I am on vacation. The odd aspect of it is that I’m at home. Before my current job, going back about six years, the jobs I’ve had were either hourly so vacation time was not paid, or they were not very generous with the amount of vacation offered.

When I started my current job, I began visiting my family more often. It’s been twice a year so far and I hope not to go any less often in the future. The only problem is I’ve been going away for any time off I’ve had, which is not something I used to do. Don’t get me wrong … I love my family very much, but a six-hour drive isn’t the most relaxing thing in the world. Also, I find that staying home is an especially efficient way to decompress.

So even though I visited my family in May, I was delighted to discover I had four more vacation days available to me. Since today is a statutory holiday, those four days mean a week off for me. I have no plans of note, just getting caught up on some things I’ve let go too long, and to generally take things are a far more leisurely pace. And perhaps watch a few movies here and there.