Sabbaticalette: Week One

Salt River Arizona_feistyharriet_February 2017

It has been only one week of my sabbaticalette yet three people have commented that I seem like a completely different person. I feel more myself than I have in months, and despite a very strange crop of zits all over my face (the hell, face!?) I feel like I look about 5 years younger than I did 3 months ago. I sometimes break out SKIPPING or GIGGLING for no apparent reason. It’s weird, yo.

So, what have I done with my newfound freedom and head space? Well, you know me (or you don’t, and the rest of this post will be very telling of my personality); I made a huge list and started checking things off one by one.

I painted the last room in our house, banishing the cardboard-box-brown paint that is ubiquitous in all Arizona homes forever. It is a lovely, soothing gray now and waiting for the last touches. (Check that off my New Year’s Resolution list!)

I pulled the millions of weeds in our yard, the rain lately has turned the gravel into a jungle. I also replanted a bunch of veggies and started two pallets of flower seeds for the front yard. I spent an entire afternoon pulling a WHEELBARROW FULL of concrete bits and rock out of the window box in our front yard. It needs some topsoil and then I can plant the lovely fuchsia bougainvillea bushes and bright yellow daisies in there. I potted a bunch of ranunculus for the front porch and back patio and am loving those little splotches of color.

I scrubbed all the corners of the house that have been neglected, I opened the windows and let the breeze blow through the rooms and air everything out.

I pulled up some nasty industrial-grade carpet that the previous owners GLUED to the side patio cement…I think a few months of the blazing southwestern summer sun on the remaining glue-gunk, with some strategic spraying and scraping will get rid of that stuff quite nicely. I’m just so glad to have it gone, I don’t like thinking about what was probably living/lurking in that nasty nasty carpet.

I’ve been to the gym, or on a walk, or a bike ride, almost every day. It has been GLORIOUS to move every day! My FitBit hardly knows what to do with me.

I did a mountain of laundry (see: deep clean everything) and watched some of my Netflix list for the first time in…weeks? (I’m watching The Tudors which is about the history of Henry VIII, because even my Netflix stuff must be nerdy. Hashtag: Harriet Life)

I’ve finished reading two books, started two more, and listened to three others while doing all my chores.

I went grocery shopping at Costco (for the FIRST TIME EVER! (I know.) (I SAID I KNOW!)) did some large-batch cooking, and filled up the freezer with some meals I can reheat later. I also bulked up our nearly non-existent pantry storage with a few cases of canned foods.

I unpacked the last of the moving boxes and have made a towering pile of things to send to Goodwill.

I’ve spent several hours on the phone with family and friends I love and feel I’ve neglected the last few months. I’m so grateful for technology, and simultaneously annoyed that I’m so far from the people I love.

I volunteered at a church event for young girls ages 8-11, we had a blast laughing and giggling and, uh, being super spiritual and stuff. Ahem.

Things I haven’t done, but intend to: hiking; painting on canvas/panels; a little photography spree to catch some early morning or pre-sunset light on the big rocky formation down the street from my house; take the pile in the garage to Goodwill; tidy up my side of the garage, especially the piles of project pieces that need to be corralled or recycled or finished up already; lunch and a movie matinee with a friend.

A few friends, upon hearing a little of what I’ve been up to, have commented that I don’t quite know how to “relax.” And…well, partly that is true. But the other part is something my friend Saskia wrote about, inspired by this article: There is a different between “self-care” and “resourcing.” Self-care is the spa day, or the massage, or the relaxing night at home. Resourcing is taking care of all the “life” stuff that you’ve somehow been neglecting. For me, before I can get into the self-care piece (hiking, painting, photography, etc), I need to take care of that resourcing bit that has eluded me for months. The resourcing part is almost done, I’ve got a few little projects I’d like to wrap up, and then I’ll have a few days truly to spend on myself, and then it will be time to go back to work. And for me, that sounds like the perfect sabbaticalette. (You know, because “two weeks in Europe” wasn’t quite in the budget/cards.)

How do you replenish yourself? Does the “self-care” and “resourcing” thing look different for you? If you had two weeks off, but limited funds for big adventures, what would you do?

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14 thoughts on “Sabbaticalette: Week One

  1. Jen

    Given the time, I’d probably do exactly what you’re doing. So…wanna borrow some munchkins for a couple weeks so I can deep clean and purge and restock my life? (Kidding. Sort of. Maybe.)

    Reply
  2. nonsequiturchica

    Damn girl! Nice work on getting a lot of stuff done. I felt like yesterday, while I was home with my sick son, I did a fair amount of errands (or as many as one can do while carting around a 7 mo old). 🙂 If I had two weeks right now I would purge our house of stuff we no longer need/use/want and give it to the Goodwill. I would also start to pack up the house to get ready for the big renovation!

    Reply
    1. Feisty Harriet Post author

      The Goodwill pile…it’s, like, never-ending. I should just take it all over there now instead of “just one more closet!” I think that would help me feel like I was actually DOING SOMETHING about the clutter, instead of just moving it to the pile in the garage. Ya know?

      xox

      Reply
    1. Feisty Harriet Post author

      Several people have mentioned that I seem like a completely different person, after just a few days. Yet more proof that this is the right change for me. 🙂

      xox

      Reply
  3. grace b

    Wow I have never heard of the term resourcing but it fits perfectly with what I’m thinking of when I want to get shit done and yet I know it isn’t self care…thanks for introducing me to that!

    Reply
    1. Feisty Harriet Post author

      I really liked the distinction; taking care of myself is sometimes making sure my piles are projects are cleared away and all the check boxes ticked off, ya know? THEN I can take that relaxing bubble bath.

      xox

      Reply
  4. Nic

    Your sabbaticaling sounds exhausting to me. Just sitting on a little bench near that pond in your picture, staring off into yonder hills and quietly thinking…. that’s more of what I would have in mind.

    Reply
    1. Feisty Harriet Post author

      I tried…I lasted, like, 40 minutes. Then I started getting the bouncy leg thing where you have to get up and DO something. Sigh. Maybe one day I’ll figure it out, lol.

      xox

      Reply
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