Whew, we’re home!! As alluded to in my last post, we did not actually make it home Friday night as planned. Womp womp. As soon as we landed in Guadalajara, Ivan pulled up the Aeromexico airline app, checked our next flight and it said… “In the air”.
So much for that. It was already after 6 p.m, so of course there were no other flights from Guadalajara, Mexico, to Chicago that night. After a mild cluster trying to sort everything out and get rebooked, we finally left the airport with meal vouchers for dinner and breakfast, paid transport to/from a hotel, two hotel rooms!! (sweet! the rooms had 2 double beds each but it was super nice for the boys to have their own room), AND the boys and I got upgraded to first class on the flight home the next morning. The lady had pre-assigned Ivan to the coach seat and the boys and me to the 3 open first class seats. Ivan was a little miffed. Hahaha! Once I was all settled in my (nice, large, first class) seat, I texted him, “Doing okay back there? 😜” He returned a message with the middle finger emoji. 😂😂 (And then a “haha”, but I already knew it was a “good natured” middle finger.) LOL!!
We went straight to pick up Charlie…. he was soooo excited!!! He went crazy when he saw us through the window and was clawing and jumping on the door. I was so relieved. I seriously thought maybe he wouldn’t remember us!! Or, I thought maybe he would act weird or sad once home, now missing the “other” home where he had been. (My sister-in-law said his first couple days with her he did act a bit sad, mopey, didn’t want to eat really… kept looking out the window and whining, etc. 😭 But she said after a couple days he settled in.)
Fortunately, when we brought him home, he acted totally normal. He was just as cuddly as always and didn’t miss a beat. THANK GOD. I was seriously stressing out and feeling a bit panicky as we have at least 2 other trips away planned already for this year. (To the point that I was starting to think about cancelling one….).
Back to his neighborhood walks!! We went out right away Sunday morning:
He also resumed his usual post as Backyard Watch Dog. HAHA.
Sleeping has not been a problem either. He has slept at the end of our bed with no issue, as he usually did, despite the fact that he slept in his crate every night at my sister-in-law’s. (I thought maybe he’d act weird now or try to jump off our bed, after sleeping in the crate again at night for 2 weeks? But nope.)
During the day he has napped happily in his crate, also per usual.
Setting 2024 Intentions
I spent some time yesterday playing around with my new Sprouted planner (won in Elisabeth’s giveaway!!!).
I REALLY missed out on doing all the “2023 Year End” posts this year!
I will share some of my goals in another post this week. (At first I said I wasn’t going to make a lot of goals this year. The last few years, I’ve done the “22 for 22” or “23 for 23” thing and then have failed miserably. However, I’ve done a lot of things NOT on my list…. so, I don’t know. It’s confusing.)
While in Mexico I did sketch out some priorities/ goals… and once I start, I can never stop myself. Ha. So I somehow now I have this big list again. Hm. Oh well. I guess the worst thing that happens is that I make a list and don’t do them, right? Not actually the end of the world.
I do have some thoughts on how to (maybe) better implement and actually remember my goals for this year though. This new planner might help! I like the spaces on the monthly page and the weekly pages for “to do” items, some of which can certainly be pulled and assigned from yearly or monthly goals list.
There’s also a space in the front to record “Values” plus “Intentions”. I used this more for brainstorming purposes. I tried to just write whatever came to mind, not necessarily specific goals here, exactly. (Those came later- these were just a brain dump of things that matter to me.)
Value –> Intentions
Physical Activity –> Strength train 4x/ week. Walk most days with Charlie 1-2x. Yoga or stretch 1x/ week. Reincorporate some running! (or at least, cardio) several times a week. Go back to morning workouts!
Family –> Be with boys/ see them at least briefly before school 3-4 days/ week. Read with the boys. (Next to, not necessarily “to” them anymore..). Watch shows with the boys. Continue Friday night date nights with Ivan. Be involved with both re: high school course planning for next year. Look for fun things to do with them- summer bike rides, game nights, 1:1 dinners out, etc.
Travel –> plan details for March and June trips. Figure out our longer term family travel plans for next few years/ priorities. (3 years left with Ethan in high school after this year!)
Household –> Work toward a calmer feel, less “chaos”. Be more intentional about things that can help curb the reactive/ chaotic feelings. (e.g meal planning, device use, general organization, decluttering high traffic/ problem areas)
Personal contentment –> Morning workouts = freer evenings. Worth the investment I think! Acceptance when things are out of control… pick some areas to release/ not worry about. Figure out what big rocks are to make me feel “okay”, and focus on those. Accept that there isn’t time for everything; I can do some things sometimes but not all the time and that’s okay. Keep going with walks and reading as these things make me feel centered- even if only a little while. Stricter bedtime routines will help me with morning workouts.
