I Just Got Back From Mexico and I Hate You All

OK, I don't hate you. Just my whole entire life.

At this time on Saturday, I was lounging poolside while a kind waiter brought me Diet Cokes. Don't just let that phrase, "lounging poolside," just brush past you without contemplation.

Take a moment to put yourself by the pool, to really remember how pleasant it is to feel the sun on your bare skin, to let your tension unravel with your body, to close your eyes and have nowhere to be in the world. Maybe everybody knew how great this was already, but I haven't taken a vacation in a good long while. I would have continued on this vacationless path if it weren't for my cousin, god bless her, who decided to have a destination wedding. 

I love her a lot and I was very happy to see her exchange vows with the very nice man she was marrying, but I was also beyond excited to take the vacation I never would have planned for myself.

Back to the pool. After lounging for several hours, I might saunter into the restaurant, where the buffet and grill (serving grouper so fresh it tasted like they'd caught it that morning) were part of the group package, as well as the hundreds of spa credits I can use for a deep tissue massage and pedicure later. Maybe after my massage, I'll go ahead and take a two-hour nap before the night's events begin. Maybe I'll order room service, also part of the package. One things for sure: Tomorrow I'll get up whenever I damn well please.

That was my life for 3-ish days.

It was real. It Happened to Me. Before I faceplanted back into my life like swandiving into concrete. I got back Sunday night and when I woke up Monday morning I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. Not sure if it was the day of travel or just a symptom of harsh reentry into my REAL LIFE.

As a mom with a full-time job, I am rarely not working. I'm either working at my job or I'm parenting at home. And then I'm sleeping. Even when I go out of town with my kid, I am still working pretty much constantly. Taking those 3 days to really do nothing -- no parenting, no email, no computer at all -- was honestly kind of life-changing.

But by the time I got to my desk on Monday, I was downright surly, and I'm not any happier today. Throughout the wedding weekend, I kept thinking "I HAVE TO DO THIS FOR MYSELF MORE OFTEN," but now I'm not sure if I can handle the comedown.

I have an extreme vacation hangover, with no end in sight. Is this just the cost of having an amazing time? Do you have tips for overcoming post-vacation depression (and tackling the roughly 8 million unread emails in my inbox)? Also please tell me about your super-amazing vacation experiences so I know where to go if I ever work up the courage to try again.