I have had a few days to relax and recharge my batteries a little. Vacation is necessary, not a luxury, and it brings so much value to every day you are out of your routine, it can't be measured.

I was running out of steam for about a month before my vacation, and the last week before my vacation was so busy and spent working on catching myself up before leaving the office. People may have thought I was crazy, but I wasn't, just in need of some time off!

When you go through your daily routine, week after week, life just seems stressful. It's hard to escape it when you are doing the same thing day in and day out. Taking some time off even just an afternoon or one day, can help bring your view of life back to a positive one.

I only have about 15 hours left of my time off... so I better go enjoy it! I still have podcasts to listen to and TV shows that I have not gotten to see yet!

Yeah, it's been a while... My mind has finally wandered Off Topic again and with that several things come to mind for this title...

Too Much Time at Work... Too Little At Home
Too Much of A Good Thing... Too Little Sleep at Night
Too Much Time Outside... Too Little Time Inside My Brain

I know, I have spent my valuable time on everything from my brother's Stephen King book I borrowed to earning my badges on Pogo.com. I have been updating my ipod, my email, my feed reader and everything else instead of posting here. One dog got a haircut this weekend, I drank way too much coffee, overdosed on the entire last week of General Hospital, and... had to color my hair twice in one night (hard to believe, but even I don't play with the right colors sometimes)

Any way you look at it, I have spent more time "absent" than "present"

Probably not... I am not a mind reader, so I don't expect anyone else to be one either... Just sayin'. If you can't read my mind, I won't hold it against you, so you better not hold it against me.

I think about thousands of things every single day. My mind just spins to the point it makes me dizzy. Split second decisions happen every second of my day. Should I go a different way to work? Stop and get a coffee on the way home? Make another phone call? Should I call and say I will be late? Do I need to stop at a store on the way home?

Did I do the right thing? Should I watch t.v. or go straight to bed? Glass of wine first? Make a fresh pot of coffee? Ice cream?

You get the idea... sometimes I am thinking about so many things, I forget about others. I'm sorry, but just realize it wasn't an intentional slight... I just can't do everything, remember every thing, and make the correct decision every time. Sometimes, I can't read my own mind, so like I said don't hold it against me.

I started off with one pod cast on my ipod. I selected the "Official General Hospital" pod cast as the "official podcast of my ipod" only problem is, after the 1st 3 video pod casts, there have been no more There hasn't been an update since November of 2007.

Now I subscribe to about a dozen more, some I can keep up with, some I can't, but at least there is new material to check out for those times that I am laying around doing nothing (heh... ok, you know that doesn't happen) or when I have my ipod stuck in my ears while running around doing laundry or cleaning... maybe a power walk (ok, that doesn't happen often either, but it does happen).

My favorite podcasts are tied between the motivational (i.e. MorningCoach) and ones that offer relaxation and stress reduction ideas. The other thing my favorites have in common are the length. They are about 15 minutes long. I have to save the longer ones for "uninterupted time" which occurs less often than "laying around doing nothing".

Yeah, it's the beginning of summer. I am too busy for words right now. I figured out sometime before Memorial Day that every weekend between then and Labor Day was spoken for. Plans every weekend mean no time for rest and relaxation during my favorite season.

I know this is off topic, but I like to rest and relax in the summer. The weather is warm enough to basically do what ever makes you happy (unless you like to ski... then you have to wait) if you want to lounge around on a beach... go for it (Just keep in mind those 10 pounds you didn't lose should be covered so the rest of the beach goers don't have to suffer)

What ever you want to do, shouldn't have to have a purpose. The only purpose that is important is to relax on purpose, not by accident. Some of my plans include rest, but not relaxation. Schedule in your times to relax... you will be much happier.

Ok, it's peak allergy season here in New Jersey. If you don't have pollen allergies, you have no idea how lucky you are. I haz them. They SUCK!

I spent half my weekend spitting up green goo because I let them go too long. The most energy I can muster is to sit here at the computer and cough... go me.

So... sorry I was away for awhile, but I am back now. I realized when times are good, I blog. When times are bad, I like the feel of paper and pen, it soothes me. My journal knows what was going on in my brain, but the whole world doesn't need to know...

For now, I am off to spit out more green goo... enjoy yourself, that way at least one of us is.

Ok, so my Uncle broke his leg in 4 places, my cousin flew in from Texas, and after taking a peek at a hospital lunch tray, we were off to the local diner. I guess I take diners for granted, since I live in New Jersey, I forget that they aren't on every corner in the rest of the world.

It wasn't until we had ordered that my cousin told me his girlfriend back in Texas would be upset. She is originally from NJ too, and loves diners. It's more than a place to sit and have a cup of coffee, or grab a meal fast when you are out and about for the day, it's someplace where every one can order what ever they are craving at the moment... Just the mention of disco fries (french fries with brown gravy and mozzeralla cheese) on the phone was enough to make her drool (sorry)...

I guess it's just a little slice of New Jersey culture that most of us take for granted.

I know, this isn't completely off topic, but spring finally seems to be coming. Not on time of course, but it is at least better than 40 degrees and raining weather we have had since the beginning of March. Remember, this blog is my outlet, and today the weather is ok, not the typical for around here...

So, with spring comes not only my allergies, but yard work. That's what the husband is working on. Me? I am just working on inside work, so the weather isn't even bothering me! Spring cleaning... that's another post.

Did you ever just plug along... day by day... off in the world you live in, and out of the blue...

B lame A Man

Something comes from no where and hits you like a ton of bricks? I hate those days. Ok, hate is such a strong word, I genuinely have disdain for those types of days. The problem is, it's extremely hard to go back to the pre-BAM days, once a BAM day happens.

Please, for all that is good in the world, no more BAM days.

This blog dwells heavily on what to do with down time or as in some circles, spare time. There is a reason for it. Human nature requires down time. A person that is always on, will crash eventually, and crash hard. A person that spends their work week engaging others in conversation, needs some quiet time to a least recharge their vocal cords, or let their partner rest their ears.

I am a person that talks too much. It's my nature, and I have been falsely accused of being called a "chatterbox" since I learned to talk. I need down time to recharge my vocal cords. I need naps, coffee, and quiet time. Listening to myself talk is exhausting. How much down time is needed depends on the person, but every soul on this earth needs time to just be.

Time to go off topic, time to enjoy their surroundings, time to reflect on their future or their past. I like to plan, I like to write lists, I enjoy spending time in the mind of Allison Werner, just figuring out what does being me mean.