Celebrate: Celebrations that lead to plans

Ruth Ayres, over at Ruth Ayres Writes encourages us to take a look back at the previous seven days and celebrate the good things that have happened. It's a great way to begin your weekend, try it!

Today, I'd like to celebrate two things!

1. My vacation of the previous week 

I didn't write my Celebrate post last week because it didn't feel right. I wasn't really sure the post would actually be relevant, but looking back, here's what I want to celebrate: sometimes all it takes is a few days to make many days seem great or a few hours to make many hours seem great. Good Friday and Easter occurred during our school vacation, this isn't a bad thing, but since I host Easter, it did mean that vacation didn't really begin until Monday, which was the Boston Marathon, in which a number of friends were running, which therefore meant I spent a good deal of this day standing on the side of the road cheering on runners. ( I think that was a glorious run on sentence!) Please don't mistake me, Easter and the Marathon were fun, but I still wasn't feeling vacationy. On Tuesday, my daughter and I headed for Plum Island. We spent a wonderful day exploring and enjoying the ocean. Wednesday was a catch up on work day. On Thursday, my daughter and I took off bright and early for Martha's Vineyard (there's an island theme to this vacation). Thirty six hours later we were back at home. Saturday was the memorial for a friend's father. Sunday was visiting with my parents and getting ready for school on Monday. (If you are still reading this laundry list of my vacation, I commend you. It's a bit dry.) Now to my point!  (Start reading here, if you were skimming.) Forty-two hours of my vacation influenced the other two hundred and sixteen hours. Those forty-two hours made my vacation feel like it was exciting, relaxing, and rejuvenating.  By just stepping away from my routines and environs, and exploring somewhere new, I shifted my outlook. I love seeing new places. I need to remind myself that they don't have to be far, my little state and those abutting it have some fabulous treasures. I have a plan! I am going to make an effort to take at least half a day in each weekend to explore a new place, even if it is just for a walk, which leads me to...

2. My walk of Thursday night

I went for a ninety minute walk with two friends on Thursday night, it was almost ten when we parted ways. I haven't seen these two women since the start of the school year. We would have continued walking and talking had we not needed to go to work the next day.  How is it that I can get so caught up in the day-to-day that I cannot find the time to walk with friends? I am thankful that I reached out to these friends and that we made time for each other. This leads me to plan number two: at least one day each week, I am going to reach out to a friend that I haven't seen in a while and encourage them to join me for a walk. 

Two celebratory experiences that lead to two plans, I think this is worth celebrating!  Have a great Saturday!