As Flav-o-Flav used to say.........

Yaaaaaaa Boiooooooooeeeee

Vacation, or vacationing and writing about it, is, at times, part of my job. But I've never anticipated a vacation or counted down the days/hours/seconds until departure they way I have for this extended thanksgiving break. The global economic meltdown has trickled down into my career sphere. It's not the end of the world. I'm relatively secure in my position. And I'm totally grateful for, and conscious of, the fact that I'm not being forced against my will to make a radical life change. But...the toxic brew of fear, back stabbing, abject despair, and selfishness that my colleagues suffer from (and that I dip my toe in from time to time) is in a word...toxic. It's a long story but it's simply horrible to be in the office. So the ability to get away and spend time with people I love this year is even more special. I have the time to sit back and really feel and understand (thanks to a simple dependence on God that I don't understand) that I'm not driven by the fears, self pity, hate, and chaos that I used to be (and that lots of people I work with seem to be driven by). I'm grateful that I can simply love and accept love. And that I can sit in a cafe in Charlottesville, Virginia, with my wife on the day before thanksgiving and know in my soul that I'm a real lucky guy. And then get on a plane to the British Virgin Islands for a week on a sailboat. I guess I'd really be in trouble if I couldn't be grateful for that. Happy Thanksgiving all you odaats out there in internetland. And let's hear from Pligrim and Kuukie, and Lisa.