Attitude is a Choice

My Facebook timeline has been blowing up this entire weekend because for the last five years during this time of year, I have spent the Labor Day weekend traveling, mostly abroad, on vacation. I swoon over the timeline photos of me in Germany, Rome (during the canonization of Mother Theresa), Paris, and Madrid – oh what wonderful times I had.

I made a decision five years ago that I would travel during this time to celebrate my birthday, Sept. 2nd. While my job affords me many opportunities to travel, I seldom made any time for myself to just totally unplug and enjoy life. Sure, I might stay an extra day or two at the end of a work-related conference, but that was it. I had not taken a “real” vacation other than a holiday stay at my parents’ home for a few days for Thanksgiving or Christmas since 2003.

This year, of course international travel was out, so I planned a short staycation in Dallas last weekend. It was a pretty uneventful stay and to be truthful I was really