Saturday, February 20, 2010

refreshing...

thesaurus.com says this about "refreshing"...

Main Entry: refresh
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: make like new; give new life

Synonyms:
brace, breathe new life into, bring around, brush up, cheer, cool, enliven, exhilarate, freshen, inspirit, jog, modernize, prod, prompt, quicken, reanimate, recreate, regain, reinvigorate, rejuvenate, renovate, repair, replenish, restore, resuscitate, revitalize, revive, revivify, stimulate, update, vivify


Many months ago I started thinking about what I'd do over my work sabbatical. This most amazing employment benefit (which most companies don't even consider)! It's a rockin' benefit that we stick around for in our firm. And then after we return to work - most of us keep stickin' around for the next sabbatical!

Here's the nitty-gritty details on our benefit (without all the legal garb stated in our employment contract):

- After 7 years of full-time service at our firm employees receive a 6-week paid time-off sabbatical (yes, in addition to our regular vacation days)
- After an additional 5 years of service, we earn this same benefit again...
- And after an additional 5 years of service... yes, you guessed it!

So, this is my 2nd sabbatical! What does that tell you? I've been with the company over 12 years... in fact, this May I will have been at the company for 13 years! That's a long time. And I still love what I do...

You might ask what I did on my first sabbatical? Well... check out these links...

Honeymoon in Florence and West Coast Road Trip
(We had a great time... and now our coffee table holds some pretty hefty scrapbooks to prove it!)

So, what will I do for THIS time off? How do I WANT to spend this time? How should I make the most of this time? Will I go somewhere? Stay at home and be productive?

Since my hubby's job just changed he can't really take any time-off right now. So I started another list: what I want to do in my free time. Take a nap every day, do my daily exercises, get a massage, try out some new recipes, be crafty, read a good book or two, have lunch with a few friends and do a bit of deep-cleaning around the house. (We're also putting our house up for sale... so I'm packing, de-cluttering, shredding, purging, making trips to storage... the lists goes on.)

While most days off are spent relaxing... this sabbatical time is a time of renewal and refreshing. And that involves a little bit of fun play and a little bit of hard work... wait a minute, isn't that the point?! Can it be possible that these sabbaticals were created to help us find some work/life balance?!

Play a little, work a little... it's all part of the process. Isn't that just how life goes...







Saturday, February 13, 2010

today we start packing...



We've decided to try to take advantage of the cheaper real estate prices in Southern California. We hope to buy a slightly larger home ... the point is to "upgrade" in the current under-valued real estate market.

Unfortunately that means we have some work ahead of us! We start with the Mt Everest of packing boxes and then we collect as many newspapers as possible (thankfully my co-workers hoard their Wall Street Journals - 'cuz we're now set).

And then I pull out the kleenex... ok, that's a bit dramatic.

But this place, currently being dubbed "The Tisdale Bungalow", is so full of memories. We've had lots of fun had within these four walls. Oh - if the walls on this 1,400 square foot home could talk you could hear memories streaming from every open window. We could go on for days and recount times from the annual Gringo de Mayo fiestas, the surprise wedding... stampfests, cigar nights, fondue/birthday dinners, 10 Christmases, anniversaries, painting parties... pillow fights, movie nights, countless dinner parties, long discussions deep into the night and many friendships built and sustained! Over the years I've shared this home with 6 different roommates... and now my loving husband.

Good times!

The builders of this 1929 home may not have known it was in for such a long ride... we've enjoyed our time here, we've left it better than we found it, and we'll always have a fond place for it in our hearts...

But it's time time to move on ... we will continue making memories with each other (friends and family alike)... and bequeath it to the next deserving soul. Anyone looking for a unique home in the historic district of Escondido? It's a lovely 3 bedroom (including den/sun room), 1 bath, eat-in kitchen with built in hutch, laundry room / storage room and original hardwood floors (under the current carpet) throughout a part of the house... it's quaint, it's quiet and it's perched up on a little hill looking over Old Escondido.

Stop by for a visit and stay a while...



Copyright

All images are © Lori Tisdale, 1990-2011 unless otherwise noted. Images are posted for your personal inspiration only and may not be copied/pasted into emails to share with anyone else, posted on other sites, copied for publications, contest submissions, or monetary gain. I'd have to track you down and who knows what would happen then?! Thank you for being considerate.