#38 — An Unexpected Direction

Lydia,

It’s been way too long since I’ve written. I’ve found myself putting off things that I want to do because of feeling so busy, overwhelmed and tired from everything going on.

There’s my job, which is constant chaos with the occasional break to play cornhole.

There’s my kids, who delight me every day but whose pursuit of independence and learning has caused some disagreements, to put it mildly.

Then there’s me. I want to be a peaceful mother but get easily overstimulated and end up frustrated and it’s just awful.

Having a complete change of scenery and a break from these normal routines was so needed. The fact that we had planned a trip to the UP and then ended up in the Florida Keys—in other words, about as far south as we could have gone from our original destination—is crazy but also amazing. I love that we are moms with families and responsibilities who still have spontaneous adventures like this.

It felt so good to be under the warm sunshine! Even though Key West turned out to be overrated, driving across the sea bridges was totally worth it. Plus, that’s where I found my shark tooth, something the locals promised us was highly unlikely to happen. What can I say—when you completely change course on a plan you kind of have to expect the unexpected.

Honestly, just being by the water so much was incredible. Something about the salt water was invigorating (except when I swallowed too much of it while snorkeling) and our instincts about it being good for skin were right; the minerals are beneficial for inflammation and can even reduce the appearance of cellulite (something you’d speculated about based on some social media influencers). Basically, salt water has tons of benefits to physical and mental health. I think this means we should take another trip there soon.

It's always so good to spend time with you and I frequently wish we lived closer but alas. At least we get to go on trips like this and someday in the not too distant future we will start taking family camping trips together! I’m really looking forward to that and the kids will have a blast together.

I promise to be better about writing back!

—Janie