good things are coming

Sometimes you know when good things will happen, because you plan for them.

Other times you are “seeing” the potential for the good things to happen.

I’m going to Disneyland in a month, and this is a very good thing. My last vacation was in July, and sure that was only six months ago but as a student when you’re used to vacations every quarter, now working day after day at a “real person” job can get tiresome. Especially since as a reporter you do not have the luxury of taking your vacation in two-week (or heavens, a month!) increments.

Reporter: Can I take a week of vacation next month?

Editor: Sure (as long as you stock pile four stories before you leave, write while you’re away, and work a ton when you come back).

That above was not a real conversation I had with my boss. He told me that our employee handbook encourages us to take a week to two weeks of vacation (should we have enough hours). I didn’t push the two weeks. I’ll be taking THREE whole days off at the end of February. Right about now would be a good time to invest in a ghost writer. And by that, I mean someone who will work for free while I take vacation. Anyone?

One of my three vacation days will be spent entirely at the most magical place on earth. Yes, that would be 24 whole hours straight at Disneyland. If we’re going to have a leap year that allows us to have one extra day, why wouldn’t I spend it at Disneyland?

A true (I-didn’t-even-think-about-work) vacation

I dislike my job a lot for several reasons that I won’t get into right now. But, despite that fact, I think about it — a lot.

I think about my work at work. When I am not at work, I think about work because I am usually still working since I have too much work that needs to get done. When I talk to my friends, I talk about how I wish someone would hire me for different work because I do not like my current work. When I go running, I try to clear my head but thoughts of whether a story will be done by deadline or whether so-and-so will call me back will infiltrate my mind. I dream about work and wake up stressed out — nice wake up call, huh?

On weekends when people generally are able to spend time relaxing or hanging out with friends, I typically am still thinking about work amidst doing those things. Or, sometimes — though thankfully not often — I am working because apparently the news doesn’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about work. I tend to think a lot about things that stress me out.

In July I was able to take a one-week vacation. I was in Hawaii for four of those days and you know what? Still thought about work. In fact, I hadn’t fully completed a story so I emailed it to my editor from my island vacation. Even after it was submitted, I still thought about work and how behind I would be when I returned to the office the next week.

The same goes for paid holidays. I just feel like it is one less day I am able to get work done and am therefore thinking about it the entire “day off.”

When I was in San Francisco for a weekend last month, I surprisingly didn’t think about work at all. Sure, I may have mentioned it on the plane-ride there, and I know I definitely had thoughts of work on the flight home. But, while I was in the Bay Area, nothing. I just enjoyed being in the lovely city with Joanna and feeling excited to run our second marathon together. And during the actual race I was in so much pain, there was no opportunity to think of anything but the pain. It was a good trip.

“So, you actually had a real vacation then?” a friend asked on my return.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” I replied, not really realizing it until a week later.

Welcome to paradise

Immediately after the plane landed, the 8-year-old turned to her mother and couldn’t stop smiling. Her grin stretched from ear to ear and her eyes were open just as wide. It wasn’t her first visit to the island, but this will be the first one she will recall. The two prior visits she was too young to remember.

As adult passengers impatiently waited for the cabin to unload, she still was smiling.

There’s something about this place that can do that to a person. Welcome to Hawaii, little girl. It was fun sharing an arm rest with you for five-and-a-half hours.