Summer break

The end of my first set of summer holidays is gently coming to an end on Tuesday and although I will miss the late mornings, the incessant pleasure reading, the daily Whistler or city adventure and most importantly the soaking of the sun I am also looking forward to the predictability of work days, the interaction with my colleagues and the thrill of new questions.

The children and I have had two weeks of absolute togetherness and I think they need a break from me. Like Benjamin put it the other day: "Why can't we just sit at home and veg instead of biking around the city like maniacs?"  You see I, (not unlike other people in Vancouver I hope) have this almost insane need to get out in the sun to "do stuff" during the summer. There is this incredible sense of urgency to pack the day chock full of things to do because you just know in just a few weeks, just around the bend, looming there like some big black wet monster are the endless days of rain. I am convinced this rain anxiety driven "need" makes more than a few of us a little crazy.

So we have biked, hiked, skimboarded, canoed, kayaked, Splashdowned, visted every Farmers Market, sailed and swam to our heart's content. I have also ran every other day, done the Wreck beach stairs and walked leisurely back from the beach stopping on the way to get a muffin or a croissant and sat in the sun to eat it. Le me tell you, I am sure everyone loves their city but there is no better city to spend a sunny summer than Vancouver.

We have also sat (for a short while ONLY) infront of the TV to watch the Olympic Opening ceremonies and had ample time to virtually discuss the whole event with people all over the world thanks to Facebook. I played an Olympics  "drinking" game with my friend Karen in Vancouver while I was in Whistler. My Dad who is in Mexico and I managed to dissect every country's choice of uniform. I also did this with a few other people as well, my friend Hillary in Ireland, Jane in Australia and I also had a blast making fun of the Queen. Have we ever had a time before when we could be this connected? It felt like we were all in the same room sharing this event together!!! The PERFECT summer party!

I have to confess in between all of this I have also checked my work e-mail daily but had the new found ability to answer only the urgent-we-abslutely-need-you-to-answer-this-one messages. I went in to work one morning when there was no sun and got quite a bit accomplished without pressure. I also managed to stress out big time over the Research Ethics Board application but managed to let go once I figured out I had absolutely NO control over its outcome. Now, for those of you who know me well you will know THAT was my summer's biggest accomplishment - realizing sometimes I have no control.

So as Benjamin also put it "Thank God you are going back to work so we can have a rest". It is now time to take a proverbial break and get back to work rested, happy and tanned until the next set of holidays.