To meet with publishing deadlines, I write and submit my columns nearly a week prior to their run in the printed edition or their posting online.

As most of you know I am simply a volunteer columnist for the Bremerton Patriot and the Central Kitsap Reporter here at Sound Publishing.

I write for fun and have a paid 40 hour full time private sector job in a completely unrelated industry.

This means that, in addition to juggling my life as a working mom, community advocate, parks commissioner and head domestic engineer at home, I work my column writing in and around everything else.

Going on scheduled vacations just means I need to adjust my writing to include the correct number of columns that will cover my absence.

I tend not to write while I am on vacation.

The need to unplug completely and fully from as much as possible on brief occasions is an important component in my ability to juggle all my other commitments and obligations during the rest of the time in my very real life.

Vacations are those very important times when you get to focus on yourself and do whatever you want.

When this column comes out, I will already be south of the border in Manzanillo, Mexico on a “girls only”  getaway.

The very best part of this trip is the fact that it was a donated package, bid upon and won at this past spring’s Boys & Girls Club fundraising auction.

The week-long package was donated by a couple with long- time ties to Kitsap County and Bremerton.

This couple now manages a group of properties in Manzanillo on a year-round basis which creates a small slice of Bremerton deep in the heart of Mexico.

My girlfriend and I will have a wonderful time in an exotic part of the world, while the money gained by the Boys & Girls Club, from the auction of donated items to their fundraisers, ensures the continuation of safe, supervised and organized good times being had by the children of our community.

I hope that everyone back in Bremerton is enjoying the last few weeks of summer with some activities and adventures that will keep everyone’s memories warm during the long, cold dark days of the coming winter.

Upon my return, my time will immediately be consumed with back to school preparations in a mad dash to fit that twisted version of an increasingly expensive scavenger hunt for school supplies and clothes in before school starts here in Bremerton on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

But, that, my friends, is the subject for a future column.

Hasta luego!

Colleen Smidt is a longtime resident of Bremerton who writes weekly about community and political issues of interest to Bremerton residents.