My staycation came and went. I feel somewhat cleansed—my home, I mean. After day one, I continued with more gardening work on day two. Somehow, everything fit into the green bin after I cut it into small pieces. I love how much natural light comes through the bedroom window after trimming the vine.
I continued being productive by tackling all the laundry, organizing the kitchen, and finding a place to store all the alcohol bottles left over from the Halloween party. Once everything was put away, I swept and mopped the floor, and it felt amazing to have such a clean kitchen. I then took a movie break to watch Haunted Mansion with the kiddos. After that, I hopped in the shower and called it an end to day two.
On Sunday, day three, I got up around 8 a.m. and styled my hair. I only meant to water my plants after, but I ended up pruning them, adding soil, and wiping dust off the leaves. Next, I washed the mats, scrubbed the shower floor and walls, and finally swept and mopped the floor. The entire time, curious cat, Luna, kept checking in on what I was up to.
I got ready just in case the family and I went out anywhere, but I only ended up leaving to get food. Later, I made a piña colada mocktail and finally sorted out my comic books.
About two hours later, the kiddos and I made cookies. I can never seem to get them right. I think I left them in the oven too long. The cookies were soft once I took them out, but they began to get hard as they cooled. The kids didn’t mind, though, and enjoyed them. A new episode of The Gilded Age came out, so we settled in the living room to watch it. Zelda was actually enjoying the show, but Link fell asleep. Once the episode was over, we brushed our teeth and went to bed.
On Monday, the last day of my staycation, I started off by dropping the kiddos off at school. Then, I got ready to go to the comic book store to pick up my latest pulls. I thought the store opened at 11 a.m., but I was mistaken—on Mondays, they don’t open until noon. Angelino and I decided to kill time by going to Ross. I wanted to get a kitchen mat and bedcovers, and I found exactly what I was looking for, plus window curtains, pants for Link, and already a Christmas gift for Zelda.
The comic book store still wasn’t open, so we went next door to the coffee shop to get a drink and just relax. Once it hit noon, I went to get my pulls—a total of 28 comics. I even ended up getting two more comics that I found there. I was going to tackle this stack today no matter what.
As I organized my new stack of comics, I put the new bedding sheets that I just bought in the wash. Normally, I make a video of my comic book haul, but since I’m taking a break from social media for a month, I didn’t. I know I could have made it and just posted it later, but I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t feel the need to. It made me think about whether I’m still collecting comics because it makes me happy, or because it’s content I can create. I realized it’s the latter, and it sucks. Feels like this hobby isn’t bringing me the joy I once felt. I’m trying to find the spark again. I know it’s there somewhere.
I was proud of myself for organizing and putting all my comics away. Next, I started cleaning up the room; I only meant to put one thing in the attic, but I ended up organizing the Halloween bins and putting everything away. It feels amazing that the house is starting to feel like a home again. I’ve been neglecting it for quite a bit. The whole placefeels lighter; I love it.
I put the new sheets on the bed, and the kiddos wasted no time trying them out. I finally settled down and watched the new Dane Cook documentary on Netflix. I’m a little sad that I have to go back to work tomorrow, but I feel accomplished with everything I got done at home.
I want to feel happy being home, but it hasn’t felt like that for a while. Of course, it doesn’t just fall on me to maintain the house. I even have to resort to petty ways just to get others in the house to clean up after themselves. It’s not fair that I have to pick up after everyone when I’m hardly home in the first place. In a way, it’s a test to see how the house is maintained once I return to work. I don’t have high hopes, but we’ll see.
And just like that, I’m back at work. Normally, I’m excited to return, but this time around—not really. I’m already thinking about my next time off, which will be Christmas week. Before I know it, it’ll be December.
