Off kilter

Staycations - the term coined for taking time off but going nowhere, other than your home is I guess what we have been doing for just about a week now. My parents arrived last Monday evening and we have been on "staycation" ever since, and we have another week of it. There are many pluses to a staycation - they're cheap, require very little planning and can be quite efficient in getting through a to do list. On the downside, the days run into one another and it is very easy to get "off kilter" my word for falling out of your routine and doing a whole lot of nothing. While this seems fine on a vacation, it sort of drives me nuts on a staycation.

Let me explain. While I should have plenty of time on my hands to do everything I normally do and then some, I have found it nearly impossible to come upstairs to the office and get online, to check my book email account, do my blog, my tip of the day, etc. I just haven't been able to do it. Why I am not sure. Instead of being home for about 4-5 awake hours, I have 12-15...yet I can't find the time. Maybe I feel that I have to entertain everyone else, or that holiday TV is too good to pass up (NOT!).

So tonight, it felt so good to put the kids to bed and do "my routine" - throw a load of laundry in and then escape to the office. I play my game of free cell and then get on my blog. It must be the little things in life that keep us going.

We have had a good time the last couple of days. We actually took a day trip yesterday to Columbus, Indiana. I had heard about the town and how charming it was. Then when I read an article in National Geographic Traveler magazine this week that ranked the best preserved towns in the world, it was ranked #1 in North America...and only 90 minutes away. I had to go. So off we went yesterday. The kids, Arnie and I hit Kidscommon, their really cook kids museum that taught you a ton, even how water works, by flushing you down a huge toilet!!! My parents and grandma went on the architectural tour.

The then gave the tour to Arnie and I. I put a lot of my tips to work -- packing snacks, telling the kids about what we were doing ahead of time, planning the drive for nap time, etc. I also learned a ton, in the museum and about how giving back can do so much. The Miller family that started Cummins engine is really the spirit behind that town. Their money and spirit made the town what it is by bringing in top architects at their expense and constantly keeping the town up by giving back to renovation projects and more. When you are working it is easy to spend that next raise on a nicer car or home, instead think first about saving most of it, and second about giving even more back to your community, it will pay itself forward exponentially and leave a legacy behind far greater than a nice car or house.