Hello girls:
With the exception of when I am on vacation, I am starting
a Monday email message (like the ones missionaries send to their families
every Monday) to the women in our family. This way you will
hear from us and know what we are up to and to be
more connected as our family moves around all over the world. I hope
you get them. We still don't know if we are to remain in the
Dominican Republic or if we are moving as of today. Bishop Caussé told us that
they will know where we go next by the end of the month or beginning of May but
that our assignment was coming to an end, maybe.
Last weekend, Pablo Sydney and kids came to Puerto Rico
for a visit. On Sunday we were watching General Conference anxiously
waiting for the announcement of the Haiti Temple, it is truly a miracle! Only
Daniel knew about it so I could tell he was very excited when it was finally
announced! He has been working very hard for this to be able
to materialize. Today at 11:am our time 9:00 am Utah time, he is going to
be presenting the logistics for the new mission opening in Barbados, he asked
that we keep him in our prayers as he presents.
Last Monday we were at the Culebra island in Puerto Rico, that's
why I didn't send an email to you that day but let me tell you,
I wish we all had been there. It is rated #3 most beautiful beach in
the world and I believe it is true! So much that I am considering
moving there when I retire. Just kidding. But it's tempting!
Anytime you come home from vacation it feels like you pay a
major price for having been away. For me that is one of the things that
causes conflicting feelings about getting excited to go on vacation in the
first place. It’s knowing that you will have to face the punishment for
having been away on the vacation. Everything from the mounds of unread
emails, the loads of laundry, the pile of unopened mail, and empty fridge,
catching up with paying bills and even dealing with the jet
lag, ( I am thinking about Ireland and Tanzania as a future
destination) etc…..they are all part of that punishment for taking time away.
After facing the
stress of my first days back from vacation I have determined that part of my
problem is the fact that I don’t ever plan ahead for dealing with the aftermath
of the vacation. I get so focused on planning the vacation itself that I
don’t pay attention to planning ways to mitigate the pain of returning home
after my vacations. This year alone I have gone to Uruguay and Miami in
December and January; Mexico in February; Peru in March, Puerto Rico in
April and headed to Idaho in May and El Salvador in June. That is one trip
per month! No wonder we are in so much debt! I decided that the next time I go on a vacation I am going
to set a goal to do things prior to the vacation that will help mitigate the pains
of coming home from my vacation. A few things I thought of today that
would be helpful to do before the next vacation are:
- Clean the entire house before I go – I think walking back into a clean house would help eliminate the after-vacay stress a lot. last time I left my home was like a tornado hit it.
- Wash the bed sheets and make the bed before I leave. Coming home to fresh sheets on a bed that’s made makes all the difference.
- Assign Grace, Daniel's secretary who delivers our mail to throw away all the junk mail that come while I am gone so there won’t be such an intimidating pile of mail to handle when I get back.
- Get the laundry done at home before I go so the only laundry left to do is the laundry from the trip.
- For those out there who work outside the home I think it would be a great idea to get a full day off work between coming home from vacation and starting back in the office. Having a full day off would help get rid of the jet lag problem and allow for unpacking suitcases and doing the laundry from the trip. Then they could start back to work more refreshed.
- I like it when I see one of those out of office reply that tells people they will not be reading emails that come during their trip and requesting that they send a new email to them after their return (letting them know they have no intention of reading the emails that came in their absence), then they wouldn’t have to try and read through all the emails that came while they were gone because the important ones will be resent by people that truly needed them – that would shift the burden back to the people trying to reach them rather than putting it on your shoulders to catch up on everything that came through while you were gone. I wish Daniel did this because all he does during any of our vacation time is read emails. There is no real vacation for people like him who keep working,always reading and answering their emails.So that is what I have come up with so far. If anyone else has additional ideas on things we could do in advance of our vacation to ease the burden of returning home Please share them. I could use all the help I can get on this matter and I assume I am not the only one who would love suggestions on this topic. I would love for us to conquer the stress of returning home from vacations because heaven knows I want to look forward to future vacations rather than dreading how I feel upon their return.On a sad note, I want to inform you that Sydney's grandfather passed away while they were visiting Puerto Rico. It is our profound wish that together with their family they can remember him and capitalize in their hearts all those good memories and teachings from Tata. He left a wonderful legacy and the world is a better place because of him.Have a great Monday everyone!Veruschka
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