Work Will Be a Vacation

Today I arrived at a friend's house to drop off some stuff. She took a look at me and said, "You're sunburned!" I thought about this and realized two things: 1. that would explain why my neck has been hurting and 2. that gives some credibility to the vague feeling I've been having that I've done nothing for the past three days except walk in the hot, humid sun to various places entirely too far from a subway stop where I don't really want to be anyway.

Last Wednesday, with only 13 scheduled work days left before I leave for my new life, I realized that my firm doesn't pay for vacation and personal days that weren't used. Since my replacement was already fully trained, and since my hording tendencies provided me with 5 unused days, I decided to take this week off. My plan was to spend some quality bonding time with the city I love and have plenty of time to pack.

As Day 4 of my vacation is coming to a close, I can report that I have not done a fun thing yet. What have I been busy doing? That is a story for another day. But I will say this--for the first time in my life, the following has been happening to me 3-4 times a day: I"m going about my business (probably walking somewhere in the sun) when all the sudden I feel super hungry. I say to myself: "Why am I hungry?!! I JUST ate!!" Then I stop,thinking for a bit, do some counting on my fingers, and realize it's been 4-5 hours since I'd eaten anything. Then I'm annoyed by the fact that I have to do it. But, I very much want to avoid another episode of Wednesday's Full Blown Emotional Breakdown, so I eat. And nap when necessary. But mostly run from place to place trying to get things done and field phone calls and e-mails, which, by the way, I can check while I'm out and about because I finally took the leap and got myself an iPhone! It's only been 48 hours, but already I can't imagine my life without one. I will say nothing else because my words cannot do justice. But, for comparison's sake, I am now going to post a picture of the cell phone that I had been using before. Yes, that is tape holding it together. It has been there for about three months. It was time to move on. Which, as I type this I realize for the first time is very symbolic. My phone is moving on (and up) and I'm moving on and up. And, as much as I spent thinking about it before, it is even more wonderful than I'd hoped.