Sabbatical!!!

I am lucky enough to work for an organization that has sabbaticals as one of its benefits. Every six years, I get six weeks of paid sabbatical leave in addition to my three weeks of vacation time. I chose to take two weeks of vacation with it for a whole eight weeks off! I will not be returning to work until October 18, 2010.

My big plan is to spend a lot of time not thinking. So far, so good! I am also doing what I have nicknamed "The Great Purge". We have tons of crap and a lot we do not use or need anymore. I have already donated over 100 books which has now inspired me to seriously consider purchasing the Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" Display, Graphite, 3G Works Globally.

The office upstairs is almost done cleaning and purging of old paperwork that is no longer needed. The guest room is looking good. I have scheduled several doctor appointments to get much of the dental, vision, and other check-ups out of the way. Wednesday afternoon I head out in the gasp truck to my Mom's and will be bringing home stuff. I expect to be home very late Friday night.

Then I start on all the totes stored in the garage. There is stuff in there we have not touched since we moved in. Lot's of clothes and household items that will be donated next week. Should make quite a bit of space in the garage.

September 18 - 19 is Ojai Pirate Faire! I have not done a faire since I moved to the Bay Area over 10 years ago. I am looking forward to a few days of camping with old friends and catching up on all I have missed.

The first week of October we will be attending the wedding of our good friend Shawn. He brought his finance Christine to meet us last September. We think she is great and are thrilled that Shawn has found her. I even agreed to be a bridesmaid! I have been to Mexico twice but that is the extent of my out of country experience. This is the first time I have ever needed a passport and the first time I have done any real traveling since 9/11 and other morons since have made travel by plane a pain in the ass. I am looking forward to the trip but not so much the flight.

Marks band Buzzkill is doing a lot of shows in the next couple months so I plan on being at many of them since I don't have to worry about recovering from being out well past my bedtime. Seems like the older I get, the longer the recovery.