I love being able to take a break from ministry to rest up and get rejuvenated.  This year is going to be even better due to the fact that I will be going on vacation with my wife. :-)  We’re planning on going up to Maine for a week.  Nice walks, cool weather, and probably more lobster than we can handle…. I can’t wait!

This year is quite a bit different because it’s the first year I’ve been out of the state and totally out of driving range of the office.  As you might expect, my boss is a little nervous about whether or not things stay running while I’m gone — I can’t say I blame him…this past week had me concerned as well.  Everything appears to be in good shape now though, and I feel much better about leaving than I did 5 days ago.  UPS shutdown scripts and backups are checking out good, and Todd’s got the documentation he needs to hopefully solve any situations that come up while I’m gone.

I’m ready to go on this vacation for quite a few reasons…first and foremost since Jess and I are getting married this weekend, this vacation is doubling as our honeymoon.  I can’t wait to be able to spend this time with her as we officially start our life together.  (I think the drive up there is going to be 1/3 the fun.)  I’ve never been to Maine, but I know we’re going to have a fantastic time.

Secondly… I’m ready to get away.  I would be lying if I said I haven’t been feeling a lot of stress lately or if I said my brain wasn’t ready to reduce itself to a pile of mush.  There’s been a whole lot on my mind the past few weeks.  I need to put all that aside for awhile and unplug my brain as much as I can — No work-related computer use (except if Todd calls), no ActiveSync, and probably no twitter or blogging either (as if THAT will make a dent in my posting frequency). My goal at this point is to try as hard as I can to remain “dark” for at LEAST the first 11 days.  Is that possible…I don’t know.  Am I going to try…you bet.

Lastly, I’m ready to rest.  Maybe you can relate to this and maybe you can’t, but I have a VERY hard time shutting my brain down.  And I’ve not been sleeping well lately. At all.  Between wedding prep, moving out of my apartment, and late-night fixes on our infrastructure… man… my body has not handled it well at all.  Obviously this goes hand-in-hand with the stress that I’ve been feeling.  Either way, I’m ready to relax.

All this to say that I’m very excited to be starting on this journey this weekend.  I’ve prepped about as much as I know how, and gotten as much tied up as I can before leaving.  There’s still plenty of things to do, but all those things will still be here when I return.