Tracation* Contemplation
*Tracation, noun: a period of time spent away from from home with small children and possibly family pets that is more restful than a trip but less restful than a vacation We are back from our week-long trip - not "vacation" because kids and dogs. One of my friends on Connect suggested the term "tracation" and I think that's pretty accurate. Because it was not just a trip either. There were relaxing moments. I read one-and-a-half books and, like, four magazines! But traveling with two kids and two dogs is, on balance, more tiring than rejuvenating. So. Tracation.But here's what's great: we stayed for a week in a small beach-y cottage off the beaten path in Jamestown, Rhode Island, and by the end of the week we all still liked each other! WIN!Oh, and it was also my first alcohol-free tracation. Which is a big deal. I have to remind myself of that. I am now happily over 50 days into my 365-day alcohol-free journey. I still think about booze on a daily basis but usually it's a thin, frail desire that flickers for a moment and fizzles out just as quickly. "Ooh, wine. Nope. Ok." Just like that. Usually.But not always. Day 50 was tough. Because we were tracationing in her neck of the woods, we went to visit my mother-in-law. The kids and I hung out with some fun cousins while my husband, his mom and his brother did some sad and surreal and strange gathering and tying of the loose-ends left in the wake of my father-in-law's death last month.[Death is weird, isn't it? On one level, it's the most natural thing in the world. Circle of life and all that. On another level it's achingly sad, of course. And it's also a logistical nightmare. Weird.]It was a long day, Day 50. A not unwelcome, but strange, but necessary interruption of our regularly scheduled tracation. It was a bit stressful. We all ate too much ice cream in giant waffle cones, which helped until it made me feel worse (as always - a lesson I refuse to learn, apparently).There was also an ever-so-slight but noticeable crispness in the air that was unmistakably the first hint of Fall. My favorite season. Hoodie sweatshirts, blue jeans, football, pumpkins, pumpkin spice, pumpkin beer, wine... oh wait. Nope. Not this year.And all of that was just enough to make the craving for booze stick around. Tracation interruptus. Resurfaced grief. Sadness for my husband and his loss - it's a loss for us all, of course, and size doesn't matter, but it does, and his is the biggest and I'm very, very sad for him. The first inkling of Fall. The realization that part of my love for my favorite season is intertwined with my love for alcohol. Amped-up anxiety as a result of that realization.Nothing earth-shattering, and I never felt in danger of actually imbibing and breaking my commitment to this booze-free year. It's just never fun to feel yourself taking two steps back, especially after I've been leaping ahead lately.To recap:Our tracation was successful. Day 50 was hard. Death is weird. I achieved my first alcohol-free trip and I mostly didn't miss booze at all.And now, we are happy to be home. It's almost Fall. And that will be alcohol-free too, as I continue to move forward through this year of self-love and self-discovery and everything else it will come to mean to me.