Girl time with a little work thrown in

This past weekend I got the opportunity to go out of town on a work related trip. I was asked to mark exams in another city and when asked I said, "YES!" You might wonder why I was so eager to mark exams and you would certainly have a valid point. But you see, the place I was to go, well it's where this lovely lady lives:

Photo curtosy of Tim, Cheryl's hubby and Daddy to Luke (left) and Kyle (right) and big brother Cole (not shown).

Cheryl and her four boys, once again welcomed me into their home. Then I proceeded to monopolize all of Cheryl's time leaving Tim on Daddy duty. Thanks again Tim!

I arrived Thursday night and Friday morning at 5:15AM I got up. You see, Cheryl is one of those people who works out at that ungodly hour and since I was there, well I decided to join her at her early morning boot camp. I'll let you know when my abs are done complaining. It was not boot camp but rather ab camp. I think her trainer, Paul took one look at me and decided to tailor it to my labs. He's quick, that Paul.

Then we proceeded to lie by the pool all morning while her babies napped for over two hours. It was tough I tell you, really tough.

The rest of Friday was spend shopping (on a strict budget!) and dinner. It was wonderful. Kind of like recharging my batteries.

Saturday morning, I got up just before 6AM (yes, I am crazy) to join Cheryl on the last 6 miles of her 9 mile run. Unfortunately she got 1 mile in and was having serious leg pain. Run was aborted but since we were up anyway, we took advantage of the basement gym.

I lost 2 lbs while I was there. With the delicious ground chicken and salsa dinners and oatmeal and egg white breakfasts, how could I not? And I am quite serious about it being delicious. Clean eating is not as hard as we all think. I plan on adopting more of these practices because the level of energy is incredible.

Saturday we put in a 12 hour day at the marking center and 5 hours on Sunday. It was good money and despite how marking exams sounds, I really kind of enjoy it. I love the team atmosphere and seeing people that I normally only get to communicate with online.

And the girl time with a close friend was icing on the cake.

But there's more bonuses.

My boys seem to have missed their Mommy a wee bit and boy are they on their best behaviour. And maybe, just maybe, I have loads more patience with them because we all had a break from each other. I don't like leaving them more than a couople times a year but really and truly, it is a good thing for all of us.

I am so lucky that I have Jay, who can handle a weekend alone with our kids. I came home to a house cleaner than I left it. I know this is something to be grateful for, thanks Jay for taking such good care of our boys!

It's fun to go away but coming back, to where I belong, is equally wonderful.