Vacation Number 2

Listen, the last thing I'm going to do is complain about the benefits that come with my job. Compared to most, I'm golden. I have decent insurance and I get a crap ton of vacation.

I'm not trying to rub it in or anything, but I'm trying to explain how or why I took a second vacation in one summer.

Last year? The last academic year? It was rough. My job changed a lot over the last year and I had more responsibility than I've had before. And it challenged me more than anything--professionally--ever has. I never wanted to be a manager or supervise or be in charge of anything. Well... Never say never. I manage shit. I herd cats. And it turns out I'm fairly good at it. But it required a mental shift I wasn't expecting. When the academic year was over, I needed a serious break.

I got one. And it was great. But there were other things I had hoped to do before my vacation, like clean my condo and just be. But in the month before my vacation, I came down with a serious case of strep and was out of commission for two weeks.

Work wise, this summer has been good, but hard. There's been a lot of emotional and mental work. And each Sunday night, the thought of going to work was exhausting. And when I found myself telling myself that I didn't have the time to take a vacation, I realized I really needed a vacation.

So after some rearranging of meetings and schedules, I took the week off. And on Monday all I could think about was how much I never wanted to work again. Ever. Anywhere. By Wednesday, I had cleaned my condo from top to bottom and I was feeling less mentally overwhelmed and more comfortable in my home and with everything. And I realized that even though I knew I needed a vacation, I didn't realize just how badly I needed one.

My mom is here (she just arrived) and it's Labor Day weekend, so I am actually off until the middle of next week. So even though it's Friday of my vacation week, I don't have to go back until Wednesday.

Oh, and I refinanced my condo from a 30 year loan to a 15 year loan. Because apparently I'm a grown up and I make decisions like that now. It's kinda awesome. And also kinda weird.