The kids are in bed, so I'm off-duty for my Full Time Job #1 as a parent/stay-at-home-mom. I am also currently taking a moment off of Full Time Job #2 as a small business owner (which I oversee and administrate from afar), in order to put on my hat for Full Time Job #3 as a writer in order to tell you a little about my new Full Time Job #4.
As you know if you read about Catholic Humpday for Gladiators or, long ago, the Primary School Primer, or if you have ever heard anybody stereotyping and mocking the French, then you must know that they take a lot of vacations. Since Job #1 is tied to the school schedule, I get virtually nothing done on my other jobs each and every Wednesday (when I have the girls with me all day) and the weekends. Add to this a couple Catholic or national holidays, plus the big whammy: The girls never have more than six weeks of school between major vacations. Major. The smallest break of the school year is the ten-day end-of-October break. Then more than two weeks at Christmas, over two weeks end of February, and over two weeks end of April. Usually, the girls come back from holidays on a Tuesday then immediately have Wednesday off again.
Which lead me to Full Time Job #4: family travel planner (and occasional translator). Before we even left for India, we had most of Morocco planned for the April break. But of course, April break is now bearing down on us, and finishing off those last decisions takes an inordinate amount of time. Shall we stay for our night in Erfoud at the Kasbah Tizimi? The Ksar Assalassil? The Hotel Kasbah Jnane la Kasbah? Or the Xaluca Maadid Arfoud? Each has plenty of beautiful photos and high-rated reviews at booking.com and also tripadvisor. But then again, each also has highly critical reviews that assure me I will hate them all. Since we will be there the full two plus weeks, and we are a family that likes to move around a lot on vacation, that's a lot of itinerary and hotel decisions.
You may have noticed that we have been back in France for about three weeks, yet I have just finished the India blog, much as the August Croatia trip wasn't posted till almost October. So now I am writing about burgers in Paris at the sime time as riding elephants in Jaipur. Because I will have even less computer access when I'm in Morocco (read: no computer access at all), I am adopting a new vacation-blogging policy: While away, I will publish pre-scheduled posts about France and then for the two-three weeks upon our return (while also catching up with business, e-mails, laundry, grocery shopping, etc), I will post the vacation blog only. In other words, the trip and its blog will be staggered. Let's see how that works.
Meanwhile, I am also supposed to be planning a long May weekend trip (for one of three extended weekends in May, just after we return from our trip to Morocco). So while I am still writing about Morocco, but am actually back in Paris, I will also be heading out to a still-unnamed French destination.
Yes, I am full aware that it is obnoxious to be complaining about this, especially since I've brought this on myself by having both a major travel and writing bug. So don't think of it as a complaint. Think of it as just a good reason for me to pour myself a nice glass of sancerre with lunch.
We have friends visiting in June/July, so I desperately need to start planning a trip out of Paris with them. Once the second family leaves us in mid-July, I also need to plan out what I will do with the girls (and Anthony when he can join us) for the rest of the summer, i.e. summer camps/lessons, a probable trip to the U.S., and some outings within France. Anthony also strongly feels we should already be planning our October break, Christmas, and ski trips for next year, since trying to plan anything big and last-minute this year was too stressful, too expensive, and ultimately not too successful. But of course by "we," we mostly mean "me," since I am the one who is "not working." (Ha!)
In none of my Four Full Time Jobs do I get vacation days, since even when I am on vacation, I am still doing at least two -- if not three or all four -- of my jobs at any given time (parent and writer; still checking in on my business; and travel planning/translating as we go...). But having said that, what is one of the things I most look most forward to, when heading on a trip? Two uninterrupted weeks of never having to do the cooking. And if you think I'm exaggerating, just ask whomever cooks each-and-every-meal in your house how excited they would be with that prospect!
As you know if you read about Catholic Humpday for Gladiators or, long ago, the Primary School Primer, or if you have ever heard anybody stereotyping and mocking the French, then you must know that they take a lot of vacations. Since Job #1 is tied to the school schedule, I get virtually nothing done on my other jobs each and every Wednesday (when I have the girls with me all day) and the weekends. Add to this a couple Catholic or national holidays, plus the big whammy: The girls never have more than six weeks of school between major vacations. Major. The smallest break of the school year is the ten-day end-of-October break. Then more than two weeks at Christmas, over two weeks end of February, and over two weeks end of April. Usually, the girls come back from holidays on a Tuesday then immediately have Wednesday off again.
Which lead me to Full Time Job #4: family travel planner (and occasional translator). Before we even left for India, we had most of Morocco planned for the April break. But of course, April break is now bearing down on us, and finishing off those last decisions takes an inordinate amount of time. Shall we stay for our night in Erfoud at the Kasbah Tizimi? The Ksar Assalassil? The Hotel Kasbah Jnane la Kasbah? Or the Xaluca Maadid Arfoud? Each has plenty of beautiful photos and high-rated reviews at booking.com and also tripadvisor. But then again, each also has highly critical reviews that assure me I will hate them all. Since we will be there the full two plus weeks, and we are a family that likes to move around a lot on vacation, that's a lot of itinerary and hotel decisions.
You may have noticed that we have been back in France for about three weeks, yet I have just finished the India blog, much as the August Croatia trip wasn't posted till almost October. So now I am writing about burgers in Paris at the sime time as riding elephants in Jaipur. Because I will have even less computer access when I'm in Morocco (read: no computer access at all), I am adopting a new vacation-blogging policy: While away, I will publish pre-scheduled posts about France and then for the two-three weeks upon our return (while also catching up with business, e-mails, laundry, grocery shopping, etc), I will post the vacation blog only. In other words, the trip and its blog will be staggered. Let's see how that works.
Meanwhile, I am also supposed to be planning a long May weekend trip (for one of three extended weekends in May, just after we return from our trip to Morocco). So while I am still writing about Morocco, but am actually back in Paris, I will also be heading out to a still-unnamed French destination.
Yes, I am full aware that it is obnoxious to be complaining about this, especially since I've brought this on myself by having both a major travel and writing bug. So don't think of it as a complaint. Think of it as just a good reason for me to pour myself a nice glass of sancerre with lunch.
We have friends visiting in June/July, so I desperately need to start planning a trip out of Paris with them. Once the second family leaves us in mid-July, I also need to plan out what I will do with the girls (and Anthony when he can join us) for the rest of the summer, i.e. summer camps/lessons, a probable trip to the U.S., and some outings within France. Anthony also strongly feels we should already be planning our October break, Christmas, and ski trips for next year, since trying to plan anything big and last-minute this year was too stressful, too expensive, and ultimately not too successful. But of course by "we," we mostly mean "me," since I am the one who is "not working." (Ha!)
In none of my Four Full Time Jobs do I get vacation days, since even when I am on vacation, I am still doing at least two -- if not three or all four -- of my jobs at any given time (parent and writer; still checking in on my business; and travel planning/translating as we go...). But having said that, what is one of the things I most look most forward to, when heading on a trip? Two uninterrupted weeks of never having to do the cooking. And if you think I'm exaggerating, just ask whomever cooks each-and-every-meal in your house how excited they would be with that prospect!
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