Our 24 hour get away

Jeff and I spend most weekend that I'm off work right here in our townhouse.  Sitting on the couch with the TV on and the Internet or computer games busy on our laps.  While we're spending time together, and talk alot.  It still gets old.  We don't go out much because of expenses.  But with DH's annual bonus we're catching up on bills and have some left over.

This weekend we decided to have a 24 hour mini vaca and I have to say it was much needed.  And sad that just getting away from the house for 24 hours really did feel like a vacation.  I used price.line's Name your Own Price option and got us a hotel room for just $40 (and it was a nice modern Fairfield Inn, not some 70's slum super 8).  So we left on our adventure at 1pm Saturday afternoon.  The weather was so beautiful we both had short on, the windows cracked and sunglasses on as we drove an hour south east to go to casino's and see a comedy show for St. Patty's day.

There were many joke's and Jeff told me stories from when he first got out of law school on the drive.  After checking in we went off to Hollywood Casino for a little gaming.  After a little over an hour, I was up $50 and Jeff was down $20 and we agreed to go eat at the Buffett.  OMG did we eat too much food! (To me, the key to a good vacation is not having to cook and eating good food.)  I had this potato encrusted Cod thing that was delish!  (And lots of veggies, mac n cheese, crab rangoon etc.)  And since I don't like red meat that much, Jeff got to have his fun with all of that.

Later we had made our way to Harrah's to play then at 9pm walked two blocks to the theater for comedian Jim Gaffigan's show.  Now - I've been to comedy clubs for minor acts, and I've bought tickets and seen bigger names like Adam Sandler in college, and Jerry Seinfeld in WV (as well as my hero Kevin Smith here in Chicago) but none of these did I laugh so hard as I did with Jim Gaffigan.  Most of the show I was busy wiping away tears from my eyes from laughing so hard.  And we continue to laugh days later at some of the things he said.  He's on his US bus tour, and if you have a chance when he's near you - GO SEE HIM.

We ended the night and went back to our hotel for a nice sleep.  At home, Jeff normally wakes up at 4-5am.  Here he was able to sleep until 7am and we actually woke up together and got some cuddle time in.  Since he's such an early raiser we only have this sweet morning time maybe three or four times a year and I really cherish it.  You don't know how nice it is to wake up next to the person you love, when it happens so little.

We made our way next door to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and back to the casino for another hour or two before we decided we'd donated enough to them without winning that it was time to go home.  I felt so sad to have to go back to reality so soon and it made me realize just how much we need a vacation at least once a year and we cannot skip it!  It will be hard to squeak it in if we want to pay off alot.  It will be easier if we just pay down most and keep other things to continue to make minimum payments but in the end I think it will be so much healthier for our relationship and our mental health.

On Thursday and Friday I was so stressed I had a pinched nerve in my neck making it hard to turn my head.  Today, I am so relaxed and carefree!!  I don't know that I can put a price on that, but I do know that stress effects my health....this is the reason I got out of sales and never looked back with regret.  And this is a great reminder that my health and happiness is important.