of sleep,.but I also was super active all day long and the temperature every day was at least 80F and we were outside literally all day.

So, pretty much perfection, right?

We didn't plan on doing much shopping, the goal of the trip was just to go and spend a week doing as little of anything "planned" as possible, but I had two specific items I wanted to get if I could find them any cheaper. One was a running watch like the Garmin or Nike, and a bubble type Lululemon (or any brand, just as an example of the style I mean) tank or two. I actually went to the Lulu outlet and was HUGELY disappointed. There were no yoga pants at all, and only one row of bubble tanks-all of them size 4. Blah. I also checked at Nike for the watch, but it was the same price as in Canada so I didn't bother. I did get one item-a hoodie for eighteen dollars from Gap. That's it, that's all. My husband found new runners he desperately needed so that was a good thing.

My plan had been to muddle some things around in my mind while there, but truth be told I didn't really do much contemplation at all. Two nights my mind wouldn't shut off and I tossed and turned with pondering, but nothing fruitful came from that worry.

So, this is a long weekend and full of laundry, groceries, cleaning and family time. The next week ahead will have me riddling out my workout schedule, new goals, and path forward. I have exactly 6.5 months until I turn 40 and while I don't want to make that number larger than it needs to be, or give it more power than necessary, I do want to have certain things under my belt and laid to rest before embarking on Act II, so to speak.

While I'm hating that it's still cold here (which is depressing to me) I'm loving that I'm looking forward eagerly. As a girl who loves a plan, I just need to focus on making things happen.