Down Time


Time off between Christmas and New Year’s Day is standard operating procedure at the day job. I add vacation days to either end to extend the break as long as possible. This year, I took off three full weeks.

I brought home a ton of work. January is crazy busy. Class starts the 9th, a billion reports are due the 15th, and I have a big presention on the 20th. Thinking about all I need to do makes me anxious — and there’s no end in sight.

I didn’t leave the house the first few days except to walk Toodles, get the mail, or take out the trash. The work stuff could wait. Netflix required my full attention.

After several days of doing next to nothing, I realized how stressful the past twelve months have been. Three weeks with the flu in January put me behind. Losing Andy in March put me further behind. The rest of the year was a constant struggle to catch up.

I quit going to the gym in July and stopped running in October. On the seventh day of my break, I dragged my saggy butt to the gym. Since then, I’ve gone back every day but one to workout and/or hit the treadmill.

Going to the gym is good for my psyche. Whether I break a sweat or not doesn’t matter. I’m doing it, which is a thousand times better than sitting on my ass at home. Consistency is the key to results.

I did work on stuff for my class a couple of days. Experience is a great teacher. I cut some topics, added a day to topics students said were most beneficial (credit, investing and insurance), and added a few new topics.

Beyond that, I never got around to work stuff — a choice I may live to regret in the next few weeks. Oh well. I thoroughly enjoyed my extended break. One way or another, the work will get done.