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Thursday, March 14, 2019

my unexpected 3-week staycation

I'm currently in the middle of an impromptu, unpaid three week staycation.

When I accepted my new job, I gave 30 days notice to my previous employer. I'd finish up my last day on February 22 and start on March 4, with a whole week to prepare myself for the new position and take a mental break from paperwork and learning the ropes.

Then, life happened, and ruined my plans. The Florida Department of Health didn't send me a deficiency letter letting me know that I was missing necessary documents for my application, my transcripts got lost in the mail sorting process, and my start date was pushed back two weeks. When I initially started writing this post, this problem still wasn't solved, and I was in the process of doing all I could to go with the flow and not develop a stress ulcer. You know, accepting that I was out of control and all that.

Photo by Jen P. on Unsplash

Note: I'm no good at that. And it's a good thing I'm not, because last week I spent hours driving around to my old university and tracking down higher-ups in Tallahassee to speak to over the phone about the situation. Even though I knew the hospital had dealt with DOH issues before, I was deathly afraid of getting fired from a position I hadn't even started yet. I was a woman on a mission. All I can say now is that perseverance is key, friends. I got 'er done, and I am all ready to start on Monday.

But anyway, getting back to it. I've been free as a bird in the Florida summer sky. That analogy seems fitting, as it's been early summer temperatures here in Tampa Bay lately. Early summer temperatures means high 70s/low 80s, because true summer doesn't begin here until evening temperatures are upwards of 90 degrees. I read an email subject line from Francesca's the other day that said, "Bright sweaters for spring!" and I said to Ryan, "who can wear sweaters in the SPRING?"

Probably the rest of the country, Samantha.

Having all this time off with no responsibility, no shifts to pick up, and no one to report to has been a weird feeling, but it's also been a giant spoonful of soul food. I've been getting to sleep in, spend extra time with family, make plans with friends, go to the gym, read books, and catch up on all the shows I've been "meaning to watch" for months. Before you get too jealous of my seemingly dream life, understand that because of my unexpected paperwork debacle, I'm also behind a couple of paychecks, so I've been staycationing rather frugally. Ha!

Alas, soon enough, I'll be back in the working world, so I'm trying to enjoy every slow morning waking up alongside my pooch pals, every sip of a weeknight margarita, every afternoon telling Netflix that I am indeed still watching. And by that, I mean HBO because I'm at the tail-end of season two of Game of Thrones and finally getting into it.

What would you do if you had an extra two weeks of unpaid vacation?



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