Let me say that this should about sum up this past weekend.  Getting there wasn’t quite so easy.

 
This was my first attempt at a vacation since leaving private practice and I learned quite a bit about this whole “relaxing” business.  First, apparently you need to actually leave work behind in order to have a proper vacation.  Who knew?  I sure didn’t.  All my adult-life vacations included at least obsessively checking emails, packing enough work to bill a solid four hours on each leg of my trip, and finally, sneaking away to respond to voice messages in order to make sure it didn’t sound like vacation was too much fun.  And of course I pulled 60 hour weeks before and after so as to not lose any ground on my billable hour goal which meant that by the time I got to said vacation spot I was wound too tight to relax and, if I did, it was for that justonesecond until the mountain of awaiting- work consumed me into kind of a bitch.  Yup.  As an associate in a private law firm my entire goal on vacation was not to have any fun.  I’m sure you can guess, but just in case, I EXCELLED at not having any fun on vacation.  Sad thing is, compared to daily life, my nothavinganyfun vacation was a helluva lot more fun than daily life.  At any rate….

Kelly and Owen had flown to Palm Springs, and my brother and I were off to meet them and spend some quality time with Grams, Owen’s 90 year-old great grandmother.  But, old habits die hard and, in preparation for the trip, I packed some consulting work, papers to grade, and the outline of a couple articles I’m in the middle of.  Quite honestly, was looking forward to my first real vacation with my laptop.  I mean, I could work at the pool!!  I know, right.  What kind of vacation is that?  A lawyer’s vacation.

Good thing the universe has a sense of humor.  Once we landed in Palm Springs I quickly learned that wifi was a premium, and one not easily poached from our location.  I couldn’t blog.  I couldn’t respond to my students emailed drafts.  Hell, I couldn’t obsess over the news since our condo doesn’t have cable either.  I had no choice.  I had to unplug.

Thank the goddess I did.  This was an emotional trip, and one I’ll unpack one piece of baggage at a time.  For now I’ll say that going on vacation is hard work, and something I’m not accustomed to.  But, considering just how much fun I had with Owen, Kelly, and Uncle Dan-Fu, it’s something I’m looking forward to mastering.