My yearly sabbatical is about to commence – it’s the time of year when I turn off the cell phone, the blackberry, step away from the computer and spend time on me. I recharge my batteries with books, movies, knitting, yoga, and everything else that I love but have allowed to be pushed aside during the rush-rush of the other 340 or so days of the year.

Sometimes I think I’m lucky in a way that my folks are gone. Not because I wouldn’t rather have them here – I would. It’s that I see my friends and the hoops they have to jump through and the added stress in their lives and I don’t know if I could handle the pressure to travel during the holidays and then be holed up with siblings. It’s a reality that’s been absent from my life since just after I was of legal drinking age. The irony of the timing isn’t lost on me.

I’m fortunate that my brothers and sister are [usually] lovable and funny and smart, and that it’s not a chore at all to spend time with them. I’m glad we have the choice to inject that quality time wherever we see fit and that we’re not pressured into it during the holidays.

Over the years I’ve gone from struggling through the entire month of December, weeping my way through the festivals of lights and ho ho ho’s and birthdays to embracing the solitude for what it is and taking the days one at a time, celebrating in quiet reflection.

This year is different than most on two fronts: 1. The Big House is going on the market the first week of January and there’s a lot to be done between now and then. 2. I don’t want to go two+ weeks without seeing my girls.

So, here’s a rough draft of what the sabbatical looks like this year:
- Turn off the Blackberry, change voicemail greeting to typical “I’m not calling you back until 2008, FYI”
- Start to pack, power clean the house, inventory and mark items for storage (cabin), sell or move
- Keep looking for the new love den, now that we’ve narrowed the search to a particular area (East Lake/Oakhurst)
- Read: A Walk in the Woods (still), Three Cups of Tea and A Thousand Splendid Suns (book club book)
- Knit more baby hats (you people and yer dang baby makin!)
- Finish planning January trip to NOLA with the seester
- Plan a visit to The Uncle Dan in Tampa in Feb/March
- Keep an eye on airfares to Anchortown for some of the girls trip this summer
- Take more pictures (with help from ETK) in preparation for Digital 102 class that starts in Jan
- Submit two pieces [of crap I'm not entirely proud of] to Budget Travel, because ETK is the best task master and cheerleader ever
- Knit something for myself
- Renew my car tags (barf)
- Take my annual birthday drive to designated *special place* to be quiet, reflect on the year and think about my folks
- Make a crap load of Irish Creme using the family recipe
- Hot yoga
- Sweetwater
…every day, if I can manage it
- Santaland Diaries with the girls
- Drive to Chattanooga for a few hours with Julie (?)
- Sleep, sleep, sleep.
- Go to the movies – Beuowulf should be a good start (it’s The Mc’s favorite book)

That’s it for me. What’s your story? Big plans for the holiday?