Well, I finally made it to this day. Today marks the beginning of a twenty three day holiday and I don't have to report back to work until January the ninth. I hope to get some rest and relaxation during this time but things will be a bit hectic around here because I have to juggle much of my time with my two sons, my mom, and my girlfriend. My sons are going to be spending about ten days with me this year so it will be somewhat of a challenge to keep them busy. Not sure exactly what we will be doing but I will think of something. Creativity is one of my strong points. I will be picking my mom up next week and she will be spending about a week with me. I look forward to seeing her but because of her age, she is over 90, she will require alot of attention and assistance. After my mom leaves I will be taking my sons down to my girlfriends parents for about four days before I bring them back to start the new school year. At that point I will have about a week to myself at which time I intend to travel a bit and get some serious exercise hiking and mountain biking riding. Generally I take off for a week and head to the hills, desert, or beach but this year I am going to have to hang around for three days because I want to see if my beloved USC football team will make history and win their third national championship.

One of the things I enjoy about the holidays and time off is the change of rythum and the freedom to establish the pace of life on my terms. I love my job but I do not always enjoy the hectic pace of work. During the school year I often feel like a rat in a cage who is on one of those wheels that is spinning faster and faster with each passing day of the semester. Many people thrive on the adrenaline rush one gets from frantically bustling about meeting this deadline or that but I do not. I do not like the stress or the loss of self awareness that is often associated with trying to live life at light speed and keep up with the modern pace of life. Stress is a killer, literally, and I am convinced that loss of self awareness leads to all kinds of potential problems on numerous fronts. One of my goals this upcoming holiday season is to concentrate on living in the moment and slow down. The holidays can be challenging because of all the activities associated with Christmas but I have already finished all my Christmas shopping so I am ready to make a serious go of slowing down and pacing my self on my terms and not the terms of the holiday season or the workplace. We'll see what happens in the days and weeks to come. I am pretty determined this year to explore where this may lead and hopefully I will gain some new perspective and lifestyle changes that will carry over into the work place when I go start back to work.