It’s been a week since David had his surgery, and four days since we’ve been home recovering.

Clockwise from top left: the patient’s domain, my home nursing shelf, Cleo wondering what’s going on around here, and the huge pile of snacks that we’ve amassed.

My patient is improving by leaps & bounds, and soon he’ll be zooming around. But for the first month he still can’t put any weight on his right leg and he can’t drive himself anywhere. That means he still needs help doing some fairly simple things like going to the bathroom, showering, and having meals prepared. In addition to activities of daily living, I also have to give him a shot in his belly once a day, give him his medication, help him do his physical therapy, & change his surgical dressing once a day.

I love having my husband as a patient, but in the meantime I don’t think I’ve been taking very good care of myself. The only time I leave the house is to get the mail, go to the pharmacy, or attend a previously set obligation. I sleep late, don’t shower till midafternoon (if at all), hardly ever put on makeup, and eat junk. Then there’s the fact that David’s family is getting ready to leave on their vacation that we were supposed to go on, while I’m faced with the prospect of going back to work with nothing to look forward to. The result of this lifestyle & attitude is that I have been getting progressively more and more depressed.

This morning David gave me a wake-up call when he told me that he was really worried about me & that he was feeling guilty about being the cause of my sadness. In reality it has nothing to do with him – I absolutely love all the time we’re getting to spend together – but obviously I’m just not being good to myself. When I have days off from work during the week I’ll routinely spend all day at home and enjoy it, but doing that for an extended period of time is just not healthy for me.

So this is what I’m doing to get happy again:

First, I had a cup of coffee and took a few deep breaths.

Next, I called work and told my boss that I’m taking another week off. I don’t want to stress about going back too soon or feel guilty that I should be there and not at home. I want a little more time to relax.

Finally, I made a list of fun and – since we’re kind of broke right now – free things I can do at home or in the area in the next week that will make me happy and make it seem a little like vacation. This is my list so far:

• Take the dogs to the dog park
• Start running again
• Watch Glee on Netflix
• Visit the Orange Show Monument and Beer Can House
• Use the spa gift card my family got me
• Use the Groupons I have stored: one for microdermabrasion, another for products at an earth-friendly store
• Go to the yoga studio
• See a movie (I have a couple free passes I got at work)
• Send some “just because” cards
• Figure out some sort of project to do around the house

So far so good, I think. It starts now.

What about you? If you had a week to spend at home and not much money to spend, what would you do to make it into a vacation?