This whole idea of vacation is strange. It always makes me slightly uncomfortable, mainly because I have an uneasy suspicion that if I actually stop and do nothing for a day, I won’t be able to get back to the usual pace I need to keep in order to maintain our life. But here I am, a week into my 12 days off, and I have done nothing. Absolutely nothing. And the thought of going back…well, it makes me less nervous than the thought of doing more nothing.
Of course, as predicted, I did get sick, which is definitely contributing to the muccus-induced haze. But there have been days where I haven’t even left the house. In between bad movies I practice my dance dance revolution moves (yes, we got the kids a wii for Christmas and I am now DDR addicted) or read. I drink a lot of coffee and eat cookies. I worry vaguely about not running as much, however that was out of my control due to the freezing rain (the only runner-unfriendly weather outside of -30 and under).
What is the weirdest thing about vacation is that it is like waiting for your life to jumpstart again. It is not like the time is infinite, stretching over a span of years (or even months) where you can actually get someting done. No, it is 12 days that spin by at a dizzying space. I watch them go by, waiting for them to be over, hoping that I used the time to my advantage and have “recharged” enough to get me through the next few months until the next vacation (which I have no idea when that will be- I only start to get actual vacation days this year).
Is that how other people do it? Let me know, because I think I might be out of practice…
The best part of being on vacation however is just hanging out with my kids. They have no problem at all spending days on end in their pyjamas and keep themselves very busy by writing in their notbeooks, looking at their Christmas books, watching movies and playing video games. And I love it. Or I would, if I didn’t have this nagging guilt at not doing anything…
So this New Year’s eve, I have nothing planned except for the determination to do nothing. Which, as it turns out, is harder then it looks.
Lina Branter 
you know what’s funny? i have 19 days off – the longest i’ve been off, i suspect, since i was a student (!) and i had the same kind of semi-panicky feelings about it. but i also did nothing and i also totally enjoyed it! i’ve been reading A LOT and mostly just wasting time. what a luxury, eh? guilt shmilt.