Taking care of businessJuly 19, 2010. By Arnold Rapinan
Normally around this time of the year, our summer trips are in the full swing. On Friday night or saturday morning, Penelope and I would pick a place to go, pack up light and on to the road: a summer-weekend tradition we seem to repeat for the last decade. We normally frequent places like the Monterey peninsula, the beaches of Santa Cruz county, the beautiful San Francisco bay, the wine country of Napa and Calistoga, the tourist spots of Southern California, the casinos of Reno or the clear water of Lake Tahoe. Sometimes we get lucky to visit an exotic place somewhere out of the state or country.
However, this summer is a bit different. For one thing, this year we've only been to Lake Tahoe; we visited last spring - that's it! Not even a visit to any nearby theme parks or local museums. Instead of summer trips, we've been staying home spending quality time with family, taking care of our children, attending to house projects that have been put off for years, having lunches and dinners with relatives and friends, and just relaxing at home: cooking, watching movies, playing with kids, sleeping in, and being lazy.
I should be complaining or somewhat feeling miserable for not doing what we normally do during summer time, but the truth is that I'm actually enjoying all the domestic stuff. Focusing at work, staying home on the weekends, taking care of children, spending quality time with family and friends and attending to house chores makes me feel like we are actually taking care of business.