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I went into work today fully intending to be productive. I had to participate in a hiring interview, so there went the morning. At lunch I went to have a quick bite and head back to the office, all the sooner to be done and be able to start my three day weekend. You see we’ve got an extra houseful of family coming into town for the weekend and Olivia is being baptized tomorrow. Lots to do, you see.

So there I was eating my Gordita and flipping absentmindedly through the latest Art News when up walks my three year old and my wife carrying their own meals. Apparently they were in the drive through and saw me sitting there and Petunia insisted we come in. Petunia was at her pixie cute crinkly nose smile freckle faced most charming. She is never without a dress and flip flops and at least one mark on her face from one magic marker or another. She did her crinklenose smile, hugged me, and my work ethic slipped. At that point my productivity was hanging perilously by one hand over the precipice of the long weekend.

So I got back to my desk and put on my headphones to drown out any distractions. I rubbed the paddles together, prepping to defibrillate of the rest of my workday, when I made a final fatal mistake. I chose a CD of driving tunes — Steppenwolf, Cameo, Tenacious D, U2, Joan Jett. Some serious windows-down, wind in hair, driving off to some devil may care hideaway music. And there it went, my productivity, falling like Alan Rickman at the end of Die Hard. Suddenly being at work until 5:00 on the Friday of a holiday weekend was just not feasible.

So I’m taking some unplanned vacation hours. I was hijacked from productivity by a three year old pixie crinkle smile and a CD full of wanderlust-inspiring beats.