Please Stop Using the Term “Working Sabbatical”

I’m sure I’ve made mention of my “working sabbatical” before. I’m sure of it. It was my favorite thing to do when people asked me why I moved to Phoenix. Well, it didn’t entirely work out. You see, I work from home. And when I moved to Phoenix, I didn’t have a car. I had just moved from Chicago, and I am definitely a public transit girl! I knew moving to Phoenix that I wanted only a few things: To save enough money to buy a car, which I would surely need; to get a tan; to bond with my sister again as adults; and to learn how to relax. While I was able to get three out of the four, the last one clearly did not happen because I’m nothing if not consistent in my spontaneity. So, by my second week living in Phoenix being holed up in the apartment most of the day—I was dead bored. I needed people! I needed socialization! My sister took me to work with her the next day. I decided that I wanted to walk around the city in my sundress and platform heels and just enjoy this warm August day like I used to in Chicago and New York. Bad idea. Abort. Abort! First of all, it ended up being 110 degrees by midday and melted the platforms off my heels. What is it with my heels and the universe? I had hidden out in the public library for a few hours and decided to pop into the brewery across the street (at 11am) because I was ravenous and dehydrated and just really wanted air conditioning. Upon being in said brewery for about twenty minutes, the owner offered me a job there as a server. Which I jumped to take!

While I say this was the beginning of my downfall in my desire to learn to relax, it truly was imperative to the next few months. As I worked my remote job forty hours a week, I took on a set schedule of four days a week at the brewery, usually about thirty hours a week. This helped me pay for all of Atlas’ medical bills, but it also meant that I was able to buy a car come late January! Not only financially, but also because the main bartender/manager decided to up and move to the Virgin Islands and needed someone to sell his car to… Handy, that is. I made lots of friends, some of whom I spent every major holiday with this year and have become a staple in my life. Others I spend an evening with every other week and catch up with. I don’t regret the choice to work there. I’m so used to working two jobs anyway, it felt quite regular to me. But I missed out on a lot. I put in my notice mid-March, and whilst we’re only mid-June, I found I wanted to share what I’ve accomplished on the “working sabbatical” front since. 

