Lifestyles of the Frugal & Anonymous

I've always thought that Jimmy Buffett's song "Cowboy in the Jungle" was a cautionary tale.  I don't want to find myself being one of those people "tryin' to cram lost years into five or six days," so I'm working to build more down time in to my everyday life. As you know, one of those steps was to step back from this blog for a bit.  Posting twice a month here is my goal, but remember that you can always go over to Unfettered Brilliance to see what I'm up to with movies, television, and publishing.

While I've recently been all caught up in presenting, networking, and a touch of mentoring (Slayage 5 in Vancouver was a blast!) and the Breaking Bad project (all of which you can read about over at Unfettered), I wanted to spend some time and energy on the "Down Time Project" instead of falling into the trap of just giving it lip service.

So this past week, my gal pal Barefoot and I took our moms to a spa.  A real, honest-to-goodness spa.  The kind where you drive through the gates onto meticulously manicured grounds and are given plush robes at check in.  Hmm.  I don't know if a girl could get used to this or not, but I'm willing to try!

As a result of one of those Groupon type deals, all of us had luxurious facials in dimly-lit rooms performed by soft-spoken professional estheticians.  We spent all day hanging around the indoor saltwater mineral pool, had our shoulders pounded by warm water flowing off an artificial waterfall, and talked while sitting in large whirlpools.  I caught up on tawdry celebrity gossip from glossy magazines (Tom and Katie - tsk, tsk!).  A lovely lunch was brought to us poolside and we also indulged in gigantic chocolate-dipped strawberries.  I discovered that I quite like cucumber water - which in no way is to be confused with pickle juice!  In short, we treated ourselves and it was marvelous. It's so easy to get pulled into the riptide of doing for others (an important and valuable thing to do) and forget that we also need kind treatment to recharge our own batteries.

With that in mind, FryDaddy and I are fitting in a few days at the beach this week at my family's place.  My sister and her family go down for an extended vacation during July, but there's room for us this week and we jumped on the opportunity with both feet.  After all, once we come back, it'll be Busywhirl Central as we both get ready for the start of the academic year.  There is also a book to finish drafting and papers to prepare for presentation at the end of September.  Those obligations will be there whether we take the time to dig our toes in the sand or not.

So there's really no reason not to, is there?

That's what I thought!

And I encourage you to do the same - maybe a spa or the beach in August isn't your thing, but find out what it is and build some time to enjoy it into the next two weeks.  As a wise, wise woman once said, "Life is meant to be enjoyed, not saddled with."