R & R

This past weekend Taylor and I journeyed down South for a wonderful Wessels Weekend at Pickwick Lake, TN. Taylor's aunt and uncle own a fantastic house on the lake that has served as a family hang-out for many years, but this was my first trip down. We left on Friday morning after Taylor worked all night in the ER, and returned home Sunday evening. The 8+ hour drive was well worth the days of sunshine, water, good Southern cooking, and family that followed.

We are very lucky to have had the opportunity to make the trip at all. Because I'm still unemployed, my schedule was wide open, and with Taylor's new supervisory scribe position, he was able to tweak the schedule to accommodate our travel plans. And this weekend getaway couldn't have come at a better time. Taylor has been working days upon days of overtime lately, and we haven't had much time together. This trip gave us a chance to reconnect not only with extended family, but with each other as well. On the way home I was reflecting on the importance of continuing to take time out for ourselves even after the vacation ends.

I wanted to share a few pictures with you. Check them out below:

The lakehouse came complete with a dock, sea doo, and a golf cart to shuttle us up and down the steep hill to the house.

One of the rocking chairs on the wrap-around porch. Great views made this one of the best seats in the house.

One of the beautiful flowering crepe myrtles surrounding the house.

I realize that not everyone has the time, money, or circumstances for a weekend vacation to a beautiful lakeside property. But I hope that you can at least make a little time to recharge your batteries. You don't have to go far away to reap the benefits of a little time to yourself--it might mean an afternoon at a local park, a few hours in the garden, or even just a few minutes in a quiet corner of your house to read or meditate.

My year in service as a VISTA exposed me to many over-worked, overwhelmed, exhausted social workers. In less than two months I'll be starting my MSW program and soon I'll be joining this group of workaholics. I'll have to keep this blog post handy to make sure I can maintain a good balance between work and play.

In the mean time, we're still working on Taylor. Poor guy.