Ain't got shit to do

I'm on vacation.

A long, wonderful, intensely empty vacation. I know, I just returned from a fabulous Hawai'ian vacation, I'm not denying that.

BUT.

But, that was a rush-around, try-to-see-and-do-everything, all-while-dealing-with-my-mother, vacation. Not relaxing. Amazing and unforgettable (and the change of scenery really helped me feel less burnt-out at work) but I did not return well-rested and I had a nasty sinus infection the entire time we were there.

No, this is the vacation I've been dreaming about since I started working at Stanford in August of '06. I have no family obligations, no long-term holiday visitors, no airport travel - none of that. I can sit around, unwashed, for indeterminate amounts of time. This is especially sweet because January and February are going to be hell, I already know this. It's application season, so I will return to boxes of mail to laboriously open, file and process and it will not cease until March.

Fear not, my vacation will not spent entirely on sloth. Sean and I are heading down to Palm Springs for 6 days (more like 4 with two days of traveling) to kick it with his mom and step-dad. They rented a condo or something, so we're going to join them in their imbibing of nog and other inebriates. The reason this does not irk me is because participating was entirely voluntary, we get to explore parts of the state we've never visited, and all that is expected of us is to show up and be relaxed. We plan to go hiking in Joshua Tree National Park on Xmas day (weather permitting) and I'd love to make it to a few yoga classes, if I can find a studio that's open down there.

When we return home, my pal Steph arrives in from the east coast to stay with us for one night. I can handle entertaining people in low doses, in fact I'm looking forward to seeing her.

And sure, there's a bunch of stupid crap I'd like to get done while I have the time: planning my next round of poetry submissions, cleaning the bathroom, cooking good stuff and lots of yoga, but the openness of my time makes these things purely pleasurable undertakings (except the bathroom, that task always sucks).

Today, Sean and I are hanging around the house, hoping our landlady finds a plumber to come unclog our kitchen sink - she was surprisingly cheerful about it when we called this morning. I'm glad we held off until 11:00 - no one wants a work call coming in before 10 am on Sunday. Simply no one.

I'll leave you to enjoy your day with this little nugget of news: the New York Times ran a story today which basically claims that the Bush administration knew about the financial crises as far back as 2003 and did nothing to avoid it. You can read about it here.

Happy, happy holidays!