Monday, November 1, 2021

Gratitude Monday: Five days in October

I had all week off last week, because my company has unlimited PTO and encourages you to take time off. So I took five days even though I had no place to “go” or particular plans. I could just step away and not think about work, because taking time off doesn’t count against a quota.

I clocked between 10k and 13k steps every day except Friday, when it rained pretty much the whole day. I got a lot of household things done. I got my flu shot. I went to Costco and mooched about because I didn’t have to scoot back to work. (Supply chain alert: no unsalted butter—except for Kerrygold—and I’m down to 12 pounds; this is a possible DefCon 2.) I played with my new camera and reveled in the fall colors. I had my yoga lesson in the morning, which is a markedly different experience from my usual end-of-work-day session. I stayed up past my bedtime reading, and I read during the middle of the day.

And I got takeout dinners every night, except for one night when I had dinner with a friend, and one other night when I had kabobs left over from an earlier night. New keeper: the Charcoal Kabob “in the K-mart shopping center” (which it’s still called by the locals, even though the K-mart closed, like, five years ago). Had a very interesting combination of Filipino and Moroccan from another place. And not sure about L’Auberge Chez François; the meal was fine, but I’d expected a bit more than “fine” from all the hype. I might try again, just to confirm. (The other two nights were from old favorites, Café Montmartre and Cooper’s Hawk.)

I am fully aware that being able to take paid time off from work is a luxury that millions of my fellow Americans only dream about (it shouldn’t be, but here we are), and I am profoundly grateful for that. I’m also grateful that I can afford to patronize local restaurants, including extravagant tips. There was a time when I couldn’t, so this is another real luxury. I feel so energized and refreshed—which, I suppose is the whole purpose of “vacation”. So, yay, PTO!

 

 

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