Every 5 years Automattic gives their employees a 3 month paid Sabbatical. Mine would have fallen last year, but I was on a Parental Leave at the time, so I had postponed it to this Spring. I have learned a lot in this past year or so about myself and went into this Sabbatical using the lessons I took from last year. I had a few wish list items for my time, but wanted to really leave it open to enjoy life as it presents itself.
I had told one of my Co-Workers before leaving that I really wanted to focus on my digestive (in particular) my stomach health. I have been on acid blockers for a few years now and after a scope back in May, I decided I wanted to try living without them. I was really nervous going into the scope as my Grandfather, Great Aunt Claire, cousin and some other family members have Barrett’s Esophagus. I have suffered with digestive issues since I first started my teen years, on and off meds my whole life. I thought for sure I had to have some serious damage and wanted to start to keep an eye on it now that I am into my 40s.
The scope procedure itself was a lot better than I imagined. I didn’t want to be completely sedated as I don’t enjoy the feeling of my cognitive state being altered, so thankfully they gave me a very mild sedation and I remembered / heard everything. They removed 4 polyps from my stomach and did biopsies of my throat as well as 2 other areas. The surgeon told me right after that they saw no signs of Barrett’s, but would confirm after the samples came back. After a visit with my doctor a few weeks after the scope, I found out that the polyps were indeed fungal from my medication and that there was no signs of cancer in any of my samples as well as no signs of Barrett’s. I was beyond relieved. I am confident I played out a million scenarios before that visit. I did learn that I do have a small hiatus hernia as well as some chronic inflammation, neither of which was a concern currently.
So far I am 3 weeks off my medication and doing well. I really do know what I can and can’t eat, so I have been sticking closely to that, especially during these weeks where my stomach is creating more acid than normal as a result of coming off the meds. I am feeling great though and hoping to stay that way!
Other than my digestive health, we spent a lot of time on our gardening and replacing our front lawn. We also created a big garden in between our property and friends of ours who live on the other side of us. It was quite a project and we had some great weather to do it. Ezra loved having dirt and mulch piles to play in for a while. He was a big help as usual. He just loves the outside. I was happy to get all of that done before the Valley heat kicked in.
When I started my Sabbatical we were at the end of dance season, so it was great to be able to enjoy all the dance without having to worry about balancing work. I also spent lots of time in gardens around the Valley and a few city adventures as well.
We have also been focusing on fixing up Alex’s house to get ready to sell in the coming months. We did some painting, with more to come and Sandy did some electrical work replacing smoke detectors, thermostats, etc. We found a handyman who can take care of the last items on our list, so that brought me great relief. This isn’t something that Sandy and I are strong in, nor we desire to do it, so we were thankful for a great referral.
We are now getting organized to get ready to leave for our 3 week road trip in the coming weeks. I am so excited for this. We will be staying in the NY/ NJ area for the first few days, then making our way to WV, where we will not be far from Washington & Baltimore as well as many new areas we want to explore. On our way back up we will stay in PA for a few more days before making our way back to New England. This will be our first big trip since Covid and it will be so great to get back into our old ways of travel. We are also beyond excited that our friends, The Fisher Family, who we have vacationed with many times in the past, will be joining us for the beginning and the end of the trip.
I have a few painting projects around the house that I hope to finish before I leave, but if I don’t, then that is okay, since I likely spent the time on spontaneous fun, which is also important. 🙂 Guess we will see what this next month brings…
I Dream of Summer 
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