Life In The Slow Lane; The Lost Month

 Some teeny snowflakes that I cut for fun. They look perfect on a piece of Sashiko!

My spousal always takes the month of October off for his vacation. He saves his time  during the year to make this possible and, I suspect that after 26 years on the job, he has the right to do whatever he wants to do! As October approaches each year I always feel a bit of trepidation as the "vacation begins" day approaches. The first week is always a bit tenuous as we each try to settle into a life that has both of us home more of the time than we are used to. My routines, per force, are readjusted. or perhaps I should, more correctly, say they are obliterated! I always feel a bit exasperated because I feel like I am not getting enough done when he is on vacation. My household routines are thrown so off track that I scramble to get things done in a totally different pattern. The thing is though - that as I settle into his slower pace  I begin to feel like I'm on vacation too - even  though  I go to work as usual. When I am off we sleep more. Both of us believe in naps but when he is working I seldom take any. Generally, I work through the days - and have more to show as a result. I have been so quiet on my blog that I had not realized how much time had slipped by since my last post. Since the subject  in my lost post was, more or less, hibernation you could see that the vacation spirit was filtering into my consciousness my then.

Backet fungi on a lovely old cedar stump.

Yes, I have managed to get some ATC's done for a swap I'm in and yes, I have played with a few things new things that I am still working on, but the issue is that I really have not cared too much about the 'small' things. The floors have remained dirtier than usual, and although the laundry still gets done it gets done at a different pace. 'My' laundry day is off kilter now too! During the time "we" have been off this month the days have grown shorter as we have become slower, we've marked another anniversary, we've eaten well every day and we have enjoyed doing nothing together. Every year I worry about the "vacation month" and yet every year I remember, after about a week, how much I enjoy his vacation too because I slow down as well. I must need that! I hate letting things slide and I do feel better when I have something to blog about. My spousal returns to work after this week so I suspect I will soon have more to say. Next year I'll try to look forward to slowing down for October rather than fighting it. After all, life in the slow lane has it's own rewards !