We'll get there fast & then we'll take it slow

Friday we leave for the first real vacation we've had in years. Just me & Mark & 3 other couples who are our closest friends. Mom is keeping my kids for 9 days.

We'll have 7 days in St. John in a hugely gorgeous house on top of a mountain overlooking the ocean. We are taking a sail trip to the British Virgin Islands one day on a great big boat, with real sails & everything, & we will be the only 8 passengers. Other than that trip, we have no plans (the guys are doing a deep sea fishing trip another day, but we girls are plan-less).

I am so excited I'm about to pee my pants. Oh, wait, I just drank a liter of water. That's not excitement.....

But before Friday afternoon gets here (we drive to Chicago & fly out on Saturday morning), I have a crazy stack of stuff to do. Won't even give you the details. Just imagine packing your family up for separate trips & getting all the work done at the office, & trying to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

On top of that, it's VBS week at our church. I'm not teaching, but the kids are there from 6-8 each night, & I am watching three kids in the nursery (VBS helper's toddlers) on Monday (yesterday) & Tuesday. It's quite a loony bin at our house.

Let me rewind a bit to Sunday. I got up at 5:30 a.m. & ran 6 miles before church. It was so great. I felt amazing & energized. Could have run a few more miles if I'd had time. Topped off my week at 16 miles, so not 20, but not horrible. It was still 4 days of running & 1 day of Shred DVD.

Flash forward to Monday morning. I weighed 158.0. Not so good. 6 pounds more than my comfy weight. 10 pounds more than my skinny weight. I want to be my skinny weight, less about 5 pounds.

So I've got some work to do when I get back from vacation. We did eat out twice on Sunday (once at lunch for a faux-Father's Day for Mark, since we'll be driving home from Chicago on 6/21, and once at dinner--Mexican--with friends). So I've got a wee bit of water to drop.

But mostly it's fat. I can see it & feel it. Which is a bummer since I'll be living in my swimsuit next week.

I don't mind, though. I'm still 50 pounds lighter than I was 3 summers ago. I still look great in my clothes. I still feel good. I'll be able to DO everything--snorkel, swim, hike, walk. And I can wear whatever I want, walk everywhere without being exhausted, not be embarrassed about what I put in my mouth, smile a real smile for the camera and not dread the image on the screen. A much different vacation than it would have been a mere 30 months ago.

I have a lot of work to do to get out of town. & I have a lot of work to do when I get home, on many fronts. In between, there's gonna be no work at all.

It's going to be all play. And joy. And peace. And fun.

Peace out until I return!