Hello my gorgeous, awesome, and totally put-together Full Time, All the Time readers.  It’s been a while hasn’t it?  I hope you haven’t forgotten about me while the fabulous Miss Britt held down the fort here.  I’ve been on an unexpected blogging hiatus.  I wish that I had witty reasons for my short-term leave of absence, but the truth is that life smacked in the face.  Then the gut.  Then push me down and kicked me some more.

In other words, I suffered through my first Summer Break as a working mom. Then right when I felt like I was getting it all in control, life sucker-punched me in the face with Kindergarten.

When my son finished preschool in June, we decided (and by “we” I mean, I thought I had the best idea ever) to let our son have a real summer.  We spent lots of time at the pool.  I spent countless hours shuttling between home and a morning-only summer camp.  We played outside with our neighbors.  Saw nearly every PG or G movie in the theaters. And my son finally found bravery to ride his bike without training wheels.  It was fantastic.

I also spent hours upon hours working late into the night to make up for the lost hours during the day. 
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I’m planning our summer vacation.  It’s nothing fancy – a trip to the South to see my Grandmother.  One week of hanging out in extreme humidity, eating her home-grown tomatoes, and drinking glass after glass of sweet tea.  To say I’m looking forward to it is an understatement.

Only one problem: my spouse can’t get the time off.  It’s not month-end close or end of year craziness.  It’s not that he doesn’t have the time off.  It’s because at his company people just don’t take vacation.  Like ever. At his company, it’s acceptable to take a day here or a long weekend there.  But an entire week off?  Practically unheard of.

My spouse isn’t alone.  In a study by Orbitz, the online travel company, one-third of respondents said they took five or fewer days of vacation in the past year. One in four said they felt their bosses did not encourage them to take vacations, and one in three said they stayed connected with their office via phone or computer while on holiday.

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I have come to hate Columbus Day.

And President’s Day.

And teacher “work” days.

I don’t work in a bank or a post office, so all these days mean to me is what the heck am I going to do for child care for my school aged child?

While my youngest child is in a daycare that thankfully only closes on major holidays (we’re talking Christmas and Thanksgiving), I have a son at that difficult age where he’s normally in school full time, but not quite old enough to be left home alone all day if school is closed.

With the mother of inconvenient short term school breaks coming up - spring break - I’m wondering what other working parents do for child care in these situations?

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One of my girlfriends and I recently ran away for a long weekend roadtrip.

That in and of itself is no big deal.  I am fortunate enough to travel fairly often - especially considering I work full time and have two children at home.  I also steal Sunday afternoons here and there for girlfriend time and “me time”.

I’m no stranger to balancing family and relationship time with friend and me time.

If you would have asked me two weeks ago if I knew how to relax, I would have said “Absolutely!”  I probably would have even lectured you about the importance of “learning to let go” and “taking care of yourself once and a while”.

But this weekend was different.  This weekend helped rejuvenate me and prepare me for the great balancing act of real life even more than usual.

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It’s the Fourth of July today.  Independence Day.  The day is one of my favorite holidays.  It’s in the summer, is notorious with a big barbeque, practically every city in America has a parade, and - my personal favorite - a big fireworks show.  Really, what’s not to love about fireworks?

What I love most about the holiday is the laid-back - have another beer - let the kids run around -throw another hot dog on the grill - attitude of the holiday.  It’s not like Thanksgiving where you can be slaving away in the kitchen for the entire day.   I can do Independence Day.  Hot dogs, hamburgers, store bought macaroni salad, fresh watermelon.  That’s my idea of a good time.   And while many counties in California has banned fireworks this year due to the 1000 wildfires in our state, we’ll still have hours of fun with the Slip N’ Slide and Super Soaker.

So here is to a guilt-free Independence Day.  Let the kids have another popsicle, sit down in your lawn chair, enjoy the parade, and relish in the Fourth of the July. 

Just take a TUMS after that second hot dog.  Believe me, you’ll be thanking me later.

School is officially out this week.  Since I am a working mom to a preschooler, I don’t feel the stress of working through summer vacation.  I don’t have school age kids who I need to find day camps or day care for the 10 weeks of summer so that I can continue to work.   

Yet I still get mighty jealous of the SAHMs in my neighborhood who are spending these hot summer days at our local cabana club.  It’s the only time of year that I feel any animosity towards the moms on the other side of the fence.  Sure the grass always looks greener on the other side.  But in the summer, there is also a pool over there and some freshly squeezed lemonade.

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I’m writing this week’s post from a lavanderia [read: laundromat] in a small barrio in Barcelona, Spain. I’m with one of my dearest friends, Sissy, who right now is on a mission to find an ATM and a panera [bakery] for our morning croissant. This ten day trip has been in the works for over a year.

When another childhood friend announced she was getting married in Europe, Sissy and I jumped at the chance to make a long trip out of it. Our only rules were no spouses, no kids, and no regrets. We should have added “No Guilt.”

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As I type this, it’s Memorial Day weekend in the United States — but as it turns out, I’m not in the United States. Nor am I on one of my seemingly endless business trips that more and more seem to take me away from my daughter and wonderful husband. No, this time, for once, I’m on holiday in Mexico — spending hour after hour of quality time with my family, snorkeling and playing in the sand. I’m reconnecting with my family in a way that, for this moment in time anyway, helps me forget the normal hustle and bustle of our daily routine — the parts of our life that make it exciting, exhausting, but ultimately gratifying.

I’m Karen, and I’m thrilled to be joining Robyn and the rest of the team at Work It, Mom! Normally, I work as in-house counsel for a small-by-some-standards-large-by-others corporation in Houston, Texas. My days are spent trucking my four-year-old daughter, Alex, to and from her preschool, her gymnastic classes and her ballet classes; interspersed with handling software licensing, employment and intellectual property issues at my employer, and combined with squeezing in quality time with Alex, my husband Marcus and, of course, myself. Overall, I think my life, while sometimes exhausting, is rather exhilarating. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I’ll likely spend my moments here at Work It, Mom! sharing some of my thoughts on living such a frenetic life, though sometimes I’ll ask for advice — because some of the best advice I’ve received has been from the internet. I can’t wait to see the community we create here at Full-Time, All The Time.