Returning to work from vacation

Returning to work today, to put it lightly, sucked. Big time. Hard core. Grande. Mondo bollucks. I remember being a kid and how I would wimper myself to sleep on that last August night before having to go catch the bus in the morning for the first day of the new school year.

Today I woke up a few minutes before the alarm. I could feel the glow of the blinds from the early morning through my eyelids. I was hoping that I would wake up and hear the waves crashing onto the beach in Cabo. No luck. The alarm sounded and I immediately rolled over and kissed Elise on the head and told her that I loved her. Vacation was officially over.

I walked to the beach, err, shower and started my Monday.

I soon found myself in the truck driving to work. I didn’t bother turning on the radio. I didn’t want to hear the usual morning crap banter from the Austin a.m. shmucks. I didn’t want the distractions. I didn’t want the stress. I didn’t want to think about anything much more than what Saul told me when I asked when we were going to start catching fish… “No worries”. I left the window cracked and drove the hour to work, listening to the wind and thinking about the awesome vacation Elise and I had last week.

I let work creep into my thoughts a few times and crushed those thoughts with the notion of trying to maintain a philosophy of not letting a job define who I am.

I got to work and said hello to everyone. Everyone asked how the vacation was. I showed them all a few pictures and told them the high points of the trip. As quick as it started the excitement died down and it became a typical Monday morning. It was as if I had never left - which is good. The staff handled everything very well while I was away and I wasn’t left with too huge a laundry list, although my e-mail inbox was about to explode. I decided to hold off on dealing with e-mail until tomorrow.

I was updated on the going ons of the past two weeks - a lot of what was brought to my attention was exactly why I went on vacation, completely forgot about work and why I think everyone should take more vacations. People get so caught up in work to the point where it consumes and defines them.

When I was getting ready for work this morning I really thought about what Saul said and what is printed on a lot of t-shirts in Cabo. So when I got dressed, I put on my pressed khaki pants and a nice button-down shirt. I took a few deep breathes before kissing Elise goodbye for the day and taking on the Monday.

My flip flops and I walked to the truck and headed out to take on Monday.

With no worries.