I’ve been meaning to write a few posts lately: ‘In praise of walking’ ‘In praise of holidays’ but right now I want to write in praise of routine.
Because as beautiful as the holidays have been, and they have been beautiful, and as much as we needed the rest and relaxation, and we certainly did, what we need now, so much, is routine again.
Summer comes with such promise – long lazy days where we have no fixed commitments and are going to be incredibly active swimming and bush walking and are going to only eat salad and become all fit and healthy and tanned and gorgeous. Instead our summer weather has been incredibly mild. I have not even been tempted to swim. And we have gone to (and hosted) parties. Many parties!
First we have the end of year parties at work – the conference I attended (where you sit all day and eat a regular 5 meals a day – hobbits would be proud!), the international Christmas lunch (I saw someone eat two plates full of food bigger than his head!), the work pub lunch for the staff to say happy Christmas. After that comes the family Christmas celebrations – two full days of solid eating. Then New Years Eve – we stayed in that night but it didn’t stop us from eating celebration food.
Then we started in on the farewell parties. We have had three of those in the last month! Good friends and family leaving for new adventures either on the island to the north of us (the mainland of Australia) or the island to the south (my BIL is going to Antarctica!). And then the birthday parties. I can’t complain – one of the birthdays is mine – but you can add a couple of those into the last month too.
Then, we add to all that the two mini-breaks that DH and I have had in the last two weeks. We have just packed up the car and driven around the state a little. Visiting such sensational places as Wine Glass Bay, St Columbas Falls and The Nut in Stanley. It sounds like we spent the whole time bushwalking but we are not quite that active! We did a little walking, yes, and a lot of driving and finding interesting places to explore. And we visited friends as well (back to the eating again!). It was gorgeous!!
So this summer has been a time of fun and friends and feasting and drinking. Sleeping in strange places. Eating at strange times. The net result is about 3 kg on the waistline and a refreshed and renewed mind and heart.
Now I am ready to have some routine.
Today was a public holiday. I got up, packed a lunch and set off to work. I worked all day with a break for lunch and came home to do some washing and make dinner for the family. We ate, made the kids clean the kitchen and set off on our evening 6km walk. I am now ready for bed and ready to get up and do it all again tomorrow.
It’s easier with routine. You don’t eat too much because you know what you need to get you through the next period. You know that if you walk at a certain time then you will sleep that night. Sleeping in your own bed means you get a decent night’s sleep and are ready to go the next day. I’ve loved the holidays but yeah.
Next week, school starts back and the routine will be even more routine-like. And for eight weeks or so we will know what we are doing and when we are doing it. And then we’ll probably be ready for a break again. But I, for one, am grateful for a chance to get myself back into gear and hopefully become fit, healthy and energetic with a little bit of routine.