Year-Round Vacation

I think it's clear I live out my "be productive at all times" mantra to a fault. My carefree daughter, irksome as her behavior can be for my Type A personality, has a thing or two thousand to teach me about taking it easy every so often; for awhile, she would tell me out of the blue, "Daddy, you have to be silly once a day." The words of a strange girl with speech issues? Or profoundly wise?

Anyway, whether or not I am silly today, here are a few things I try to do often to add some frivolity to life:

* Go to the Y. I equate swimming or lifting weights with vacation, because usually the only times I can do that sort of stuff is when I'm staying in a hotel. It's still a little dissonant to feel like I'm in vacation mode while walking home through the 'hood in flip flops and a swimsuit.

* Eat on the porch. Having breakfast or dinner on a weekday on the small table on our front porch while the world goes by is really fun.

* Listen to music. I never listen to music, and I hardly ever get a free moment to myself, so putting in the earbuds and letting my playlist works its thing at the end of the day after the kids go to bed is a little bit of magic.

So there you have it. For as hard as I work, every day can feel like vacation. Life's not so bad.