This is what happens when my children are on vacation (you know I still find it odd to write that I have “children” – plural – when did THAT happen?! But, I digress…)

I get sucked into some sort of time vortex where:

1) I wake up at 6 AM even though there is NO reason to – besides feeding them breakfast because their tummies stay on school day schedule

2) Days last a lot of hours or too few, depending on how I look at it. If it’s time spent breaking up fights, preparing/planning meals, cleaning up after them, etc. – then it’s way too long. But, if it’s time spent doing the things I like to do (reading, writing, watching a good movie) then it lasts about 2.5 minutes

3) I go to sleep on a Sunday praying that I’ll get to stay in bed past 7AM the next morning and when I look at a calendar again it’s Wednesday

Woe is me, right? Beginning today I’ll get some peace and quiet during the day, but that comes at the lovely price of waking up at the inhumane hour of 5:45 AM. Another benefit, I’ll know what day it is and you know why…because I have to keep track of their extra-curricular activities and what time to pick them up and all that jazz. This.is.my.life. I really have to work on making more “me” time. It’s amazing how quickly time passes while doing stuff for other people. I’ve even put my Spanish classes on hold while I get a handle on my days. I know me and I need alone time to recharge or else I’m going to be useless. I’ll just add “balance my time” to the list of goals for 2012 – I’m big on check-off lists, so it WILL get checked.

In the meantime, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

El Ávila is the mountain that surrounds a good portion of Caracas – don’t quote me on that. Anyhoo, since I arrived here I’ve been trying to get a really good shot, but I’m not winning this battle…

It’s become my Sainte Victoire – you know that mountain in Aix-en-Provence, France that Cezanne painted a million times with each rendition a little different.

Yeah, just like that except I’m not an artist…or French…or that talented for that matter. But, you get this gist. I’ll do better next time.