I have three whole months off from work, and I’ve just finished the first week of that time. It’s going to go really fast and really slow at the same time, maybe because I have no concept of time? Anyway, countdown:

I came to the realization that I should blog during this break to get in the habit and to have a chronicle of what I actually spent my time doing. I am notoriously good at starting things and not following through, so let’s see what happens!

The first thing I did to start my break was sign out of my work accounts for Slack and Gmail on my phone and turn off my main computer. I also disabled emails and notifications for most things on my last day working. Getting out of the habit/muscle memory of opening work things will be interesting. I’m hoping this brings a more healthy relationship with work/life balance once I get back.

In my post to my team before leaving about what I planned on doing with this break, I mentioned sleep. In my posts to start my break on both Threads and LinkedIn, I said I plan to sleep. I did do a fair amount of extra sleeping in this first week.

Me on Threads vs. Me on LinkedIn

I decided that Monday started my actual break, and the weekend didn’t count because it felt like a regular weekend. However, Sunday I watched Spaceballs, since it was Mel Brooks’s 100th birthday.

The beginning of my leave had a couple of extra twists! While I have a long list of thing I want to fix or complete around here, I was given a couple more. Because the universe is funny.

• Sunday, the A/C stopped blowing cold air. In the central valley of California in the summer.
• On Monday, the shower door fell off the hinge pin because things degrade and disintigrate after 28 years.

The burnt out front porch lights got replaced by smart bulbs, so now they go on at sunset and turn off automatically. I love that. I would make every lightbulb and other household appliances connected to automation if I could. My ex made me get the non-smart thermostat due to weirdness about conspiracies, and boooo it’s so boring. Yes I do I want to control things remotely. No I never really leave. But it’s cool!

I had the A/C fixed by professionals on Wednesday after trying a few things to reset it, since it looked possibly related to batteries going out in said boring thermostat. Nothing I did worked, but it did get me to replace the filter. The wire that supplied power had burnt out and broken off, they thought possibly due to not cleaning the outdoor unit. Luckily, the system was less than two years old, so they fixed the wire, hosed it out, and decided not to charge me!

I am still partway through shower fixes, because getting a replacement pin for it was not easy. I had to file down the head to make it work (with sandpaper, I am very stubborn and determined), and find different washers at the hardware store. But going out to the store also gave me a chance to get clear silicone to replace some moldy caulk. Yay, another item on my list.

The bulk of the week was really just being as lazy as possible, while moderately inching toward checking off boxes. One day, I realized the garage freezer had been left ajar and warmed up overnight and closed it but didn’t deal with the contents, but I half-cleaned out the main fridge and freezer. I went to Trader Joe’s to fill in what I could without putting in all the work. Now that we’re down to three people living here from the five when we got the freezer, it might be time to retire it.

I took a bike ride of 15.5 miles on Friday, a side quest along the Davis bike loop plus my trips to the hardware store and to get groceries. It was good to get out and just be.

Saturday, was the 4th of July, but we don’t really do that here. There was one year that we had a tea party with fancy china and scones just to be silly. From 2020:

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Remember when I mentioned being down to three people living here? We took Saturday to move my oldest into her new house in Berkeley. Kinda. We’d gone two weeks ago and put together a bed and desk, and she’s hauled things down by train a couple times. This time, we took a suitcase and a few bags on the train to get her ready for a summer school class starting Monday. She’ll still need to come back and pack more up and put it into a truck to really be moved. I can’t believe 1) one of my kids finally moved out and 2) they’re going to UC Berkeley!

Carrying an empty suitcase full of duffel bags alone on the train home felt like an opportunity for a comedy routine, but sadly I did not get to perform it.

Last night, I finished a Ted Lasso rewatch, which I recently started while already in the middle of a Cougar Town rewatch, and maybe something else? But it ended with Fight Test, which I had totally forgotten and was pleasantly surprised to hear again.

Now it’s Sunday, and it’s been a whole week! What have I done today? Well, I’m still in my pajamas, but I did make myself food. I played Yoshimi because I still was thinking about Fight Test, then The Bends after that because I could. I have been enjoying streaming music to my soundbar since the former spouse moved out, and I love filling the house with music.

Time to get ready for another Monday of not having to go to work!