If you ask my wife and kids, they might tell you that vacations for me always involve some amount of work.
This is especially true if I leave during the first to middle part of the week when the newspaper is still in production phase.
Such was the case last week when our family went to reside for three days in a condo along Orange Beach in south Alabama.
While I might would enjoy a full week free of newspaper production duties, I do like the work, and I do want to make sure that we put out the best version of The Enterprise-Tocsin possible each week.
I want to thank each of the staff members here at The E-T for working diligently on Monday and Tuesday of last week to make sure that we were substantially complete with last week’s edition when we left town last Tuesday evening.
The good news is that after the press deadline passed on Thursday morning, I was able to get some real relaxation time in.
Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you that I am not a beach person. I loathe sand, and I don’t like getting sunburned.
But, when in Rome…
Mid-morning on Thursday, we took the girls down to the beach. This was the first time they got to really experience the Gulf of America as seasoned swimmers.
Ellie swims at Delta State during the school year, and Sarah has been through several swim lessons over the years.
It was great to venture out into deeper waters, not having to worry as much about them going under or panicking.
They rode the waves like pros, and played games for most of the morning and into the afternoon.
Both full days we were there, we enjoyed the beach and the condo pool.
We also enjoyed great food.
I think I ate my share of shrimp and fish for the year.
During down time on Thursday and Friday, I would grab my MacBook and would do some light work, updating our website and getting ready to start fresh with this week’s edition.
I don’t mind doing work on vacation, as long as I can find time to relax and spend time with the family.
It’s good to unplug every now and then, but I enjoy the work too much to completely detach.
There’s such a thing as a work/life balance, but I like work and life enough to where I can do both and still enjoy myself.
Now, I probably need to address the work/life thing more here than I do at the beach.
Newspaper deadlines and board meetings often call for late nights.
It’s my hope that in the months ahead, I can spend more time at home before the sun goes completely down.
At the very least, I need to mow my grass.
But most importantly, I need to see my people more.
And I shouldn’t have to go on vacation for three or four days to accomplish that.
As I write this, it’s five minutes till 8 p.m.
That’s not a good start.
