Realizing the Importance of Family Time

Today marked the end of a much deserved and long-overdue family vacation... something many people take for granted or have grown accustomed to, yet sadly something that I had never taken the time to do with my family. Day after day, week, after week, year after year, I sat back and looked at pictures being posted of family vacations from friends and acquaintances all over the globe and often wondered when I would finally do this with mine.

Even though at times in my life not taking vacation was due to the lack of money... that reason eventually changed. What had not changed was the time freedom... the ability to be able to plan and carry out several days off. For all of my working life, I have been either self- employed or a business owner who felt that I could not leave my business behind. There were no paid vacations or PTO in my world. If I was going to do this, it had to be carefully planned and worry free; paid for in full without wondering if I would be set back when I returned. I have run the rat race for so long that I allowed fear to get in the way of me getting out there to enjoy what all the hard work I put in had created even when my situation had changed.

In my day to day, I am very routine... almost to the annoying point I might add, and I learned this week that it's my routines that are what likely keep me from being able to relax and enjoy everything; I need to work on that. I get so caught up in this web of workaholism that I have no idea how to get untangled and technology has only made it worse. I always have one more email to reply to or check, one more phone call to make or one more item on my to-do list that cannot wait. I forced myself to unplug for the last several days and found myself scrambling for something to keep my time occupied, I could not just SIT, I was restless every night, tossing and turning and found myself staring at the ceiling nearly every night with thoughts running through my head wishing I had a laptop. I finally got a restful sleep Friday night out of pure exhaustion only to lie awake again on Saturday night thinking about all of the things I would have to do when I returned... sadly I was not stressed about it, I was excited and could not WAIT to get back to work.

I am really happy that I did this, that I took the time... although it was hard for me and I could not even readily say "yes" when a friend asked me if I had fun because work is what is fun for me. I am happy that I forced myself out of my comfort zone because it is only then that we can experience change in our lives. We cannot live by fear, we must live by opportunity, chance, and change.

As I sit at my laptop happily writing this routine blog on a quiet Sunday evening, I can say, YES.. I DID have fun. I thoroughly enjoyed watching my kids swim, laugh and run around, I will cherish playing Go-Fish with Zane to occupy my antsy down time, as well as bottle up the giggles that escaped Brie's lips when we all clapped loudly as she rolled a large straight in one single roll on the night we played Yahtzee together, or the anxiousness I could see in Baleigh's eyes when I took her on a haunted tour of the St. Augustine Lighthouse in the dark... it was a good time; much needed time and I am going to make it a point to take this time more often. I assume that practice makes perfect in not only work but also in play. Any advice on that one feel free to comment and I hope that you enjoy the pictures that I chose to share....

My little reminder in the sand of what is most important

Off to the pool with my sun hat and SPF 50  

My brave little Brie enjoying the slide...

Where we spent most of our time

 My toes in the sand; a place they rarely tread 

  

After a long day at the pool we headed over to the beach to watch the sun go down

Ahoy Mates! A pirate has escaped!

 Enjoying a historical trolley ride around St. Augustine after a long day of walking in the heat

 Baleigh and I about to go on our "Ghost Tour" at the St. Augustine Lighthouse
It was cool and historical but LAME in the scare department

We climbed all the way to the top in the dark with nothing but a glow stick around our necks

I found my dream home... I will build it in New England or Colorado

And well... I could not think of a better way to end this blog post....

 xoxo

Shells

                                         

                                                          

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Being Old Fashioned in Today's Jacked-Up World... Nostalgia at Best

Can I start off by saying how cool I think it is that I have a lot of guys that read my blog? Wait.... it's my blog, of course I can. Ha! Seriously though, when I originally sat down last January and started my blog, I assumed the majority of my readers would be women... perhaps some stay at home mom's that jump online while the kids are napping, single career mom's that could relate to me being a single career mom, and then of course the pool of people who know me or follow me on social media. I have been pleasantly surprised however that the majority of my readers are men and even more surprised that they actively comment and await my blog posts. This should not surprise me I suppose, seeing how I have always had more guys friends than female, but who knew that GUYS read blogs like mine? I mean, I don't write about fast cars & sports ya know? So... hats off and a shout out to my guys out there! I really appreciate you reading and commenting on my posts. I get more excited to write knowing you are enjoying them. And to the women reading... COMMENT MORE and I will know that you are reading and enjoying too!

