At this time of year all thoughts are on the approaching fall season. For me, it’s time to get back to work. I took some much needed time off during the latter half of August to regroup and recharge my batteries. Inasmuch as I love blogging, it’s time consuming. When I work, the day goes by so quickly, and many days I forget to eat lunch! I’m so grateful for all the mentions and supportive comments I get from all of you. It’s an ego boost that I can’t get enough of! With each new blog post I keep pushing myself to deliver one that’s better than the ones I’ve done before.
Being away has made me realize that I need to schedule some fun times with friends and enjoy what’s left of summer. I recently came across the following quote from the great poet and author, Maya Angelou, which is from her book of essays, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, I think it’s worth hanging on my office wall.
For our summer vacation this year, Christopher and I visited the Rocky Mountain National Park and had the most amazing time. I did suffer from the dreaded altitude sickness for the whole week we were there, but I still managed to go on some spectacular hikes and see the most incredible vistas. I thoroughly enjoyed every day of my vacation. Sometimes you just need to get away from it all. It was my time to relax, reflect, clear my head of blog ideas, enjoy being with Christopher and experience new and exciting things.
It was a rarity to see animals in the park, but we were lucky to catch a glimpse of a herd of bighorn sheep.
While we were there, we stayed at the Lodge which is part of the Stanley Hotel, which many of you know as the place that inspired Stephen King to write the book The Shining, which was made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick. Dumb and Dumber, starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, was also filmed at the Stanley Hotel. Trust me, it is a gorgeous hotel. The staff is extremely cordial and helpful.
Here is the hotel lobby welcoming vignette.
This is one of two incredibly tall fireplaces in the lobby. The hotel management had them lit every evening and Christopher and I enjoyed many a glass of port in front of this fireplace.
But now I’m back, back to doing what I love to do, blog! I’m still trying to get back in the groove. But now that all the planning, preparation and excitement of the trip has ended, I’m looking forward to sharing my love of interior design with you. Look for some changes in the blog in the upcoming weeks; I know you’re going to love them.
For a blogger, the first day back can be stressful, to say the least. I’ve got a few simple steps for getting back into the blogging groove:
- When writing your first back-to-blogging post, keep it light. Don’t spend hours writing it. Write something simple like “What I did on my summer vacation”.
- Update your blog scheduler. Make sure you have time-outs for fun stuff such as going for a walk or lunching with friends!
- Visit your social media sites and update your status.
- Make a to-do list. I’ve recently started doing this and I keep wondering why I didn’t do it sooner.
- Always have a notebook handy to write down ideas for your blog posts.
- Do your admin tasks before writing your first post. It’s one less distraction to worry about.
OK, fellow bloggers and blog readers, how about you? What do you do on your first day back to your blog or to work?
Simone