• The Farmer’s Market! I hadn’t been able to go before because I would always work double shifts four days in a row leading up to it and would end up sleeping in. I finally went! With it being 8am on a Wednesday, everyone kept looking at me and asking why I seemed so cheerful. I would respond, “I quit my job!” with a huge smile. I got a lot of confused looks. I found homemade ciabatta bread there too! Clearly, I made the right choice in going.
• I am now able to go out on a Friday and/or Saturday night! I often go out with my friends (and their friends who have become my friends) now on the weekends and have gotten to explore so much more of Arizona because of it. I’ve entertained at clubs, honky tonks, wine bars, martini bars, even a bar that doubles as an early 2000’s concert venue every weekend! I like to use my fake Jack Sparrow ID when I go to the last one, because they also think it’s funny every time. Peak comedy!
• After realizing my muscles have rebelled against the rest of me, I researched spas near me. You would think this would be easier as someone who works for a massage company? In Arizona, most massage services are at high end resorts. I found one I liked and booked myself a massage and facial, then spent the rest of the afternoon laying in the sun next to the waterfall before getting In-n-Out. I also get In-n-Out more often than is probably appropriate. 
• I spend quite a bit of time outside now that I’ve acclimated to the heat. I enjoy visiting various resort pools for the day, sometimes even just sitting in our apartment hot tub or tanning poolside. That was before school let out for summer though, now it’s become a bit of a madhouse. 
• I took myself to a Magic Mike show in Scottsdale. I sat at the bar (sober) and watched bachelorette parties scream in excitement and just laughed at how much fun we were all having. I went alone and people always gasp at that! I thought it was rather fun all alone. One of the dancers even asked for my number! He seemed confused when I turned him down?
• My sister and I took my mom on a cruise to the Bahamas! This was a full 6 day adventure. It truly deserves its own article. You know how vacations can be entirely relaxing and consecutively the most stressful time? That was how it was for the three of us. I’m grateful for the trip all the same, it was an experience none of us will forget and I don’t think I’m mistaken in saying it’s changed our relationships for the better. 
• After having it on my wishlist for so many years, I finally went to a tea room! My sister and I took the full day after the cruise off (luckily because we were delayed so much that we didn’t get in until nearly 8am that day) and made reservations for two different tea rooms back to back. The savories, the scones, the Devonshire creams, the teacups. It was like a dream! Even my sister liked it to the point that we’re making a day trip next month to Albuquerque to visit the St. James Tea Room!
• On that note, I’ve also gotten much more use out of my strawberry tea kettle! When working multiple jobs the last few years, I was drinking two or three cups of coffee a day. Now that I work from home, I prefer tea more often than not. I know that makes me sound ancient, but I enjoy it. 
• Did I mention I took in a gutter kitten a few days before the cruise? We didn’t know it but he was three weeks old at the time. He’s ten and a half weeks old now and I must say, Orange Cat Syndrome is an actual thing. People warned me! Algernon is so sweet and the best little kitten but, also, truly a psychopath. Ten points if you know his namesake!
• Lucas Grabeel came to Phoenix to host the Bop to the Top concert! There were two thousand people mashed into a small club and the surrounding block outside jamming to High School Musical, Zendaya, Aly & AJ, (my personal favorite) She’s So Gone by Lemonade Mouth, and more for about four straight hours. I was able to weasel us to the front at the beginning! Definitely the right move. Then we all got Tacos Chava after. This is my absolute favorite place to eat in Phoenix, by the way!
• Sometimes I just drive around! As my friend says, I am the Queen of missing my exit. It’s not intentional, but when I’m not on a time constraint I often don’t pay attention to my GPS and just enjoy the scenery. Our mountains look almost like they were photoshopped in. And the palm trees? Don’t even get me started. I can no longer live anywhere that doesn’t have palm trees. Unless it’s London. I am pretty partial to living in London. 
• I finally finished watching Madam Secretary! I wish this show would have lasted forever. There was one time I came home after a night of bar hopping with my friends and my sister said that all I wanted before I would go to bed was two things: her dog and cat (this was before baby Al’s days) and for someone to put on Madam Secretary for me. A truly spectacular series.
• I also finally caught up on The Crown and Outlander so I picked up a new show to intersperse with my abundant book reading—Downton Abbey. Surely you can tell from pieces of my writing that I have watched two and a half seasons in the last few days and the verbiage has stuck a bit. 
• You are now looking at the writings of a proud Downtown Phoenix Library card holder! I procrastinated for nine months, but now I am able to check out books with ease. 
• You’ll be happy to know that the spare time has also resulted in a booked acting gig! I got to film a commercial locally in Phoenix and it was such a fun and welcoming set. A lot of us became friends and I remember just looking around all day thinking “this is my job! I get to wake up and do this!”
• Lately, I have become a nap person. I work mainly mornings due to Central vs Mountain Time Zone changes so mid afternoon I usually get a quick nap in with the kitten. How did I ever hate them before? I recall vehemently refusing naps when I was a child and now I sometimes refuse to go a day without one!
• My sister has an air fryer that she’s fond of and I taught myself how to make sweet potato fries in it! It’s my new favorite snack.

I’m certain it doesn’t seem all that entertaining to others, let alone relaxing. I’ve found it to be rejuvenating of sorts. I don’t think I could label it as ‘relaxing’ though. When I lay in bed I am still stressed. When I am out and about I worry about getting home. I hit my social quota quicker than I did in University. I’m a step closer than I was though! Maybe. I’ve found myself trying to fit as much as possible into the remainder of my year in Phoenix, but I also need lots of downtime after so much happening in such a short period. Life has been happening in bullet points lately. Fast paced and in short spurts one moment, then dragging on for a whole paragraph the next. It’s just like me—wanting to be as busy as possible. To keep on the move. I like life that way. I used to wonder if I was wasting away my life if I wasn’t doing that (to be fair, that was during the heat of covid and I truly was doing absolutely nothing day in and day out). I’m content living in the in-between right now. Believe me, I would love to be busier and I’ll definitely get a second job as soon as I move again. Right now, I just really want to make sweet potato fries and watch Downton Abbey. No matter how disappointed I am that Ed Speelers is no longer on it. I mean, it is because of watching him in Eragon and the Golden Trio in Harry Potter when I was young that I was able to teach myself a British accent. Who is surprised?