Let the restoration begin
As August pulls into the pits and September takes the track, I'm hopping in for a ride to recovery.

It's been a long year. The upheaval that began roughly this time last year is still heaving, to some extent. The adjustment to the move back to the Edge has been longer than expected. It hasn't helped that the work has been constant, the rewards minimal, and the time for rest and relaxation almost non-existent.

That all changes soon. I work tomorrow and Tuesday. Then, a three-week voyage back to sanity.

Week 1: I hop a plane Wednesay for a trip to the nation's capital for a work-related seminar. It'll be my first trip to Washington. I'm pretty fired up about that. I don't know how much work-related seminaring I'm actually going to do, but I will get in plenty of sightseeing and reflection.

At the top of the list of the many sites I want to visit one that will make me very, very sad: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I'm not sure why the draw for that is so powerful for me, but it is. The Vietnam War was the definition of my parents' generation, and it defines the way many people of my generation view our government, for better or worse. It's the same pull that drew me to the Oklahoma City National Memorial in 2000. I don't know why I feel I need to pay my respects. But I do.

Week 2: I return Sunday to the Edge for a week basically to myself and my family. So much around me is in disarray: My computer desk, my CD collection, the interior of my car, my garage, my marriage, my brain, my psyche. I need to somehow relax, decompress and refocus -- and be productive -- during this time. But I'm going to do so in the lowest-pressure way possible.

Week 3: On Sept. 13, The Wife leaves for a trip to Ohio to hang out with champion dogs and the people who own them. This is a big deal and a crucial time for her and her Champion Wannabe golden retriever. Champion Wannabe won the first of the two major titles required for Champion Dog status on Sunday. The dog is on the brink of major national success, and if The Wife plays her political cards just right on this trip, good things will result. I don't pretend to know much about how the whole dog show thing works -- I'm not really a dog person, and my interest level in my wife's hobby is high only because of the amount of happiness it brings her -- but it's an important trip for her.

What it means for me is one full week of Me vs. The Mini-Humans. Vegas has the Mini-Humans as 28 1/2-point favorites right now, down from 30 a few days ago. I'm not sure what's causing the fluctuation in the betting line, but I'd take the Mini-Humans and the points.

This is an important stretch of time for me -- perhaps more important than any three-week stretch previously. I've been a very unpleasant person for a very long time. I'm not getting enough rest, I'm eating poorly, and I'm carrying every possible work stress with me everywhere I go. As soon as I get on that northbound plane, my list of excuses shrinks to zero. I need either to get my brain focused on what I'm doing now or get my brain focused on doing something else. I haven't had time to do this for a long time.

I'll have the time now. How well will I use it?