What I Did On My Summer Vacation

For those of us who live in the Northeast and endured what was probably one of the coldest and snowiest winters in recent history, the weather gods paid us back in spades with one of the best summers we’ve had in a long time. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as my family and I did.

The Weiners spent the summer on the East End of Long Island, where I don’t even need one hand to count the number of rainy days we had during July and August. And I certainly don’t need any fingers to count the over-90 degree days, since there were none. All in all, it was just a great time. We’re unanimous in feeling that we’d gladly put up with another winter like last year’s if we can have another summer like this one. When I wasn’t working, you could find me on a local golf course, out on the water, enjoying the beaches that Long Island is perhaps best known for, or enjoying a great meal and drink(s) with family and friends.

But alas, Labor Day (the “unofficial” end of summer) has come and gone, summer vacation is now a memory, and we’re back in NYC. Isaac and Leo are both back at college, Lily started kindergarten yesterday, Kate and Max start separate pre-K programs on Monday, and Tracy is spending her days shuttling our children to and from school and various after school activities. Everyone is settled in for the next 10 months. And I’m back at my desk again, full time, much to the chagrin of many of the people I work with, who actually prefer my summer schedule.

The best part of summer for me was my time home with my family. From June 13 through today, I slept in my own bed every night but two; one to take Leo to school in Washington, DC and one night when I had dinner and breakfast meetings in the city that made travel back and forth to eastern Long Island slightly impractical. In addition to being back at my desk full time, I have my travel bags at the ready. Next week is South Florida for two days, the week after is Montreal for three, then LA for three the following week, then South Florida again for two days the week of the 29th, and so it goes.

I’m happy to be back writing my weekly column. I missed it, and most of all I missed hearing from those of you who write to give me your feedback. I truly appreciate your comments; positive, negative, constructive or not. So I’m back and looking forward to reconnecting with you every Friday morning.

Thanks for reading.