This past weekend, we celebrated 39 years of life for my beloved wife, Ann. We are blessed by the fact that most of what we enjoy, we get to do for a living—she works in the homeschool community and writes, I teach the Word of God and write—so “taking a weekend off” is a different sort of thing for the two of us. We’ve had years where we had to get away from work and life…we’re not currently in those years.
That being said, there are still the day-to-day details that it’s nice to escape. The alarm clocks. The telemarketers. The cat who is living on some weird time zone wherein “you get in when we get up at 5” means “start banging on the door at 3 just to make sure she’s not forgotten.”
We started the weekend off by heading up on Petit Jean Mountain in Morrilton, Arkansas. It’s a lovely part of this state, and the partial snow covering was an added bonus. We had saved up our vacation money to take part in Table for Two at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute (again). This time around, we made honey-pecan pork cutlets and talked a lot about bacon. All in all, it was a lovely and relaxed time.
Saturday we made our way back to Little Rock, taking back roads and following a wandering path to get there. It was a pleasant time of testing our sense of direction—of course, there was the GPS safety net in the back of the car if we needed it—and meandering through some towns in Arkansas we had never been in.
Sunday saw a relaxed morning, a good lunch, and a safe trip home. It was just the type of weekend that would make some of you crazy. No agenda, no plans, no nothing—after 5 PM Friday, when Table for Two started, we had no appointments to keep.
It fit our needs, though, as well as our personalities. That’s one of the joys of 17 shots at celebrating Ann’s birthday. I think I’m finally getting the hang of what she likes!
Plus, it’s good to be reminded that work can live without us—even when it’s work we love.
Is it something we would do every weekend? No, not really. The chaos calls to us, plus normal life needs to be lived. Nobody should live on vacation while others carry their responsibilities. And others did have to carry our weight for the weekend.
I would encourage every one of you, take some time to recharge. Maybe you just need to turn the ringers off on your phone, pull the battery from your cell phone, and read a book all afternoon once a month. Maybe it’s something else entirely. But take a little time. You will return fresher and more ready for the challenges ahead.
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