Rejuvenating

I completely cleared my todo list by Thursday night for the first time in over a year. I could feel my blood cooling even as we went through the airport and took the red-eye across the country (not exactly a blood pressure lowering set of circumstances). Over the next few days, my work-related frustrations slowly ebbed further and further away as E and I cavorted our way from social event to social event for E's sister's wedding.

The bridesmaid's lunch was lovely and I got to know more of the family and friends. The rehearsal dinner was magnificent (complete with 41st floor views of the city and the parents of the bridal party taking part in the peron cava fun -- imagine a group of parents passing something like this filled with cava around to one another as the younger folks in the crowd sang and cheered in Spanish, Portuguese, and gobbedly-cook).



The wedding day brunch was delicious and fun. The wedding day details were as well-organized and drama-free as one can reasonably expect and the wedding ceremony was perfectly executed.

And the reception -- ahhh... the reception was a glorious thing. How wonderful it is to be a guest at a wedding where you know so many people, where you have family to visit with, and friends to catch up with. And yet, you don't have any other obligations other than to have fun. Simply eat, dance, drink, be merry, and smile.

Oh, and convince a neighbor to fed-ex us our passports.

Because now? Now (thanks to the awesome neighbor), we are on an island vacation.

Last night we negotiated the comical teensy-tiny airport, the ferry, the multiple sets of customs and immigration, and all of it just made us laugh.

After drinks and appetizers on the beach watching a sunset, an evening of harrowing left-lane driving and traffic circles, we shared a delicious meal at a local restaurant (mmmm... crusted crayfish tails in a lemon butter cream sauce served on a bed of mashed local root vegetables... delicious!).

This morning, I slept in. I did the first 3rd of the Ashtanga primary series on the balcony. I may or may not go back out and do some more, but for the moment, I'm serene. The breeze gently comes over the balcony, through the screen doors, and out the side and front door screens while the waves shush their way beneath the villa's stilts on two sides.

And me? I'm almost stupid with calm on this wicker couch -- gently picking out each letter as I alternate typing and staring out at the white sands of Shoal Beach and considering my next move.

Now that I have a little perspective I can appreciate that the same job that oh-so-recently had me stressed out makes it financially possible for us to be here. And I am happy. Relaxed and happy.

Lawyerly advice? Don't wait so long between true leave-it-all-behind vacations, if you can.