Staycation, All I Ever Wanted

Back to the grind and happy to report that my time off from work was lovely and restorative.

No, there was no hiking in Great Falls, drives to the Delaware shore or wandering around Capitol Hill or the the museums.  But, in my own way, I was productive: I took care of doctors visits and cleaned my apartment. I finished two books and started two more (FYI, if you haven't read The Hunger Games yet, you are missing out) and went shopping for a new couch with my parents. And ... yeah, that's about it for my list of activities that did not fall under the category of 'sloth'.

Unless you also want to include conquering my irrational fear of upside-down roller coasters as one of those items..... WHICH I DO!

Don't Danny and Victor look dapper?

I'm still hoarse from screaming with fear and glee.  We rode at least ten coasters, two of them twice, as well as few other rides.  And I loved it!

The day before this trip, I found out that a much-loved coworker lost her battle with lung cancer. It was not unexpected news, but it was still  heartbreaking. I reached out to my coworkers to let them know that I was with them in feeling this tremendous loss, and that I was hugely grateful to have them in my life.  My office spouse encouraged me to go face my silly fear of upside-down coasters -- and to have a wonderful time in the memory of our departed friend.

Which I did. And I can say that it was a good vacation.

Vacation Time Approaches

Early in the summer, my boss started telling me that I had a lot of vacation time to use, and that I should take advantage of it. I smiled and said "sure, I'll use it later in the summer".

I made no plans for taking time off. I just kept along my merry way, working hard, stressing myself out, having the occasional early-AM panic attack about my parents health (Note: Dad is now doing very well, his recovery has been going smoothly, although he claims to still be exhausted by the functions of daily life. But hey, recovery is an individual experience and relative process - if Dad feels like he's still recovering, who can argue?) but generally feeling like I had things under control.

But in early August, I started feeling tired all the time. And occasionally jumping at loud noises (I really wish I were kidding about that) and not feeling my usual cheerful self. Around this time, my boss casually mentioned my abundance of vacation time again. I started to think that maybe time off would be a good idea, after all.

So, despite the fact that I don't have travel plans, I'm taking five days off from work. If you include the Labor Day weekend, that will be seven days of vacation.

Or 'stay-cation'. Other than a day trip to Kings Dominion to conquer my fear of upside-down roller coasters, I have absolutely no idea as to what I'll do with my free time. Besides sleep, read and contemplate my navel. And clean my apartment.


What would you do if you had five days of completely free time and no obligations?

Mumbled Musings on a Monday

Because my ADHD mind cannot focus on work quite yet, and I can't seem to write a coherent blog post, I'll just fall back on good ol' list-making....
~ I had what I thought was a good date last Thursday night, with a guy I met online and had been chatting with for a few weeks. But apparently, he didn't feel the same way; he sent me an IM on Friday morning to say sorry, but he wasn't interested. I appreciated the honesty, and I told him as much. My pride was a bit wounded but fortunately, didn't last long, as I quickly realized that it's entirely his loss. Clean plate! Moving on!

~ DC has been suffering from record-breaking heat, and although I dearly wish I had ready access to a pool, I vastly prefer this weather to the freezing cold and absurd amounts of snow we experienced last winter. (Go ahead, disagree with me!)

~ I ordered the iPhone 4. This is worthy of notation because I cannot wait to get it, and because I am a nerd. I proudly accept this.

~ A long-overdue chat with my sister on Sunday afternoon was a wonderful way to restore my perspective on a number of things. Not the least of which being the fact that I have an awesome sister.

~ Having taken my flex day and fully enjoying my three day weekend, I feel slightly less vacation-deprived.

And.... that's about it from me.   How was your weekend?  How has your summer been so far?

Breathe

I just wrote and then deleted a post about how, even though last summer was full of amazing new experiences and trips to the Caribbean, and I have no vacation plans whatsoever for this summer, I'm still determined to see the bright side of things.... because I totally pissed myself off.

Because, damn it, I'm being positive.  And even though I don't have any vacation plans to speak of this summer, I have come in to work on my day off (and volunteered myself to do so, no less) and I have made at least one Bad Life Decision about boys in the past few months (and still sufficiently ashamed to discuss it here) things are good.

I'm making new friends, with the help of get-togethers like the #DCAmazeballsHH (described wonderfully by both fabulous Sara and the charming Ms. Raspberry).

I'm making a point to reconnect with friends that I haven't seen recently. Case in point: Drinks with Ali last night -- we hadn't seen each other in over 7 months, which we agreed is absurd.

I'm getting out of debt.

In the wake of a miserable winter ... I'm happy. 

And I'm also exhausted, so I'm going home now.

Three quick photos to share...

About to run into a(nother) meeting, but it occurred to me that I had not shared any photos from my last-weekend-in-August getaway. My boyfriend and I were supposed to go on a cruise, but we missed the boat. Literally.

However, we managed to salvage our vacation by staying in the Bahamas for 3 nights, instead.

Poolside at the hotel:

The view from our dinner table at Compass Point:


I am a lucky, lucky girl.

Slouch

After my sophomore year of college, my first summer internship was at a Capitol Hill newspaper, where I was told to expect an "August Slump". As a fledgling reporter who spent a reasonable amount of her time chasing after members of Congress, asking substantive questions such as "Senator, what's on your summer reading list?", this meant that there would be no one around on the Hill of whom I could ask such deep questions. So, August was spent helping around the newsroom in other ways - which mostly consisted of answering phones and going through old clips for one reporter or another.

Fast forward to the internship I had one year after college, at my first public health non-profit. I was warned once again of this magical quiet time in August; but this time, as my duties were not related to Congress, my work load was more effected by coworkers vacations, rather than an absence of lawmakers. This internship became a full-time job, but when I experienced a lapse in my workload the following August, it turned out to be because I was being "phased out".

Oh well, I moved on! My next two positions were completely, totally and utterly disconnected from the comings and goings of the Hill - in fact, August was probably the busiest time for me in both of these jobs - yet I was still warned by supervisors and colleagues alike of this mythical August slump.

This will be my third summer at my current employer. Not once has anyone mentioned the slump of August. When I've asked my colleagues in the advocacy and outreach department about this so-called quiet period, they have looked at me as though I'm out of my mind. (More so than usual, okay.) My own work load ebbs and flows all year round.....

[Wed. AM]
... I had to stop working on this post yesterday because I was handed a large assignment out of the blue. And the point I was slowly making my way towards was that this may be the first summer that I've had a quiet August. Guess I was wrong. Carry on!