December 17, 2009

bittersweet

November 29, 2009 8:00am

Well that took me long enough! I just spent the last 45 minutes going back and reading all the e-mails I’ve gotten over the last three weeks that I had been avoiding as part of my sabbatical. I have been reading personal e-mails and things that seemed time-sensitive, but all the forwards and jokes have been sitting in a folder waiting for today. I got a few chuckles, but overall, I really didn’t miss much. Although I did come across an e-mail from Smokey Bones, my favorite rib joint, that included a coupon for all-you-can-eat ribs for $15.99 that unfortunately expired last Wednesday. I wasn’t too happy about that.

Last night went better than expected. Cody and I had the opportunity for some much needed quiet time that evolved into a long overdue bit of mischief, which sufficiently exhausted me enough to allow me to fall asleep at a decent hour. I was concerned that sleeping so late yesterday would throw my sleep schedule way off, but I managed to get somewhat back on track. I have tomorrow off since I’ll be back in the lab again at work, so I’ve got one more day to try and get back into the old routine.

Where did I leave off last night? Oh yes, waking up (rather late) at B and D’s house in BG. The morning was nice and slow, and uneventful enough that I was able to wake up and regain some semblance of coherence in relatively short order despite the unfamiliar lack of routine. We were all just sort of hanging out and chatting while everyone took turns taking showers and getting ready. I didn’t really feel comfortable taking a shower in such an expansive shower with no door or curtain considering all the people that were in the house at the time, and I really just needed a quick refresher since I had been in the hot tub the previous night so I just hopped in the shower down in the basement bathroom.

After a light lunch, we all hopped into three different cars and caravanned to Bellevue so B and his brother and sister could lay grave blankets on their mother and fathers grave, as well as their step-fathers. Then it was off to Sandusky, where B generously treated us all to dinner at Damon’s. It’s always difficult to have dinner with that many people, since you don’t really get to talk to everyone and it seems the table gets kind of split up conversationally, but we had a really good time (and some pretty good food, too).

After dinner, we all took a walk out on the pier overlooking Cedar Point and Sandusky Bay, but it was a bit too cold and windy to stay out there too long. Alas, our visit had to end there in the parking lot, so we said our goodbyes and headed back home. It really was a lovely visit, despite the fact that it was just too short.

Now it’s time to get ready for church and start to sink back into the real world again. Cody is going to help me get the Christmas decorations out of the attic when we get home this afternoon, and hopefully I’ll be able to get the majority of the decorating done today. If the sun stays out I may run outside to rake up the leaves that are piling up in the corners of the yard and patio before it rains again unless I can somehow convince Cody to do it. With any luck, I'll have all the decorations up and the boxes back in the attic before my doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon.

Some time today and tomorrow I need to spend a little time online trying to catch up a little on what I’ve missed these past three weeks, though I’ll probably put off logging back in on facebook until late tomorrow afternoon. It’s sort of bittersweet to go back online again, as I’ve enjoyed my quiet time the last few weeks, but I really do miss the interaction with all my friends and family quite a bit. Hopefully, in addition to everything else I’ve accomplished with this sabbatical, I’ll be able to take from it enough new-found respect for both ends of the spectrum that I’ll keep a more balanced amount of time free for both.

On top of all of that, I need to decided which parts of my journal and journey to share on my blog and get that copied and pasted. Then there’s the editing. Some names will need changed to protect the guilty, and I’ll have to make sure nothing too risqué ends up being posted. Not that I’ve been keeping a sex journal, but I don’t think that my friends and family really need to know how often Cody and I are intimate or my thoughts on it.

The good news is, I’m now finally able to get a new phone, and since my sabbatical is over and we finally got a wireless router hooked up, I’ll not only be able to use the laptop downstairs, I’m going to be able to shop online for a new phone! Since I intend to try to keep up with this journal even after the sabbatical, I’m hoping to be able to get the docking station for the laptop hooked up to my computer so that I can write even when I’m not in my office without having to mess around with a flash drive and all that jazz.

Well, I have more stuff to do before I get ready for church, so I really need to wrap this up. This pretty much marks the end of my “Sabbatical Journal”, so everything from this point on is just my normal, boring and unstable existence.

2 comments:

Etepay said...

I sure am glad you decided to post/ share this information with us. An insight to what you're going through and knowing you're doing so well is always good information to know.

And I'm a sucker for new posts. lol.

ellenjane said...

Dude. You know there's a lock on that bathroom door right? And if you wanted you could have locked the bedroom door too.
Silly goose.