Healthy Relationships Rekindled

How about a weekend get away to rekindle your marriage relationship with vigor and health? That is what we did last weekend!

Going back a few years my husband came up with a great idea, "A weekend away from home at home."

At the time he worked away from home during the week. All 3 of our children were adults and had families of their own so it was just the two of us. I was self-employed and worked from home part of the time. When my husband got home for the weekend (sometimes he was able to work a 4 day work week) he was ready to stay home. I sometimes had the urge to go somewhere and do something different.

It was complicated to go somewhere for the weekend because it meant my husband had to get ready to leave home immediately after being gone all week. And when we would return on Sunday afternoon from a weekend outing, he would again immediately have to leave to go back to work. Also we had animals that required making arrangements for someone to stop by and take care of each day. Plus, it cost a lot of money to go somewhere, get a hotel room, eat out, and do whatever activity we might chose to do.

A weekend away from home at home gave us both a break and we could look forward to a relaxing weekend. It only required a little preparation and planning to make it successful.

Preparation included making sure the house was tidy and clean. We planned simple healthy meals with grocery shopping completed ahead of time.

We set our own rules for the weekend. The rules varied according to the current situation but we always kept in mind that we were not to do anything we could not do if we were really away from home.

Of course, we have to feed and water the animals but that only takes a few minutes each day. We work together to clean up any mess left from cooking our simple healthy meals. It is not fun to have a dirty kitchen at the end of the relaxing weekend.

A weekend away from home at home gives us the opportunity to talk and discuss personal (and sometimes business) goals. It is a time to reflect and plan. Over the years we have done things like read short books together or watch a movie. Typically we do not watch TV or spend time on the computer unless we want to look something up that adds to our discussions.

Some simple physical activity is important such as a nice walk or hike. We live in the mountains so a hike or a bike ride is always fun. Just spending time together with no distractions makes the weekend special.

Occasionally, one evening we will go out for a date to a nice restaurant and pretend we are dating again (after 50 plus years).

We may entertain ourselves with our own karaoke (my piano playing) since we both enjoy singing. Now this is an exception we allow ourselves on this weekend away at home because I use the piano at home as we sing ole' time favorites.

Last weekend was the first weekend away at home we had done in quite a long time. Somehow with taking care on 2 houses (one in CA and one in NM), overseeing my mother-in-law's care in a nursing home, my mother living with us for several months a year, and various other things; we had forgotten to take this time for ourselves. This last weekend has rekindled our desire to get back into planning a vacation or weekend away from home at home several times a year.

When was the last time you really planned a weekend get-away retreat with your spouse?

My blogs usually focus on health and nutrition but how can you be healthy if your relationships are not healthy? And how can your relationships be healthy if you do not put time and energy into making them the best they can be? I would love to hear about special times you have had with your loved one or ones. Tell me about it in the comment section below.

My hope for you is a rekindled relationship!

Pat Moon is a health and nutrition coach. She gives her readers helpful information on how to stay healthy with proper nutrition. You are invited to visit her blog at http://www.bestrealhealth.com Her articles provide up to date, practical tips on how good nutrition reduces the risk of serious illness. Pat has worked in the health and nutrition industry for over 25 years. Your comments and questions are welcome and useful in writing future articles.

Thank you for visiting and commenting.