Just 3 weeks ago, I took a daydreaming respite from what felt like I was spending every waking moment cleaning the house. I wondered, "What would my life be like if I didn't have to do so much housework every day? How would I fill my time?" Imagine my surprise, just 3 weeks later, when I join the ranks of Eloise and other hotel living mavens to figure out just how I'd spend my time when I'm exempt from housecleaning and meal fixing and cleanup.
Here's what I found out:
We spend A LOT of time in the car. Both because we have to travel in order to eat and because of Lachlan's naps.
Exercise--not happening. So, we did go to the pool every day, but I didn't do laps. And I drove the kids to the Elementary School, rather than walking them. (My 3 walks to and from the Elementary School each day provide me with 3 1/2 miles of distance walking each day).
Scriptures: Thought I'd have more time for these types of essentials. Found I suffered from the same lack of time that I have at home. Makes me realize I just need to fit it in wherever I can.
Entertainment: Unfortunately, it rained most of the time we were in the hotel, so playgrounds were out of the question. We did go to the library a few times. I attended a photography class, and did a fair amount of shopping (Home Depot, the pharmacy, etc).
I spent a lot of time reading to the kids in the hotel rooms. That was nice.
Errands: If you're going to spend most of your day in the car, errands just HAPPEN. That was a nice side benefit. I spent several hours running errands for someone else in the ward--that's how much they happened!
Sleeping 8 people in 2 rooms (4 beds): Doable, but certainly not ideal. The biggest challenge was having quiet dark spaces for people to go to sleep early, (seemed like James or Jansen was always burning the midnight oil), and quiet dark spaces for people to sleep in late (Logan would read in the windowsill, me in the bathroom for several hours each morning until enough people had woken up that we could make one room the "awake room."
School and work: There was something kind of unusual and fun about trying to keep our regular schedules of school and work. James worked in New York on Thursday, and Philadelphia on Monday.
As for the kids, I'd go down with Jansen and Janessa at 6:30 a.m. to grab an 8 minute breakfast before they were off for seminary. Logan ate at 7:00 and walked to his friend's house where they rode their bikes to school.
We spent some funny moments talking about how to carry on a "normal life" at the hotel. "Should Logan practice his trumpet in our room, or in the hall?" "Could we get away with using the grand piano in the lobby to have the kids practice on?" "How could we manage the fact that there was only one internet connection (for $10.00 a day) and one computer, which EVERYONE needed to do their homework on." "How could we ethically sneak breakfast items from the buffet so that our kids could take snacks for school?" "Should we go down and join the wedding party and the Bat Mitzvah party on Saturday night?" "How do we entertain ourselves during Rosh Hashanah when we have no school?" and then the more fun matter of, "Where should we eat out tonight?"
It's been educational. Not quite what I imagined in some ways, but definitely a vacation in others!
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