Inertia

Ugh, I'm having one of those days where I could easily lay down on a cold, concrete floor and immediately pass out into a comatose slumber. I don't know if it's the adjustment back into work mode; the drastic (and painful!) weather change of going from 91 and sunny to a blustery 45 degrees, gray skies, and bare trees; or just the fact that my body already thinks it's the dead of winter (getting dark way too early these days). Whatever the case, I just couldn't get going today and I don't even think I fully woke up. I had to lead two meetings today and I really hope I faked my trademark energy and enthusiasm well…something tells me I didn't, though, because I practically fell asleep leading one of the meetings.

Ooops.

Big, long sigh.

[Start the dream sequence here]

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday morning, I went for my daily, morning jog on the beach and nearly overheated in the 80 degree, 99% humidity that is a Floridian dawn. It was my last morning walk until the next vacation (who in the world gets up at 4 a.m. to work out?) and I was going to make the most of it. I gazed longingly out to sea as I passed flocks of seagulls and dozens of pelicans bobbing on the water. I watched little crabs scurry across the fine, white sand and tried to memorize the exact timing of the wave swells as they rolled into shore. I absorbed every sound and even muted Jimmy Buffet's "Coastal Confessions" and "Juicy Fruit" to fully enjoy the sound of the waves.

A few hours later, I willingly boarded a plane to come home, knowing full well the wind storm that was Chicago. We were surprised that we boarded and left FL on time and started to descend into the Chi. Then the super winds caught the aircraft and not only dropped by hundreds of feet at a time (hello, stomach!), but listed side to side on the way down. It was pretty intimidating to look over, out the window, and see the GROUND straight down there. Yeah, not a fan.

We landed successfully, albeit it totally nauseated, shaky, and dizzy...and the whole plane cheered and applauded our saintly pilots. Me, I was tempted to "whoop, whoop" it, like in the dog pound (a la Arsenio Hall). I thought better of it, lest I get beat up by the gentleman in parachute pants two rows up.

So all of you stop drinking your Hatorade out there, I totally got my comeuppance for flaunting my 91 degree sunshine!

Even though it was only 5 days, it was a fantastic break. Along with some of our wacky pictures, I'll share a few of our crazy stories this weekend. As for me, I need to go drink a pot of coffee so I can stay awake long enough tonight to floss my teeth!