i feel like a kid again. after seven years with my current company and ten years in the business world, i am on a break. in february, i got approval for a sabbatical, and on monday, i started my two months of leave. no work. no conference calls. no 1-1 meetings. no mentoring. no meetings. no email.
well, okay, no work-related email.
everyone warned me that eight weeks passes too quickly, and that i should make a list of things i want to accomplish, but although i am perfectly capable of filling all available time with a detailed schedule, i resisted the urge to over-commit myself prior to the break itself. therefore, on monday, i woke up realizing i had eight weeks ahead of me to spend as i wanted. the last time i remember having this much time free was when i was teenager and finishing up my year as an exchange student in finland.
on day five of this two-month hiatus, i can say that i am enjoying every minute of this break. i have even made some plans for later in the month, which include some volunteering and some travel, and a creative writing class. but at the end of week one, here are some highlights from the past few days:
- some babysitting: we spent sunday afternoon babysitting our nephew gus. it was a beautiful blue day and we sat out on a blanket for part of the afternoon enjoying the weather and unsuccessfully encouraging gus to crawl.
- two musicals: billy elliot has been re-made for the west end theatre, with music courtesy of elton john, and on saturday we went to a premiere matinee. because of the intensity of the lead role, they have cast three separate boys as billy, and we were lucky enough to see one of them in his first performance. to continue the musical theme, my friend sarah and i got last minute, half price tickets on monday to the producers. this musical is a contrast to billy elliot and you have to be in the right mood for the very un-pc but extremely funny story.
- one flat: richard and i have been flat shopping in london for several months. we decided that we spend enough time in the city it would be great to have a studio pied-a-tierre instead of a holiday home somewhere possibly more exciting but also more remote. we found a gorgeous place off marylebone high street and made an offer several weeks ago, but the property was already under offer (idiosyncrasy of the uk property system) so ours wasn't accepted. this week, almost a month later, we heard back from the seller that the original offer fell through, and he wanted to know if we were still interested. we were, and we are, and we're hopeful now that we'll soon own a cute little place on chiltern street.
- a museum or two: sarah and i spent most of the day on tuesday at the science museum, learning about how a refrigerator works, what smallpox does to the skin and what a mummified cat looks like. on monday we went with our friend marion to the british library and the lively camden lock.
- a spa day: yesterday my sister-in-law sarah, my friend sarah and i all went to a new spa in henley-on thames. called kubu spa, it's a fantastic place. the co-owners have done a lot of research on what makes for a good spa experience and it shows. i had an aromatherapy spa in the balinese tradition and a pedicure. we were there for hours and really enjoyed the personal treatment.
today i've spent the afternoon sitting in a starbucks on marylebone high street, drinking a chai tea latte, writing and watching people like me who have escaped their office cubicles, their meetings or their telephone calls and are out for an afternoon in london. it's chilly today, but the street is still active with people dressed to keep out the cold. i'm logging off in a few minutes to go wander around to find some books on travel in malta and possibly head over for an hour or so in the national portrait gallery.
life is good. stay tuned for more updates.
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