Vacation Challenged

Day One of Vacation (and don't worry, I won't be offering hourly updates). Dropped the kids off at baseball camp, went to the gym, saw Bryna out the door to work. Now what? I admit I'm somewhat vacation challenged. Today just feels like any other Monday -- my normal day off. Tomorrow I have a meeting at church (told you). But after that I'm really going to try to chill out, relax, and enjoy my first signficant time off in a long time.

Of course I have a few vacation "goals" which, while possibly an oxymoron, I'll need to guide me through this time. I'll share them with you but they're more for me to get down somewhere other than the small scrap of paper that I've already lost.

1. Drink coffee and write/blog (I'm off to a flying start as I am, at this very moment, blogging and drinking a nice cup of Redye Roasters coffee).

2. Finish painting the Hobo Shack (Zack's nickname for our recently purchased and renovated 675 square foot beach house in Hull). I'll be heading over there this afternoon as a matter of fact to meet the insurance inspector and continue the priming work.

3. Finish reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I started it last week and have a mere 638 pages to go.

4. Play a lot of baseball with the boys. Well, since I'm helping to coach Zack's team I already spend a lot of time on the baseball fields of the South Shore. But Ben and Zack are always itching to go out to a local field and practice hitting and pitching so I'll simply have more time to do this.

5. Hire a Youth Minister (see reference to Tuesday meeting above). Some things transcend vacation and this is an important one to get taken care of before the fall.

6. Exercise. I haven't been able to run for several months now and I've let my exercise routine wane. I recently had an MRI to rule out a stress fracture but it still bugs me. Need to figure this out but in the meantime I'll be back in the gym, riding an exercise bike, and pumping iron to get huge. Don't worry, the only performance enhancing drug I use is Advil.

7. Get bike fixed. See above -- nothing worse than being in a gym on a nice day.

8. Start sending out my latest manuscript to publishers. It's similar in tone to What Size Are God's Shoes (you know, accessible, humorous, inspirational) but takes a walk through the domestic chaos of holidays and holy days. If you know of any publishers who might be interested, besides Scott Gunn, let me know!

9. Spend time at the beach with friends and family. Now that we have the Wonder Wheelie, there's no stopping us.

10. Go to the dentist. I'm very excited about this one and have been looking forward to it so much that I have procrastinated for months and months.

We will be heading out to Ann Arbor, Michigan, at some point to visit with a bunch of family. I'm wary of the drive but we have stops planned to coincide with some minor league games along the way. Hopefully that dangling carrot will minimize the complaining. We'll see.

But in the meantime, wish me luck with this relaxing/taking time off business. I know it's good for the soul.