2. Write about a time you called in sick to work to do…what?

Over the years, I have taken a few mental health days and inevitably, they always had SOMETHING go wrong. I remember one when Elliot was little, maybe 2 or 3, and I had this whole day planned: I’d do a run, tidy up, eat something just for me, go to the comic shop… and I did all that until the daycare called to say he had some kind of rash and needed to be picked up. Then another time, maybe 5 years ago, I got home from taking him to summer camp and not an hour later, he’d collided with a counselor and gotten a concussion. That kid! Always ruining my me time! But about a little over a month ago I inadvertently took one and here’s what I’d said about it:

So yesterday was weird. I knew I was going to call in “sick” because I just needed a couple hours to catch up. So I emailed my bosses and told them I had a headache and planned to be in around lunch. And I did; I got to work around 12:15 and ran right into my senior editor on the way in. She was like, ‘Hey, it’s slow right now so go ahead and go home.’ So I did!

I did NOT call out because I was hungover, just for the record. I really JUST wanted to catch up. And I did! I finished a load of towels and I broke down a bunch of cardboard boxes. Then I went to the store and Ash and I transferred a beer that was done fermenting then started fermenting another. We then went to lunch and as noted, I went to work but then came home. And you know what I did? I sat in the sun. In fact, it was a true gift on Sunday when the storm FINALLY went away and by the time we got to the coast, the sun had come out. So yesterday it was about 65 and sunny as heck so I laid out for a bit. Then we took a four mile walk, I vacuumed rugs, took a nap, made dinner for the kids and later, took a relaxing bath. It was a beautiful day.

I think every now and then it’s important to take a day off. For now, I can’t really do it because it’s our busy time. I am getting a half day on the 29th of April to go to a family event but not until the first week in May will I be free. I am sure most people take the Monday after session off and I am thinking the same thing. I am gonna do so much once I don’t have to be here all the time! I’d like to say my day off would entail some kind of relaxing but chances are, I’ll be cleaning my house and working in the yard.