Dog Days

I’m baaccccckkkkk…..

One week at the beach simply isn’t enough vacation for these old bones, but that said, the famille and I had a wonderful time in the sun, surf and sand.  My brain is sufficiently fluffy from too much rest – I’m always at my best when I have a steady stream of low grade stress coursing through my veins, which hasn’t kicked in yet.  Still, I’m digging out from the email deluge of junk, irrelevance and semi-important office chatter that’s clogged my inbox over the past 7 days so I’m only an hour or 2 away from an anxiety high.

Sigh.

This leads me to today’s topic, the Dog Days of Summer, which, theorectically, is really code for the month of August.  It’s totally unfair to come back from a week off and know that nearly everyone else who matters is now on vacation…or at least, “unavailable” for one reason or another (Work from Home, being one of them…also code for vacation).  And yes, I know you’re thinking, “She had her turn” -- but really?!

Ask my daughter.  Her summer is just beginning – after 6 days with her parents, she’s off to camp, surrounded by girls her own age and cheerful, potentially overzealous camp counselors.  After a week of S’mores and water sports (my girl’s not much for hiking or bugs, for that matter), she’ll take off with a family friend and her daughter for nearly 2 weeks in Florida, where SeaWorld, more beach, and Lego Land awaits…you get the picture.

My husband and I haven’t spent more than 1 week away from our daughter since we returned from China with her – or alone with each other for that matter.  I wish we could just hop on a plane to Paris or to Rome while she's in the capable care of others.  Mais, c’est impossible!

Instead, we’re going to be good worker bees, bringing money home to the hive, maybe squeezing in an occasional movie or 2 while our girl is away.  We’ll take advantage of our time alone together to talk about things other than the daily domestic drama of our lives, like books and politics and The Future.  I draw the line at shopping together, though – he doesn’t like to go where I want to go, and he wanders off when we shop together anyway, which makes me crazy.  But we will cuddle.

Dog days?  Not at all, come to think of it.

I guess it’s nice to be back. Happy Monday.