Thursday, October 9, 2014

Ending a Vacation

Someone once made the observation that vacations were bad things because you either spend them in places that are worse than where you work making them something to not really look forward to, or you go somewhere great and end up coming back and being overly depressed by the job you have had to return to. I find neither of these extremes to be the norm, nor would I find them to be good reasons to forgo vacations even if they were. I must admit, though, that I am not looking forward to the work that faces me when I am finally blessed with no longer having to sit and wait.

I have just finished a short, two-week vacation. I flew from Saudi Arabia to Michigan looking forward to meeting up with friends and family. The first week was spent with my brother. I didn't do much other than sit around and talk and watch dvds. Not very productive, but just what a vacation is for! Besides, I did a little studying as well. In addition, I was able to meet up with a friend whom I hadn't seen in at least 5 years along with her children. The discussion was interesting, even if a bit disjointed and derailed by constant interruptions interjections by the kids.

Sometime during this, I took a test on which I didn't score as well as I would have liked; it was better than nothing, though! This disappointment was deflected by getting to meet up with friends I hadn't seen in a while. We had a good lunch of cheeseburgers and fries along with a side of great conversation.

Immediately following this nourishing of  body and soul, I drove the over 400 miles to see yet another friend and find rest on her couch. We were able to catch up during the day and enjoy the two youngsters when they returned from their daily romp in the school system. Watching Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Honey I Shrunk Ourselves with a 6 year old is an interesting experience. As is learning about her and her 5 year old sister's take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Go green!!

I then had my mandatory meet up with APO! The friends I have made within Alpha Phi Omega are wonderful, and I cherish them greatly. Unfortunately, I see them rarely and for too short of time. Far too soon I was off to Wisconsin where I was to visit another friend from university and take a three hour test the following day. Of course, I didn't sleep that night, so my test may or may not have gone so well, not that I mind so much either way. Right after sleepily taking that 3 hour exam, I was on the road yet again. This time I had to drive over 8 hours back to my brother's apartment where I would stay for the night. I arrived around 9pm. This was the perfect time as it gave me plenty of time to figure out what to pack, what to pack it in, and then how to pack it before heading off to bed so that I would be able to get up around 4am to get to the airport in time for my flight in the morning. It seems to have worked out fine as I am now typing this at the Minneapolis airport where I am waiting the 5.5 hours for my flight to Amsterdam to board. My vacation is not yet over, but I must say it has been busy, stressful, and full of good things! The ending is like a strawberry covered in dark chocolate: rich, sweet, bitter with a dash of satisfaction in knowing that moderation is the key to enjoyment. 

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