I am blissfully happy to admit that I will be in Hawaii all of next week … not thinking about work. I have been killing myself this last 7-10 days to clear the decks so that the opportunity for disaster is limited. As I was driving into work yesterday (arrival at 6:00am), I was thinking about just how badly I am ready to not be driving in to work at 6:00am. This wasn’t because I don’t like my job or even that I hate driving into work so early in the morning. I am just ready to go enjoy my time with my family, sticking my toes in the sand, and maybe drinking a beer at 11:00 in the morning (don’t judge me – 11:00am in Hawaii is 3:00pm in Dallas). The ability to do all of these things is why I go to work. I work so that I can enjoy my time when I’m not working.
Don’t get me wrong, if I won the lottery I wouldn’t stop being an architect, I would just have a drastically different workload.
… and I might be my only client.
Okay, I would probably work for my daughter and wife if they wanted something – I am powerless to say no to either of them. This picture above is one of my most favorite pictures AND it just happens to be from our last family trip to Hawaii. It has graced my About Me page since I started Life of an Architect. I have told this story before to some but I was doing everything in my power to not throw up when this picture was taken. I was feeling poorly and my daughter Kate was trying to make me feel better. Her empathy has always been remarkable – even as a 4-year-old she was checking up on her Dad.
All the pictures today are from our last trip to Hawaii 4 years ago.
Exploring Tide pools with your children is one of life’s most rewarding treasures. Exciting, educational, maybe even a bit dangerous. I never explored a tide pool prior to our last trip to Hawaii and now it is one of my most favorite things to do. All of the pictures above are why I actually work … so we can continue to go on adventures together.
Why do you work?