Okay, now time for some insight... some Shelley wisdom, some nostalgic inspiration. My kids are home for the summer, and being that I work a lot from home now that much of my time is spent writing and networking online I am home with them when I am not on set of a photo- shoot, or traveling for work. It is quite the challenge for this career-minded chic to keep 3 kids occupied while still trying to get my work done. The age gap between my 11 year old daughter and 4 year old son makes it even harder because they bicker A LOT. They are typically fighting over the Wii controls, the tablet, the I-pad or what TV show to watch even though we have a television in both the family room and the living room which would allow them to watch different things. Quite frankly, the only time I don't hear the back and forth banter is when they are swimming in the pool, so if it's not raining, that is where I send them. As I was trying to concentrate on some work emails last week, my A.D.D. was keeping me from doing so as I heard them bickering back and forth so I quickly thought of a way to end it... I took away the television and all the electronics. (gasp) yep, I ended the ridiculousness and made them USE THEIR BRAINS and figure out what to do with their time without technology.

In this day and age it seems so unusual to make a kid use their imagination and even though my home is nothing at all like today's traditional home, the summer has allowed more TV time and use of electronics than normal. With it has come the annoying banter. Within 10 minutes, they had taken out coloring books, they were quietly coloring and the age gap was suddenly closed. As I watched them I was reminded of my childhood, and the times I sat with my cousin Renée at the breakfast bar at my Mem and Pep's house and how much those days still mean to me. I did the same thing the very next day and they pulled out the play-dough and began making food and playing restaurant. For a moment I reminisced... childhood was so much better back then and although I realize that evolving means growth, I wished we never had to evolve for that reason alone.

Yesterday afternoon we had plans that got ruined by the rain, so Corey and I racked our brains for a plan B. We decided to head to the store to buy a game and stuff to make ice cream sundaes... imagine that, a good ole' board game that we could play together. We found "Operation" and quickly had memories of that buzzer scaring the crap out of you as you tried to concentrate, so that's the one we chose given the age gap we were having to accommodate. We let them pick out ice cream and headed home. After dinner we pulled out the game and started to play. It was lame... like REEEALY lame. They have changed the game to meet today's "standards" in fact instead of learning where the heart and the rib bones are we were pulling out a cell phone, and headphones out of a "skinny" guy. What the? Where is the learning aspect now? Do we really swallow cell phones and ear buds? To add icing to that cake, the holes are much bigger now making it no challenge at all to get the stuff out and the buzzer sound is so faint it doesn't even scare you anymore. What a disappointment! As we discussed how lame it was, I stated it was probably so that nobody playing would feel like a "failure", that he was skinny as not to offend anyone, that kids knew what a cell phone was but not a rib bone and that the sound was lowered as not to scare someone into injury. Way to go Hasbro! The game stinks now, but hey! You are politically correct and won't get sued for making a kid cry or falling off his chair. I am returning the lame $22 game today and heading to Amazon to find the REAL one! BLAH! The real world today is SO boring!

I saved the day by pulling out playing cards and slapping down a quick game of memory and then when Zane got his dice out I suggested a game of Yahtzee and quickly used Google to find a printable PDF score card. (I guess technology saved that moment) After we finished our games, Corey and the kids made their sundaes and devoured them in mere seconds. My dairy intolerance kept me from joining in but it was fun watching and seeing everyone happy. 

The moral of my story today is this...

We all lead such busy lives, we are tied to electronics and technology SO much that nostalgia gets lost and we forget how fun and special it can be. I am going to make it a point to have game night at LEAST once a week, it took me away for a moment and gave me the time I really need to spend creating memories with my children. Even if Zane tried to be a poopy-head when he didn't like the game, he will get used to it and likely get excited if I make it a traditional thing. This experience also made me realize how much we have ruined what once was by being so sensitive, emotional and ridiculous. It's quite pathetic and sad and it's no wonder why today's youth are so messed up, we have taken their childhood away. 

 I will be on the road to Atlanta Wednesday, so my usual Wednesday blog is iffy this week... but make it a great week anyway! Happy Monday!

xoxo

~Shells~