A taste of what leave might feel like

I took the day off today, in order to prepare for the brunch/birthday party we are hosting this weekend. I was going to do a bit of work, but computer issues prevented that. So I had a taste of what it’s like to spend a weekday on leave. It was great.

I woke up a half hour later than normal. I didn’t shower. I didn’t get dressed until 11. I was able to move at a leisurely pace as I got River up and could agree to his request to read two stories before we did anything else. I baked a cake, went shopping for party supplies and indulged in a pedicure.

I didn’t plan to nap, thinking I had too much to do. But when I was overcome by fatigue at 3:15, I sunk onto the sofa and fell into sleep. There was nothing to stop me. River helped out by taking a four-hour nap, so we both awoke refreshed. I did more cooking, more preparing, picked up things around the house, and had time to play some more and read more books to River.

I’m ending the day tired, but feel accomplished. Besides the pedicure and the nap, I didn’t do much for myself – no reading, no studying, no exercising. But I loved the time available to get things done, I liked having more down time with River, and I really liked being able to sleep when I needed to.

I’m very much looking forward to my leave.