Vacation Withdrawal

I'm back from my holiday in Spain, and instead of feeling jolly and cheery and rejoicing at the unexpectedly lovely weather here in Paris (surprise, surprise!) I'm exhausted...

I can't quite figure out whether it's because we didn't actually rest all that much on this trip, given we were walking quite a lot and visiting all sorts of interesting sites, whether it's just the dread of heading back to work and dragging myself through the day, or whether it's to do with my time of the month (I know, TMI, sorry about that)... Maybe it's a bit of all three, wrapped up together in one big shiny package. But I can't seem to keep my eyes open here in front of my PC at work, and I still have another three long hours to make it through this afternoon. Granted, I don't actually have a lot of work to do, it's quite quiet around here... But sometimes it's these moments that are the hardest, when the greatest temptation is to ease back in my chair, close my eyes, and forget the world around me. To be honest with you, I have seen some people around my office do that before, believe it or not -- I was shocked the first couple of times, but apparently it's not entirely frowned upon. I guess given the business lunches these guys partake in on a regular basis, with the red wine flowing and rich sauces abounding, it's no surprise... But still, in my position, I wouldn't dare.

But do you know those kind of people who come back from vacation and are just grinning from ear to ear, raving about their time in the sun, the wonderful things they saw, how utterly fabulous everything was, how happy they are, and how much of a great mood they're in as a result of their time away, which was exactly what they needed to restart their engines and attack their work refreshed and renewed? OK, don't kill me here -- but those kind of people make me sick! I just can't imagine coming back and going on and on and on about my holidays... Sure, I know the point of vacation is to boost your morale and put a new perspective on things, to come back rejuvenated and positive about your "clean slate," so to speak, but somehow I always come back wondering where all the time went, how it could have gone that fast, and when it will start all over again. Am I alone in this? And sure, I want to share some pictures and stories, but I also don't want to bore people to death nor rub their noses in the fact that I actually did go away for a week or so and escape from the humdrum routine of daily life here in the city.

In any case, I will do my best to share some lovely stories about my adventures in Andalusia, but bear with me -- I'm going to need some time to adjust...