staycation
20 November 2009
My current job is the first one where I've ever had paid vacation time. Every previous job, if I wanted to take time off, I had to sacrifice the money I would have made from working. Which is one of the reasons I, sadly, have never seen Tori Amos in concert: years ago, around the time of The Beekeeper, one of my very good friends suggested we drive to Chicago to see her. The trip would have required me to take off three or four days of work, and I just couldn't do it because I needed the money. I can't tell you how jealous I was, or how much I regretted that decision, after I saw pictures of my friend with the lovely Ms. Amos in the Windy City.
Maybe because I'm not used to having it, I've tried very hard to not use my vacation time. I've taken a day or two here at random, then took a few days off for when my family went to Las Vegas in August, and then some more last week for my birthday. The point is, every time I have used my vacation time I have done it with a purpose, whether it be my cousin's wedding or a family trip. The idea of taking time off just to take time off is completely foreign to me.
Yesterday at lunch the discussion of Thanksgiving came up and who was taking off the Friday after. One of my coworkers asked me if I had enough vacation to be able to, and I said I do, but I was hoping to save it for around Christmas. But as soon as the words were out, I wondered whether or not that was true. Honestly, I hadn't even looked at my schedule yet, although I know both Christmas and New Years Day fall on a Friday, which means I'll get that day off but have to come back to work the next day (ah, the pitfalls of having to work on Saturdays).
So it was after lunch I did a little investigation and realized that if I sucked it up and worked both the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas, I would have enough time accrued to be able to take off from Sunday December 27th through Monday January 4th, with the exception of December 29th where I'd have to work 11-4:30pm. That's right, ladies and gents: eight glorious days with absolutely nothing planned. Maybe I'll finally get around to making an eye doctor appointment or catching up on all of my reading. Maybe I'll take some road trips and visit friends I haven't seen in awhile. Maybe I'll take myself on a date to The Christmas Story house. Maybe I'll get enough sleep during the week to be able to actually stay up past 9pm on New Year's Eve. Maybe I'll spend the entire week curled up on my couch watching Season 5 of Lost, which is currently the only thing on my Christmas list, although, let's be honest, at the rate I go, it'll probably only take me two days. So maybe I'll just have a weeklong Lost marathon, seasons 1 through 5, and any of my friends who want to can just stop on in and watch an episode or two and we can drink and discuss our theories into the wee hours of the morning.
Oh, yeah. This is gonna be good.
Maybe because I'm not used to having it, I've tried very hard to not use my vacation time. I've taken a day or two here at random, then took a few days off for when my family went to Las Vegas in August, and then some more last week for my birthday. The point is, every time I have used my vacation time I have done it with a purpose, whether it be my cousin's wedding or a family trip. The idea of taking time off just to take time off is completely foreign to me.
Yesterday at lunch the discussion of Thanksgiving came up and who was taking off the Friday after. One of my coworkers asked me if I had enough vacation to be able to, and I said I do, but I was hoping to save it for around Christmas. But as soon as the words were out, I wondered whether or not that was true. Honestly, I hadn't even looked at my schedule yet, although I know both Christmas and New Years Day fall on a Friday, which means I'll get that day off but have to come back to work the next day (ah, the pitfalls of having to work on Saturdays).
So it was after lunch I did a little investigation and realized that if I sucked it up and worked both the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas, I would have enough time accrued to be able to take off from Sunday December 27th through Monday January 4th, with the exception of December 29th where I'd have to work 11-4:30pm. That's right, ladies and gents: eight glorious days with absolutely nothing planned. Maybe I'll finally get around to making an eye doctor appointment or catching up on all of my reading. Maybe I'll take some road trips and visit friends I haven't seen in awhile. Maybe I'll take myself on a date to The Christmas Story house. Maybe I'll get enough sleep during the week to be able to actually stay up past 9pm on New Year's Eve. Maybe I'll spend the entire week curled up on my couch watching Season 5 of Lost, which is currently the only thing on my Christmas list, although, let's be honest, at the rate I go, it'll probably only take me two days. So maybe I'll just have a weeklong Lost marathon, seasons 1 through 5, and any of my friends who want to can just stop on in and watch an episode or two and we can drink and discuss our theories into the wee hours of the morning.
Oh, yeah. This is gonna be good.


