It's vacation time with a dash of perspective!

Vacation time, oh vacation time! How I love you so! When life hands you lemons, screw it! Go on vacation and stick 'em inside your bra - couldn't hurt, might help make you more cheery!

You must be thinking..."what is up with her?!" Why, it's vacation time!

I have been unemployed with my MBA earned in early Spring and I have about bit through my lip trying to figure out how to support my family without living in a cardboard box and selling plasma. Then, I decided to hook up with the in-laws (although I am by far NOT their favorite person) simply because it removes me, temporarily, from my issues with sustainment. I will bake myself in Louisiana sun until my brain dribbles out my nose, eat unprocessed meat until I revert to a Neanderthal woman, and drink --- well, imbibe until my rose-colored glasses kick in. Why? Because I can and to gain some perspective.

Currently, my perspective is clouded. I'm putting my spouse through a doctoral program, my youngest offspring has dermatomyositis, my older son has not outgrown his space cadet years, and we live with my parents due to numerous kicks in the teeth from the powers that be. Sure, I run with it but stepping outside the situation and watching the transvestites in New Orleans (which incidentally make prettier women than some of the Victoria Secret models) shall make for a new light and path to travel. Eating alligator and creating new memories with my family (immediate and extended) should enlighten me towards how to tackle the beast.

Above all, vacation means one doesn't have to deal, at least for awhile. So, free yourself, even for an hour and get that dash of perspective!

The Most Important Lesson of My Life Is......

For some, money is everything. Others crave and covet love. Me? I don't know what I find more important than my spouse and children. I work to provide, I clean and formulate to protect (occasionally falling on my face more than not ;)) yet I think for me the lesson of patience holds the utmost.

Living in Naperville on and off for the last 34 years has taught me there are tons of self-serving individuals who think they are entitled. To what? Everything and anything. From getting to the front of the line in traffic (and continuing to wait like the rest of the commuters) to suing the buttons off another for merely a flesh wound, to employment for which they lack the credentials.

I too think I deserve a great profession, a beautiful home, a flashy vehicle and the like. But unlike my younger years, I have started to grow patient with time and process. Patience is what keeps stress in check and enables the universe to move full circle (FYI- I am not a New-Ager, yoga follower, etc. I just have moved forward with the simple concept "It is what it is.")

So I implore anyone who reads this --- we all have lessons to learn here but patience will make the small or large issues seem like cake and when all is said and done, you will feel better about the life you lived.