(Year VII, Issue 30)

I mentioned last week (in an admittedly abbreviated post) that we had just gotten back from a trip down south.

It was a really great week away.

It was great family time, and it was just what some time away should be - restful and rejuvenating.

There were a couple of activities that we built the trip around, and there was plenty of time for leisure.

And for us, it was the first true family vacation in about four years.

Back in August of 2018, Kathy had a work trip to Chicago.

We decided to turn it into a family trip and after a couple of days of me and the girls hanging around the city while she had work obligations, we did some family stuff, including a Cubs game at Wrigley Field and a Brewers game in Milwaukee, which we took an Amtrak ride to and from.

I thought it was a fun new dawn for Kathy and me with ballpark trips - instead of just the two of us, the five of us would hit all of the major league ballparks.

I love the ballparks, Kathy loves to plan the trips to the ballparks.

That’s where this vacation started - when we began talking about visiting our friends in South Carolina this summer, she finagled the trip so we could work in a ballgame in Atlanta.

One of the visiting teams in July just so happened to be the Mets. So it was a perfect way to build the trip - we flew into Atlanta, drove to Columbia, and after a few nights there drove back to Atlanta to fly home. (If that sounds ridiculous, it kind of was - but we left the dog with my parents in New York and the flights from Atlanta to LaGuardia were more economical…and it made better sense to just return the rental to where we got it from. Also, mind your own business.)

That’s how it came to be that on Monday morning we went to the Georgia Aquarium, and I got to hang out up close and personal with a few penguins (pictured above).

We didn’t see any of the live shows, but the marine life in the tanks alone were worth the visit - we all really loved the Georgia Aquarium.

The Mets game later that night was great. Atlanta had been picking up games on the Mets, and the Mets’ win that Monday night helped create some important separation. (That has now been all but eliminated.)

We lucked out - the weather in Atlanta and Columbia could be sweltering this time of year. It was hot, but not overwhelmingly so…and there was one day where it was rainy enough to justify us going to the movies and seeing Thor, which we wanted to do anyway.

We had great family time together, and a great time with good friends…and as you saw last week, there was more than one refreshing dip in the pool.

One of the best parts to me, though, was just dropping everything.

The past couple of years whenever we’ve taken time off together I’ve never really had time off - I’ve had to stay connected or tuned in in some way to make sure I wasn’t missing out on work or work opportunities.

This time, as it worked out, I had nothing due and nothing to worry about. And being fully away from home helped.

To make things better, though - I totally unplugged from the news, which was probably the healthiest thing I’ve done in ages. (Reading the news every day has to be one of the unhealthiest of my daily routines.)

All in all, it was great time away.

Back in the summer of 2020 we had a trip booked to London and Paris. It was a real bummer that we didn’t get to do that trip, of course, and I look forward to when we have the chance to make that trip up.

But I don’t necessarily need to go to London and Paris.

I’m perfectly happy spending time anywhere with my family…

…and it always helps if there’s a new ballpark mixed in.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

“Lemonade” - Beyoncé
“I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” - Sinéad O’Connor
“Tapestry” - Carole King
“Paramore” - Paramore
From Russia With Love
St. Vincent
Hustle
The Gray Man
Breakfast At Tiffany’s

This was a big transition week from vacation back into work - I must admit there was less work than there was transitioning. As such, lots of movies. But also lots of organizing the office, so I’m ready to get back to it!

Notes

*The only drawback to our whole trip was it wasn’t my typical ballpark trip. I usually love getting to a new park super early so that I can explore and check out every inch of the concourse and a few different views of batting practice and take it all in. It turned out that this game was a giveaway - they were giving out replica championship rings because Atlanta won the 2021 World Series. So usually I’m by myself at 5:30 and the concourses are wide open…but this time there were lines out of the gates and it was too packed to check out the concourses the way I wanted to. I found that Hank Aaron 44 to take my 44th birthday picture and that was about as far as I made it - we spent the rest of the game in our seats. (Which wasn’t the worst thing either.)

*The other drawback was they still do the tomahawk chop in Atlanta and it’s pretty terrible to witness live.

*The past few times I’ve flown I’ve taken American Airlines or Jet Blue, just out of destination or convenience or maybe for price. I’d kind of grown accustomed to mediocre flying experiences. Kathy is a big Delta flier, so we used Delta points/accumulated Delta points this trip and it was quite a different experience. The in-seat monitors I mentioned last week allowed me to watch movies on the flights to and from Atlanta, which was a nice bonus for someone squeezing in movie-watching in his spare time. But the biggest revelation was the room in the overhead compartments - it was the first flight I had taken in a long time when someone didn’t have to stow their bag last-minute because it didn’t fit overhead.

*As I mentioned earlier, I did some major procrastinating this week, but I also did some major organizing. I’ll probably write more about it, but suffice it to say my workspace is back to the way it needs to be for me to be at my best.

*The social media links are below for you to give a follow. Thanks for staying connected!