Mental Holiday

Wow...that was a long hiatus away from this blog, wasn't it?

I can't believe I started this in 2006 (and barely at that!) and am just finally coming back now. The recent renewal of the blog challenges on ScrapShare gave me the kick in the pants I needed and Lee's challenge inspired me to finally give this blog thing another fighting chance.

Here is Lee's challenge:

When the phone is ringing, the doorbell is going off, kids are yelling, laundry is overwhelming and dinner has burned and you sit down to a cup of tea, where do you let your mind go?

I pondered this question for a few minutes and it really made me realize that I really am just a simple, no-nonsense person. Many people would likely picture themselves on an exotic island or travelling the world to exciting places. Although I do dream of doing those things so much that my heart aches....when I REALLY need to go on a Mental Holiday, I go to the simple, normal, comfortable, happy places I've already been.

I can't think of just one particular place as it changes with each situation, with my mood, environment, season, etc. I am a true daydreamer and thinker...my mind is never at ease (in a good way!).

-I could be planning my next scrapbook layout

-I could be planning a strategy on one of my digital photo jobs

-I could be back 30 years ago fishing with my grandparents up north in Restoule or with my family at our nifty, "triangle-shaped" A-frame cottage where we spent so much time as kids

-I could be sitting in my scrap studio enjoying the sunset out my window (sometimes when the hustle and bustle of kids yelling, phone ringing, laundry calling, etc is going on...I have been known to lterally do just that from time to time...in fact, toooo much sometimes as that is where my computer also sits! ;) ) .

Some days it looks more like this.... (which is quite often where I take my Mental Holiday if it is mid-August and the weather is sweltering outside!)

-I could be reliving some happy, carefree memories from when dh and I were first dating, excited about what the future held for us and the many more special memories we've built along the way as we've travelled that journey together (ok, now I'm sounding sappy....but I really mean it!)

-I could be remembering my children as babies or taking a glimpse back at their growing up years when they still thought Paul and I were the beesknees and we could see the world through their eyes and have an answer for any of their questions. :) Or I could be marvelling at the amazing people they have become (don't ask me about how I got all teary-eyed at the chiropractor's office last week of all places as I watched my dd maturely and intelligently discuss everything with the staff and the realization hit me that my 'baby' no longer needed me to speak for her any more...she had become an adult)

-I could be thinking about one of my many dear friends and family members and thinking how blessed I am to be 'rich in friendship'

-I could be 8 years old and sitting at the counter of my grandparent's snack bar/coffee shop enjoying a double scoop chocolate ice cream cone or working on a puzzle or knitting a scarf or talking to the customers while my grandmother babysat me

-I could be back in my childhood home, sitting around a loud, raucous dinner table with my mother and brothers and sisters, saying the same grace that we use to this day, livly recounting our day's events to each other, joking and teasing each other and being in awe and amazement by their stories and wanting to be just like them

-I could be going for walks and building forts and making snowmen with my children

-I could be back in time, sitting beside my older sister, spending many hours watching her paint and draw and turn a canvas into a beautiful piece of art (and often being suckered into being her model...might as well make myself useful, right? lol Man! I wish I had kept all those paintings and drawings now!). I could also be watching my other sister as she got ready for a date, thinking how beautiful she was and helping her pick out her clothes.

-I could be back sitting with one of my older brothers in our rec room, listening to their cool music turned up full blast and they would let me pick out whatever I wanted to listen to from their collection of 1000's of records or when they would tell me to hop in mom's car (or their proudly owned vehicles after they saved up enough to buy them) and they would take me for a racing tour...up and down and up and down the main street of our little town (now I know they were likely just checking out the girls and the one sure way to get mom to allow them to borrow her car was to say they were going to take me for a ride. LOL)

-I could be listening to my uncle sing with at least one of us kids always on his knee, belting out the hilarious songs that I still remember and laugh at today (Betsy the Heffer, Don't Squeeze My Charmin', My Heidi, etc)

-I could be sitting in my grandmother's livingroom with my siblings and cousins while the adults visited in the kitchen, and us kids busting a gut as we imitated our one aunt and uncle who both had a VERY distinctive laugh. We still imitate them to this day! LOL

-I could be planning something ahead in the future and envisioning what we're going to do

WOW...I think I really do daydream a lot! There are many more places I go to for Mental Holidays, but before I bore you with the details, those were just a few examples off the top of my head.

Pretty boring, huh?