1. I was missed almost immediately. I had taken three phone calls and we were barely halfway there. It was nice to be missed already. By both of them and likely the dog, but he can’t talk on the phone. The girls and I chuckled a little as there were also a few texts, but it was sweet. I was not annoyed. And I missed them, too. A little.

2. I was a little heartbroken at first. Kissing Sugar Bee goodbye as she slept in her crib, a first for me, was quite a shock. I had no idea that I would have such strong feelings at that moment about leaving her behind. I needed it. She needed it. We all needed it (my pre-trip post). But it still was very difficult for me. And it surprised me. As I drove to meet the crew I was traveling with, I could feel the distance growing between us. It sounds crazy, but the energy connection I have always felt with this kid is nothing to scoff at. Once the girls and I were on the road and singing our lungs out to Journey, all was good. I felt so much better. And almost normal. I had a most excellent time with the girls I drove and roomed with.

3. Age is just a number. I say this a lot, along with, “You’re as old as you think you are.” Truth. I was among the last ones standing each night. I might be old in comparison (I think the bride to be referred to me as her “older and wiser” friend), but I can still hang. I had ridiculous amounts of fun that weekend and was not feeling like someone pushing 40….whatever that is supposed to feel like.

4. While on the road, somewhere around hour 2, it dawned on me that this was my first ever trip with only girls in my adult life. I think the last time I went anywhere with just girls was high school. During college and up until last weekend, all the trips I have taken were coed. I have always seemed to have more male friends and was never much into lots of girly stuff, but I had a absolute blast on this trip…dancing, eating, pool, drinking, catamaran, nothing but fun with just a bunch of girls!

5. It is still possible for me to sleep in.  I was in bed until 10 a.m. I WAS IN A BED UNTIL TEN IN THE MORNING!! And it felt INCREDIBLE. Of course I had been awake off and on, but I actually kept falling back to sleep. It was amazing. I was up a little earlier on Sunday, but I wanted to get showered and packed so I wasn’t holding anyone up…and I was awake anyway, just enjoying the peace and quiet. I was a little worried that I would have a difficult time sleeping without the sound of the white noise in her room as even on nights when she stays overnight at Gigi’s house, I put the monitor on so I can hear the white noise. Yes, she’s three and we still have a video monitor. Judge me all you want, but my kid loves her bed so much that I would never know when she falls asleep or wakes up without it. Her sleep is a good indicator for the type of day she will have, so I’ve been a bit obsessed with her sleep. Perhaps it’s one of the results of dealing with a colicky baby. I still can’t believe I was in a bed until 10. THANK YOU GIRLS!

6. I have more of a caffeine (coffee) problem than I realized. I drink a pot of coffee every day. I work from home and my coffee maker has a stainless steel carafe to keep it warm for hours. The hotel had these little single-serve packet things. I kept going into the hall to ransack the maid’s cart for packs at a time. I have a problem.

7. I miss “dancing.” I have that in quotation marks because I am fully aware that I am a white girl. Zumba has at least taught me better rhythm, but I would never want to see video of me on a dance floor. We had a lot of fun that night with each of us on 3-4 hours of sleep and traveling that morning.

8. The Young Living Ningxia Red is NO JOKE. I seriously had no hangovers. And I should have. I drank a packet before bed, one in the night when I woke up to potty, and another when I got up in the morning. AMAZING. The oils helped, too, as I applied them at bed and in the morning. (See my previous post on some of my oil successes this far for what to use.) Totally helped the brain fog lighten up and get me on the road to feeling normal….once the appropriate caffeine levels were reached.

9. The house can survive without me. Yes, I came home to a mess, inside and out, but soup was cooking and wine was chilled thanks to The Russian. He does good sometimes. He gets a gold star for that one. He got another couple of gold stars for keeping the kid and dog alive, and the house was still standing. I could feel the relief emanating from him when I walked in the door. It’s nice to be needed. And it was nice to be away from that.

10. Seeing Sugar Bee for the first time in over three full days was completely anticlimactic. It was far from the reaction that I expected. I was hoping for the greeting that The Russian gets after coming home from work, on the rare occasion that she sees him when he doesn’t have school. Even when I get home from my Saturday job that I actually leave the house for, I get a pretty awesome greeting with running and joyful cries. She turned and looked at me from the couch, and then turned back around to watch tv. Ouch. I sat down next to her and she basically seemed to be avoiding me and not making eye contact. I was sure that this was normal, but it still hurt. So I just scooped her up and hugged and kissed her, telling her how much I had missed her. Before long, she was back to her old self and all about mama. The last three days had been a nice break, but I was ready to get back into my real place in this current life. And as always, the dog was overjoyed to see me. Nothing like the love of a dog. For real.

11. I needed to fast the next few days. I will get a post together about the different ways I fast and why, but my poor body sure as hell needed a break. I was so happy to get to the gym on Monday!

12. I realized that I need to do something like this at least once a year. My doc told me I need to do it once a quarter 😉 I really did have the best time. I almost didn’t go because of money. Things have been tight the past few months and we have a ton of things coming up (weddings, other travel, my HS reunion), but I found a way to make it work. I had some leftover bonds from childhood and cashed them in to pay for the bulk of the trip. That was all my money that I used for something that was all for me. I think that’s fair and it made me feel a heck of a lot better about spoiling myself with a weekend getaway.

My top favorite moments: the drive out to Charleston singing like fools and sharing about each other, the drive back to the hotel on our night out and singing our heads off while crammed in one vehicle, the catamaran excursion (who doesn’t love drinking on the water?), and getting to know a fantastic bunch of girls.

Thank you, ladies, for making my first weekend away from my family such a fantastic and memorable one.