Mini-Vacay!

OK, sidenote- I am grateful today that my performance review went well. I live in fear of not meeting expectations; if I'm being really honest, I live in fear of not exceeding expectations. (The older I get, the more I realize that I am Type A in my work personality, even though I'm not Type A anywhere else. Check with me in another 10 years- I'll probably have realized I'm basically a control freak with OCD.) But yes, super grateful performance review went well so I don't have to mull over constructive criticism 17,000 times over the next few days.

So the Big Grateful for today- I'm grateful for vacation days. Although I usually love summer at work because it means new student orientations once or twice a week, summer is stressful for those exact same reasons- it's a lot of exhausted time at work, with no time to catch up. Add in the transition to the new job and grad school, and a little part of my soul is dying and being replaced by a robo-me who is just functioning on auto-pilot for a few hours a day. But in this glorious, beautiful week and next week, I'm taking some time to get myself back together. I'm off tomorrow through next Wednesday- and I'm going to use it by going to play with my nieces tomorrow morning, going on a weekend trip to a destination I can't disclose right now (I'll explain later, I promise- telling it would ruin someone else's happy surprise, so can't do that!) and getting caught up on school. Getting caught up on school is the main mission, because at this point, getting caught up is much more appealing than sleeping late.

So aside from the obvious (who doesn't love a break from work), this vacation gives me a lot to be grateful for. I'm grateful that I have a job that allows me to take a vacation without being looked down upon or having to take a break from pay. I'm grateful that I've had good enough health and fortune and blessings to stay well and not lose my vacation days to illness or sick time of loved ones. I'm grateful that I've preserved friendships over time that allow me to share in their happy moments (secrets, I know- I'll share eventually!). And I'm grateful that part of this vacation time is going to be spent with my brother, cousins, and my cousin's best friends; they're 19, 18, 18 and 14, so it's truly precious time spent with them and continuing to stay close with them while they grow up. I can't wait to go skydiving with them on Monday- Happy Independence Day, let's jump out of a plane!!!

So in short, I'm grateful and highly excited for my vacation time. And additionally, I'm highly grateful to my friend Ashley for writing a really, really wonderful and touching post about our high school experience and why she believes in public school for her children- I'm right there with her, and couldn't agree more about the school plans she and her lovely husband Luke have for their two beautiful babies or about what truly fabulous high school friends we had and continue to have. We were lucky for sure- and for that, we are BOTH truly grateful. =)