Anyway, that’s some stuff I wrote down. Like I said, kind of “goalesque” but not exactly my goals. More just an exercise to see some things that matter to me and then figure out which should morph into real goals.
I have not officially chosen a Word of the Year. But I have been feeling pulled to the word “Contentment”. I should wrap this post up now, but I’ll mull that over and maybe write more another time. I feel like that’s something I’m seeking- how to just feel more content and not so tightly wound, even when things are busy, even when we have guests, even when work is nuts…. what can I do or how can I craft my life to still generally feel “content” at all times?
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful that they called our No School Day due to an incoming snowstorm tomorrow already in advance! Sooo much nicer for the kids to already know versus having to wake up and wait to see. Also, I’m kind of feeling the snowstorm. Our Christmas tree is still up and I have no shame…. kind of looking forward to sitting by the tree, with the fire on and a bunch of snow outside this week.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Welcome home!!! Charlie would not forget you anymore than the kids would forget you, but he’ll enjoy his time on his “vacations” too. I used to dog sit long before we had our dog and I saw the same behavior of being a little subdued and not eating as much for the first day or so. Our dog was a little laid back when the hubs and the boys went to Boy Scout camp.
I really like the digital planner that I set up – first shot at doing it. Yes I remember the things that I need to do but it’s so helpful to have it all in one place. Maybe some day I will graduate to a paper planner.
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I know, logically… but I guess since he’s still a puppy, and really hadn’t had THAT much time with us yet, somehow I was thinking that maybe he thought he had just been staying with us temporarily or something. Haha.
I had actually mostly moved to digital planning tools this past year, too! I’m still using a lot of digital tools now- the planner sometimes ends up being sort of a duplicate, if that makes sense. There is something I enjoy about writing things down on paper, playing around with lists, etc. So I still enjoy having a planner. But the practical side of me LOVES digital because I can access it from my phone, any computer, etc. when I’m not home. (Especially with this larger planner, I won’t be bringing it out with me.) I also like digital because I love to KEEP my plans, and that is a lot more practical in a Google Drive file versus saving boxes and boxes of paper planners. I’d say my “master” calendar has moved digital (google calendar) and I use Google Tasks as my master task list too.
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welcome home! what a surprise upgrade! see? missing a flight might not be the worst 🙂
writing down goals on vacation is the best as it’s not rushed and we are in good mood overall.
Glad to hear Charlie seems to be doing well. Daily walk with Charlie sounds lovely.
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It was okay to miss the flight on the way home but I would have NOT been happy if it was on the way TO a vacation! I’d hate to miss a day of our trip!! haha.
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Oh, it is SO stressful to leave dogs!!! I remember the first time I left Barkley, I thought “He doesn’t know I’m coming back!” and even though over the years he ended up enjoying his time at the “resort,” I was just as stressed leaving Rex for the first time. The good news is dogs don’t seem to have a very good measure of time so if I left him for five minutes or five days, the reaction seemed to be the same when I came back! Ha. Anyway, it is stressful and I always worry – even after boarding Barkley many times, I still worried – but it always worked out fine.
Your goals sound really good!
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Yes, I actually read while we were on this puppy forum I follow online that dogs have a very poor sense of time. I said I was feeling so guilty being away for two whole weeks, and someone responded that dogs don’t really know if it’s 2 days or 2 weeks- it’s basically the same to them. That really helped to put my mind at ease!!!
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Keep that tree up and enjoy it! Most of our Christmas stuff is down (but not actually put away, ahem) but I have a few things still up, like our card display, one holiday candle and some twinkle lights. Why not? It’s still making me happy. I know people who leave their Christmas tree up WAY into January.
That’s such a cute story about Charlie being so excited to see you guys. You must have been so ecstatic and relieved. Leaving pets is SO stressful!!! We’re going away for a few days and have someone coming in to feed everyone- I don’t think the guinea pigs or rats will miss us too much, but I worry about the cats. I know they’ll be fine… but I imagine them being sad and lonely. It would be even harder with a dog! But it sounds like it all worked out just fine.
Sure, rub it in that you won the Sprouted planner and we didn’t! Ha ha… I was seriously a little sad about that, but I have a planner now that I like. I think it’s goo din January (or any time) to sit down and set some intentions. I hope your morning exercise goal works out- I just find it so much easier, and nights are definitely more relaxed.
