Stop and Smell the Roses. The Fine Line between REAL Life and Blogging

I took a few weeks long hiatus from blogging to give way to my personal life offline. It just happened. It was unplanned (just like some pregnancies do). It was needed. It was natural. It was a blessing. Sometimes you just have to. NO, need to! It makes me wonder how many of us are so entwined with our life offline that we couldnt even stop for a minute to enjoy the little pleasures in life like family time? We sometimes get so obsessed attached to what we do that we have a hard time disengaging ourselves to appreciate reality. Our own reality...even awful as it some times may be.

But smelling the roses isn't too bad. Just watch out for the thorns.

Disengaging yourself may feel like having drug withdrawal symptoms. You get involuntary urges to sit infront of your laptop or computer and you can't seem to keep your eyes off of it. Oh that twitchy feeling! That itch that won't go away. Yeah that. That enigmatic draw. Like looking at Edward with its vampirish stare seducing you to come closer...

Those fangs thorns are sure sexy nasty.

Yeah the real world... What did I get from stopping to smell the Roses? Not entirely glamorous but they're equally beneficial and in no necessary order unless you want to!

• Family time - Not just any family time but good ole' quality family time where we spent time together sans electronics ( but we exempted roku and netflix just because we can). And surprisingly, we actually took the time to enjoy each other's company and consummate our last ditch effort for an end of the Summer hurrah, as a family, and this, before our child went back to school and crazy-yer re-started!   

We went to a water park. Went Window and grocery shopping. Revisited the Farmer's market (I'm re-hooked). Sat on a swing just enjoying each other's company (while the mosquitoes enjoys me!) and a whole lot more...there were a lot, I can't list them all. Sorry.

• Enhanced my self-control - Insane as it may sound but the correlation is obvious. Going on for a day without staring down and tinkering with my smartphone, kindle, iPad or laptop at every passing minute was a feat to be tackled. Urges was great mind you! But my perseverance won at the end (with so much mental wrestling). Yay me! Just don't ask me how long it lasted. I won't tell you!

Bloody electronics. They're worst than drugs! Addictive as my coffee.

Finally framed and hung photo sketches from both Disney's professional animators, a local artist,
AND my very own talented artist. Cute huh?!

• Updated home decors - My walls are thanking me right now (or perhaps not, after all the new holes I created). I was able to put up the new wall photos I was meaning to in forever. Updated the entire look of the living room, kitchen and our bedrooms walls. And they look gorgeous! Now that is some accomplishment.

New Mediterranean-inspired decor . Love the hanging tea light holders on the window!
Love it especially at night when a candle is glowing within.

• Household cleaning - This is probably the biggest project I've done taking a break. I used to be BFF with my dustbunnies but now they hate me. Oh well... Can't please everyone especially NOT the  freaking dustbunnies!

Maybe I'll just be BFF with my dryer's lint instead.

• Purged Junk - My garage, my closets and my drawers (and yes me!) are quite delighted to be free of old stuffs and give way to new collections. You know... more reason to shop! But no worries, I donated all of them to Goodwill. I'm happy to help support the creation of more jobs! Unlike those you know who.

Best of all these? I was very productive being a mom, a wife, maybe a bit of both a maid and a slave, a friend, but most certainly as a business partner.

And you know what? I may have (unintentionally) neglected my blog those weeks, I may have gone a little crazy not being able to blog, Oh yeah! My stats suffered as well (Blogger's nightmare)! BUT get this! My stats doesn't define me nor my blog. The truth is, I'm more recharged, more engaged in my own little REAL world and now? I'm totally refreshed and back in the game...but NOT with a vengeance I hope. That would just be an overkill.

I say take the break once in a while. You'll thank yourself for it. Like I said, if God took a break to rest after creating the world...So should you!

Stay Zen! Stay sane.