Lunches are packed, laundry is folded, and my alarm is set to 4:30 am. I guess this means vacation is officially over for me. Being away from Topsail Island, my family, and the fresh sea air has given me a serious case of post-vacation blues.

I went for a run today to try and get some endorphins pumping, however running on the side of a busy street, dodging dog poop, and quickly running out of breath due to car exhaust just made me grumpy. All I could think about was the 4 mile run my sister and I had done just two days earlier on the serene beach of Topsail Island.

I miss waking up and rocking my nephew on the front porch

I miss wandering the inlet with my fiance, who I barely get to see due to our crazy work/school schedules

I miss watching the birds effortlessly glide over the water

I miss happy hour

I miss laughing so hard that our eyes cried and our cheeks hurt

I miss having nothing better to do than to take silly pictures of my ring in the sand

I miss having nothing better to do than to sit and watch the wind blow a feather across perfectly packed sand

I miss having nothing to do

I miss playing Catch Phrase and chatting in a circle for hours before bedtime

I miss my beautiful sister and her sweet husband

I miss spending quality time with my awesome brother-in-law and sister-in-law! Good thing they only live a few miles from my house here in town 🙂 

I miss my nephew laughing at my silly faces

I miss waking up at 10 am and taking a nap at 3 pm

I miss eating three bowls of ice cream before going to dinner

I miss walking to dinner, walking to happy hour, walking everywhere

I miss making dinner in a gorgeous kitchen

I miss spontaneous Bojangles trips for a late dinner

I miss my hair in knots and my sunglasses foggy from the salty air

I miss waving “hello” to people passing by while sitting on the front porch

I miss everything about vacation. Most of all, I miss spending 24 hours a day with people that I am lucky enough to call my family. All week long I kept thinking “family isn’t supposed to be this much fun. I can’t BELIEVE I get to know these people forever!”

Tomorrow it is back to the real world. Tomorrow I will try to move away from the post-vacation blues and think about how lucky I am to have a family that makes saying “see ya later” so difficult.

But tonight, I will wallow in my post-vacation blues.