De-Stressing SLPMomma Style

One of the biggest sales of the year for teachers is the big Back To School Sale by Teachers Pay Teachers.  All of us, with stores, have been focused on this one event for months.   I found myself back in May thinking about new resources I could create for the upcoming school year and followed those ideas up by creating them. That lead to revamping the look of my store by creating cover pages for my products which was a fairly lengthy task.  But the really big chore (and it was a chore) was when I realized my downloads were not protected. YIKES!  So I literally spent weeks (plural) password protecting each and every page of each and every file for every item in my shop.  All of a sudden I looked up (figuratively speaking, of course) and it was time for the BIG SALE, summer was basically over, and I had not spent any time in a lazy summery way.  (NOTE: One should never lose one's life this way.)

At my age, life is not all ahead of me anymore, it is the NOW, the PRESENT, and that is truly where I try to spend my time.   Sadly, I had lost my summer looking at the future...the next upcoming thing...I lost many "todays" looking at "tomorrow".

I could feel the stress starting to build and decided it was time to walk away from it, to just Let It Be. (Thank you, Beatles.)  It was time to DE-STRESS!  So come with me as I share how I spent a beautiful Friday in Johnson City, Tennessee, De-Stressing SLPMomma Style:

A major stress buster for me is to drive a convertible.  Nothing will blow the cobwebs out of your head faster than the wind blowing through your hair, as you cruise down the highway.  Come on there's room for 3 more! 

A great lunch spot in Johnson City is Cranberries.  The food is excellent and the decor inside is whimsical, which strikes my fancy. However, on a perfect day like today, who wants to eat inside?  I dine outside, which always brings back very delightful memories of eating in Italy.  

Tomato and basil quiche with a side of fruit and a glass of southern tea...mmm!   I leisurely eat it instead of scarfing it down as I normally would because look doesn't this view just cause you to pause?

With my sunglasses back on, it's on the road again with no particular destination, but like all women,  I ended up here:  

A little retail therapy is good for the soul too.  I have never been a "weekend shopper" for many reasons (no money, rural locations, no time, etc., etc.) so it was a real treat to simply amble around in the stores and just browse.  I normally shop with a get this, this, and this, and a get on home mentality, but today I looked and touched and smelled and was just present in the moment.  Now if I can just remember that I saw something I want to go back and get for our Trout Christmas girl exchange gift :)

When I did finally come home, I hit the couch for a nap, because obviously, my de-stressing worked :)

Are you letting your todays slip away from you? Tell me how do you de-stress.

XOXO,

Your SLPMomma