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Hahaha…. yeah, pretty sure the guinea pig won’t complain. LOL! But I’m sure you’ll really miss your kitties!!! 😦 It is so hard. We do love to travel and I really don’t want to just give that up, so I think I’ll have to come to terms with the fact that we will be away from him several weeks out of the year. Overall, we are still with him MOST of the time, so I will try to relax about it. It really did help to know he was at my sister-in-law’s, versus just sitting bored in a kennel or something. He got tons of personal attention and she sent us vidoes and pics and we facetimed, etc.
And thanks for the vote to keep the tree up!! 😉 I actually often do… I just tend to morph into “chill mode” for a bit after all the holiday rush. I decorate quite, um, prolifically, so it’s a lot of work to take it all down and pack it away. I’m never in a big rush to tackle that, and especially not this year since we just got home!
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There’s nothing better than a canine greeting when they haven’t seen you for a while! Even just coming home from a day of work is enough to make Hannah helicopter her tail.
Welcome back! I’m sure this snow and cold is quite a change from the weather in Mexico, although maybe you’ll actually be warmer in your heated house! LOL.
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Charlie does what I call his “wiggle butt”, where he wags his tail so hard that he’s really wagging his entire butt. Hahaha! It’s soooo cute!!!
And yes- I am SO glad to be home with my fireplace, my FURNACE, and basically endless hot shower water!
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Welcome back! I am glad that the reunion with Charlie went well! I was nervous leaving our boys last December. I thought they might like “punish us” for going away. My parents watched my nephew once when my sister and her husband went on a camping trip to Yellowstone. I happened to be there one night when my sister called and my nephew refused to say anything into the phone. He just smiled mischievously at us! I’m glad that Charlie got right back into his routines. It’s nice to have a family that is willing to watch him. Not everyone wants to take on a dog, but I can see how it is enjoyable for families that love dogs! And it saves you guys a ton. I’ve heard boarding is pretty expensive.
I’m kind of sad that we aren’t planner twins anymore but Sprouted does look beautiful! I do not like planners with rings. Otherwise I might be tempted to try it. They made some changes to the W222 and I really like them. Sat/Sun aren’t combined anymore and there is a page in the back for every day so you don’t need a separate notebook if you do daily pages (I don’t… I use the back pages for taking notes for work/to do lists).
I’m doing 2023 in review posts all week so it’s not too late to do that! 😉 Your list of goals/intentions looks great! I don’t plan to write a “word of the year” post but I think mine is acceptance. I think I expect too much of myself at times and need to accept the stage of life I am in.
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I know, I really do love the Wonderland!!! It’s fun to try something new right now though. I probably wouldn’t have changed if I hadn’t won the giveaway! The jury is still out for me on the ring bound. It is a bit annoying trying to write on that side of the page where my hand runs into the rings- BUT, I did aske Elisabeth and she said you learn to adapt/ fold the page over as needed. I can see that working itself out. I like the paper a lot in the Sprouted planner- the super thin Wonderland paper isn’t my favorite. I do miss the vertical daily layout on the Wonderland though. And that’s AWESOME about the 365 daily pages in the back!! I don’t really daily plan, but I used to get the notebook and do a daily journal page. I’ve now largely converted that to digital (my time tracking spreadsheet), but it would still be nice to have all those extra blank pages. I had toyed with trying daily planning but then got turned off since there weren’t enough pages in the back. (I also used for lists, etc. mostly.)
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You know I’m here for the AM workout journey! I really like “contentedness” or “content” as a word of the year – it says a lot!
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Yay for being planner twins!!
And Charlie is still the cutest puppy on the internet!!
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Love the “goalesque” approach, so much less rigid… Really, all we need to for us to know what we want, then start working toward it. I know you are going to Egypt in the summer, but where are you going in March?? 🙂
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We ended up cancelling Egypt due to the instability in the general area with the war in Israel 😦 I’m super super bummed! Had everything completely planned and booked and I think it was going to be epic.
We are going to Hawaii for 2 weeks (Oahu + Kauai) in June now instead. In March we are going to do Asheville, NC and the Smoky Mountain National Park area!
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Wow, so cool you got upgraded to first class… in all the years flying, it has never happened to me. Sigh. And I am so happy that reuniting with Charlie was such a delight. I am sure he was just so happy to see you guys 🙂
Your new planner is really nice. I have only superficially even looked at mine and we’re three weeks into the new year. Time to jot down some goals, maybe. Haha. You’re way ahead of me, but I like that you’re sketching out these different areas in your life.
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