Vacation

Hello, everybody! How are you all doing today? I’m great! Why? Because I’m writing to you from the comfort of the family’s lake home…a junky old trailer about a 5 minute walk from the shores of beautiful Lake Minnie Belle in South Central Minnesota. We’re on vacation and having a wonderful time.

It’s about 8:00 am now, and I’m quite certain I’m the only one up. My guests this trip are 6 teenagers: my daughter Danica, who is 17, her 18-year-old boyfriend, Kyle, my youngest, Zack – age 15, and 3 of his 15-year-old buddies.

Since the kids were up till 2:00 am playing Infection (a sort of tag played in the dark with flashlights) I don’t expect any of them to come to life for at least a few more hours. This gives me time to relax and reflect on the joys of being on vacation. To me, the coolest thing about being on vacation is that you don’t have to do much of anything, or at least, you don’t have to do the stuff you usually have to do when you’re at home.

I suppose most of you reading this are quite familiar with the concept. But it’s sort of a new thing for me. Growing up the daughter of a dairy farmer, vacations were things other families took. Not us. Then I married Jeff, aka “Mr. No-Fun,” and the pattern continued. But after my parents retired from farming, and moved into their brand new house – complete with a guest room, foldout couch, and Whirlpool tub, I decided it was time to pack up my kids and go for a visit… an event I called, “a vacation.” And it was!

We made full use of their bathtub as if it were the hotel swimming pool. Rides on the lawn mower with Grandpa were as exciting to my little ones as any amusement park attraction. And for those three days I didn’t have to cook anything! It was heavenly.

But what I remember most about that first vacation is what I observed of my parents. I’d never seen anything like it. As soon as I got home I told Jeff. “Do you know what my parents do all day? (pause for emphasis) Anything they want!”

I could only imagine a life like that. No diapers to change. No fights over toys to break up. No bedtimes to enforce. No endless fatigue thinking about the endless list of endless duties. When I shared this with my mom she just smiled and said simply, “Life has different stages. You’ll be like us one day too.”

I found it difficult to imagine. Being able to take a bath without worrying about what disasters might ensue in your absence. Being able to sit down and read an entire chapter of a book without interruption. It was inconceivable. But then I began to think…What would I do if I had… say 1 or 2 hours to myself each day? How would I spend them? The possibilities were endless. I could learn a foreign language, train for a 5-k, write a novel, volunteer at a local thrift store, learn to cook!

Well, I made a promise to myself then and there: If and when I do have time to myself someday, I’m not going to waste a minute of it.

That was 14 years ago, and just like my mother predicted, my life has changed quite a bit since then. I’m no longer the mom of 4 young children. Now I have 2 teens at home, and 2 young adults already flown the coop. And even though I thought it would never happen, I actually do have tons of free time (sometimes up to 5 or 6 hours each day) to do whatever I want.

So, I guess the big question is, have I kept my promise? Do I value my free time, and “not waste a minute of it?” Mostly, yes. Sure, there are a few activities I indulge in that the old Linette may not have approved of. But I haven’t forgotten that promise, or the hectic phase of my life that motivated me to make it. I realize that having those free hours is a blessing, and I try to manage them the best I can. Looking at the list a few paragraphs up, I’m pleased to say I’ve pretty much achieved all of those goals and then some. All it takes is a clear objective, a well conceived plan of action, and the determination to keep at it.

But not this weekend. This weekend I’m on vacation. For the next 2 days I can do (or not do) pretty much whatever I want! Yep. Even the old Linette would agree. Vacations are good.