Sunday night I arrived back in Denver after eight days on vacation. I came home to an empty refrigerator and a weeks worth of emails and calls. Not to mention the cold, windy weather in Denver. Enter Monday, the first day after vacation and the responsibilities slap you across the face. Is there anything worse than the first Monday back from vacation? Everything just seems harder. No matter how much you try to plan the day, or rather, the week after a vacation is usually just pure chaos and catch up. Here is how my Monday back after vacation looked:
5:36 AM Wake up.
6:15 AM Head to the gym
6:18 AM First minute of running a mile above sea-level. Think I may be dying.
6:23 AM Five minutes of running, decide that is plenty. My lungs are burning anyways.
6:25 AM Head to the Stairmaster because it seems like a better idea.
6:28 AM It wasn’t.
7:30 AM Head to the grocery store (on an empty stomach).
8:10 AM $150 later I have groceries. ($23 of which were salmon because I just returned from an island and salmon sounded good).
8:18 AM Realize I forgot garlic. Head to another grocery store to pick up garlic.
8:20 AM Grab minced ginger instead of garlic. Realize this when I get home.
8:25 AM eat breakfast #1
8:30 AM Unpack groceries and meal prep for the next two days as I make calls.
10:00 AM Attempt #1 of catching up on emails.
10:45 AM Eat Breakfast #2
11:00 AM Weekly call with the BEST business coach. A majority of the conversation was how to survive the day after vacation. A To-Do list may have been helpful a few hours ago.
12:30 AM Eat lunch and email.
1:00 PM FINALLY get to shower
1:30 PM meet with my accountant in order to file taxes. She applauds me for getting to her so early – I forget three forms for her on my “vacation brain”.
3:00 PM Make a run to Starbucks for gift cards.
3:30 PM Realize the invites for my brunch on Sunday didn’t go out properly. Decide to reschedule the event to the following week and make it St. Patrick Day themed.
4:00 PM Make calls to clients to check in.
4:45 PM Blog for the upcoming week. Although it ends up being one blog.. six more to go later this week.
6:00 PM Show homes in Cherry Creek.
7:00 PM Eat some of the salmon for dinner. 🙂
Still to be done – unpacking or at least moving the suitcase from my front door, cleaning the mess I made while “meal prepping”, preparing for the interviews I have tomorrow for assistants, and all those emails. For now I will just laugh at the chaos and plan my next vacation.
Liz works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with LUX. Denver
