You may remember my blog from the beginning of the summer – Are You Plagued by a Pre-Vacation To Do List? – and now sadly, I am writing the Back-Home-From-Vacation To Do List…. “Back to Reality,” as they say.  Interestingly, and as you might guess, the lists are very similar. From my perspective, I find the pre-vacation to do list to be much more cumbersome than the back-home-from-vacation to do list.  Part of the reason for that, though, is that I like to leave my house in very good order so that I come back to a house that is neat and tidy rather than messy, which then requires even more to dos to clean it up.  And actually, I don’t mind the onerous tasks of the pre-vacation list because there is so much excitement and anticipation about the fun vacation ahead that it’s worth going through all of the to dos so that I can relax and breathe deeply during my fabulous time away.

So here are some of my back-home-from-vacation to dos (in no particular order):

• Catch up on work and miscellaneous emails as well as pertinent paperwork
• Review client status with your work coverage contact
• Communicate with your clients to let them know you are home and discuss any important items
• Unpack your bags and those of the children too
• Laundry, laundry, laundry – major understatement
• Water the plants and weed gardens/planters if necessary
• Pick up the pets from the boarder or family member who took care of your furry loved ones
• Clean the kitty litter
• Go to the dump
• Open the windows to air the house, most notably during the summer
• Adjust the temperature of the house depending on the season
• Turn off the lights that were left on
• Get finances in order
• Go to the supermarket to replenish the cabinets and refrigerator
• Call friends to let them know you’re back in town and find out what you missed
• Wake up and smell the roses because it’s back to reality

What are your thoughts? Have I missed any of the essential back-home-from-vacation to dos that you have on your list? I can’t wait to hear….