Bucket List: A Day in Bed
This is the view from our super lux comfy bed in
Barbados. It is my visual proof/reminder
that sometimes the best laid plans gone awry can actually turn into a surprisingly
treasured vacation memory. For years I
have daydreamed about spending in entire day in bed, preferably with Mr. Cowan
for company, but this was definitely NOT how I had ever envisioned it happening…
I woke up on this lovely sunny morning feeling like the
infamous “John Hurt scene from Alien”.
Not in a panicky way, like food poisoning or a hangover gone wrong, but
still horribly uncomfortable and woefully fatigued. There was nothing to do but take handfuls of
ibuprofen and wait it out. At home, I
would have rallied and pushed through the work day in misery. On vacation, I oscillated between pissed,
sulky, and tearful. Fortunately, I am married
to a man who refused to allow me to also feel guilty for something I had little
control over.
I worked up the resolve to go to breakfast hoping that would
miraculously improve my outlook and physical state. It didn’t, but at least I wasn’t hungry. Back in the room I wallowed. Despite Adam’s reassurances, I worried that
my overwhelming desire to hole up engulfed in the abundance of pillows was an irresponsible
waste of a precious beachfront vacation day.
(Yes, even in the moment I realized that this was high drama…) Adam finally talked me down using an
intermediate goal tactic. “Hey, you don’t
know you’ll feel this bad ALL day, let’s just take the morning and lounge here
with the view.”
So we did. I slept
off and on snuggled cozily between him and my pillow fort while he read, watched
TV. I started to show signs of life just
about the time he landed on MTV’s Teen Mom 2 marathon. Hey, if we were going to spend the whole day
in bed, we might as well go full out and include trashy tv.
We made it out to lunch, then came back for a nap, watched
more Teen Mom 2, and had afternoon tea in bed.
Around 4 I finally felt up to wiggling into my swimsuit to float in the
waves for a bit before getting ready for dinner.
Anywhere else, this really would have felt like a wasted
day. But here, with the ocean view,
waves that could be heard even with the doors closed, an overstuffed bed, gorgeous
natural light, a clean, beautiful room, and possibly the best husband ever, we
topped out on every relaxation metric that is meaningful to us!
Lost day? Nah, this
was just an unexpected opportunity to cross something off the bucket list!