It has now been a week and a half since work. Today was meant to be the original first day off, but during discussions with the company, we had decided it was best for both sides to cut it off early, hence my extra 10 days.
So far I’m finding time is stretching out more, which is quite nice. The first couple of days felt like the weekend every day, and thus by the time I met up with some former coworkers a week after, it already felt like 3 weeks had gone by. I hope I don’t get used to this, as it feels nice to have time and move at a slower pace.
In this time, I managed to rest a lot yet still get a fair amount done:
- visit to my mom on my dad’s birthday, since he was on a business trip
- go for a spontaneous morning hike because that’s what I felt like doing
- do a float therapy session (which also helped extend time)
- visit Bolsa Chica to try out my new telescopic lens attachment for my phone
- attend a Padres day game (which I originally was going to take PTO for)
- finally go snorkeling at Goff Cove like I’ve meant to for months and months! I was rewarded with my first leopard shark spottings <3
- get incredible shots of the partial blood moon eclipse, thanks to that telescopic lens and my Tenikle tripod
- meet up with former colleagues for a lunch
- get books at 3 different library systems (in LA, OC, and SD)
- nap a LOT — sometimes twice a day
As a somewhat newly-anointed Padres fan (as of mid-April 2025), I love that my timing lined up with the new ownership, which was finalized on my last day at work and announced on my first workday without work! It also happened to be Mason Miller’s birthday and he had his 100th K (strikeout) during the game that day. Gotta appreciate small moments of serendipity, it makes life so much more magical.
By Tuesday, I had already forgotten that it wasn’t the weekend and was surprised to find people walking around in business clothes as if they had work — oh wait, they did! And they were just on their lunch breaks! I do not miss working at this point, but maybe I will get bored down the line (though I have plenty of plans for things to do to keep engaged mentally and physically).
As this past weekend approached, I planned to avoid the crowds and mostly stay home. I had originally intended to blog then, but it turns out I’m really good at reading the day away. I’m going to try this flipped approach and go do activities on workdays as much as possible, so I don’t jostle with everyone on their days off. This Sunday, I needed to grocery shop, and it was such a strange sensation to go out and find loads of people out and about. I rather prefer my isolation at the moment.
Liminal check-in (these are the milestones I set that would help me gauge how my body is recovering):
| Milestone | Status | Date Achieved |
| wake up with energy | not yet, but less exhausted | N/A |
| sleep in to 8am or later | 2 days in a row! but slept at 1am… | Aug 31 (day 10) |
| a week with no headache | headaches every other day or so | N/A |
| no need to nap for a week | napping about 3 days a week | N/A |
| skin inflammation resolves | still there, but might be healing | N/A |
| sores gone | still there | N/A |
| no more nightmares for at least 10 days | happening every 2-3 days | N/A |
