Vacation (A Much Needed Break)

Last week I took my first "real" week of vacation since I started working at my job almost 1 year ago. I say "real" week because yeah, we had a week off for Christmas break in December but EVERYONE else was off that week too! This was a week where my co-workers were still at the office & I was out and about in freedom doing whatever I wanted to do! I think I started to realize how long it had really been since I had had a significant amount of time off during the middle of June. I started getting really irritated with some people & some things that were going on & actually at one point broke down in front of my co-workers when I tried to explain how I'm feeling. It is something that I try to avoid at all costs but it was inevitable. I just don't like to be totally transparent with the people I work with (until I really get to know them) because I have been burned by this flaw in my personality too many times in the past. When people know too much about your personal life, sometimes they use it against you. NOT COOL but it's the world we live in so... it happens.

Anyhow, I started off my 12 days of freedom by going to the Rangers Game. The Rangers totally KILLED the Padres that night (love it when the Rangers win!) and the fireworks display afterwards was really good too. The next day was our Annual Community Band Performance in Red Oak. It was sooo much fun! I am a complete and total band nerd (for those of you who didn't know) and I have a blast when I get to sit around with my friends and play music that most of us are sightreading & trying to make it sound decent. Then came Monday: our Hurricane Harbor outing.

I think the last time I was at Hurricane Harbor it was 1999. I remember the basic set up of the park & most of the rides so of course, I wanted to ride it all! Needless to say, my 21 year old body back then fared a whole lot better than my 31 year old body did this time around. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was SOOOO sore from walking up the stairs and ramps to get to the rides & basically from just being out in the Texas sun all day that day. Also, I think I needed a whole day to recover from some of the things that I SAW at Hurricane Harbor. Imagine the things that we used to see on DART (Dallas) x 200! It amazes me at how many people have no concept of their appearance or how they look & act in public. If you have seen me, you know that I am not a bean pole by any means (maybe some day LOL) but there were girls that were MY SIZE in string bikinis!! No Joke! The worst suit we saw that day was a dude in some shorty shorts (2 words.. banana hammack, if you catch my drift). I have never seen so many tatoos on people in all my life either.

The weekend brought with it a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for the Annual Hoffman Family Reunion. My aunt has a lake house on Beaver Lake and hosts this event every year. I think we had about 50 people this year. Some people drove from as far away as Florida! Basically, this is chill time. Hang out, talk, play games, catch up with the family, swim in the lake, go on the boat, jet ski, etc. Pretty much whatever you want to do.. you can do. Whenever I hang out with my extended family though, there is always a conflict that arises in me. Please don't get me wrong on what I'm about to say - I am by no means perfect or saying that I am "holier than thou" but most of you know that I live my life for Christ & Christ Alone. My family however, does not. A lot of these people spit in the face of God which makes it very hard for me to live my life out in front of them because there is always a little bit of fear that they are going to ridicule me or worse yet that I would be tempted & fall into their pit of destruction. In this environment, beer is put back like it's water, there is an unlimited supply of cigarettes (I think one might be able to get lung cancer from one sitting of all the second hand smoke) and the language factor is out of control! Luckily, through much prayer, I was able to share my testimony with a few people there and felt like I was at least able to let them know where I stand as far as the way I live my life. I will just keep praying on them that some of them will realize the error of their ways - that life is too short to be in a conflict with someone in your family and that there is more to life than beer, cigarettes and God knows what else some of them were smoking! :)

I went back to work today and surprisingly the time went by really fast. I think my co-workers learned to appreciate all of the things that I do so they don't have to and that maybe things will change a bit as far as how they treat me on down the line. I think they realized some of the stress and flat out foolishness that I have to deal with on a daily basis (yes, even Pastors give me foolishness sometimes).

That's really all I know at this point.. I am going to make a real effort to write more in this thing (if I can pull myself away from the Sorority Life & Restaurant City on Facebook..LOL)

Taking it one Adventure at a Time....