Vacation!

We are heading out to Palm Springs, California for Thanksgiving next week, and I am really looking forward to it. I know... I know... I quit my job and I am on a permanent vacation of sorts and I probably should not need a vacation. But I do.

I have crammed SO MUCH into this first month of "unemployment." My first gigs as a substitute teacher, doing some editing for my old job and doing some networking in case I need to get a new job. I've done my school homework, exercised and taken the time to actually cook some meals. A vacation sounds like a darn good idea!

In addition to a vacation, I really want to celebrate Thanksgiving. This will be our second holiday season without Molly. Last year, we celebrated Thanksgiving in California (we have family there), and it feels right to fly out there again.

When Molly was alive, we would often rent a condo in Florida for the Thanksgiving week; it was a way to get away, spend time as a family, and just recharge our batteries. They were some of my favorite holidays ever - laid back, comforting and familiar. My guess is that it would be almost impossible for my parnter and I to settle into Florida for the holiday week again - Molly's absence would overwhelm us.

On the other hand, if I take the extra weight of holiday memories off of a place, I have enjoyed re-visiting places that Molly loved. Molly visited California a lot and was very much a part of the family out there. It will be great to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving in a fresh way - in a place that Molly knew and with people that she loved.

Our holidays will never be the same - and I don't expect them to be. But we will still have holidays. It's time for new traditions that honor our past and celebrate today. And it is time for a vacation!