kelly.blog
life, work, etc.
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I am lucky enough to work at Automattic where I get three months off every five years. I wanted to take some time to recap as it was one of the best times of my life.
I went into it with some ideas, goals, and plans: I would go on One Big Trip each month (that included A Tough but Exciting Goal/Challenge) and spend the rest of the time at home, enjoying where I live, taking daily photos with my new camera, spending quality time with B, and making the most of each day. Some highlights, with links if you’d like to see pictures/read more:
- Brought my camera around with me pretty much everywhere and took photos each day.
- Relaxed in Mexico with B. Day trip to San Pancho.
- Took my 12 year old nephew to Whistler, where we spent 4 days at the bike park. My grandparents took each of us on a trip with them and I want to do the same with my sister’s kids. One at time. (There are six!)
- Visited family in CT. Quality time.
- Biked a bunch, including a Century for the first time. (100 miles in one ride)
- Walked much more than usual. I walk a fair bit usually thanks to Jojo, but I was walking upwards of 11 miles a day in the first few weeks. Wandering, taking photos, reading at coffee shops.
- Made some updates to this site and blogged a bunch. I missed it and its good to be back.
- Enjoyed everyday life. Not that I don’t usually, but every single day felt special.
- Biked 600 miles across the state of Washington. This was a massive trip and one of the harder, more awesome things I’ve done in life. It took 10 days and I got to experience and appreciate more the state I now call home.
- Watched a lot of movies. Too many to name, but we rented DVDs each week at a local video rental store. Fell in love with Ozu. And physical media in general.
- Journaled most days.
- Read Three Body Problem, Good Material, All Fours, M Train, Stoner, Demon Copperhead. Demon was favorite new book; M Train is one I’ve re-read several times.
- Ate well. Memorable meals in Mexico at Enrique Olvera’s restaurant and here in Seattle at Paju and Taneda.
- Lots of quality time with B, connecting, focusing on us, improving our relationship. More time in general to prioritize and spend time with the people in my life.
- Got Covid the last ~week of sabbatical and spent it pretty sick. A bit of a bummer to end things but such is life. Its still lingering and has made the return to week feel a bit extra challenging.
The time felt long in the best way. I remember the half way point and thinking, ‘Wow! this has been so long and I still have just as much to go!’ I loved how much I was able to do in a day. I’m trying not to lose that feeling as I get back to work. Wish me luck.
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I took my nephew to Whistler last week to spend four days at the bike park. Its known to be the best in the world and I’m lucky enough to live close enough to drive to it. He’s not yet 13 but I felt like I was riding with a friend – we rode everything – from green flow to double black tech. It was an awesome trip and a great way to end my sabbatical. (One more week until I return to work.)
- 4 days of riding
- 128 miles
- 39,537 feet of descending
A few photos off the bike and a video of all the GoPro footage we took on the bike:
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Some photos from a recent trip to CT to visit family.
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I’ve always wanted to do a Century, which is 100 miles in one ride. (The longest I’ve done is in the low 80s.) I found a map someone made on Ride with GPS that looked great, with lower elevation gain and lots of opportunities for water/snack breaks. I modified it slightly to have it start and end at home, woke up yesterday, and hit the road. It was a perfect moment in that I had a red eye flight later that evening and wanted to make sure I could sleep on the plane. I started at 7am and ended at 4pm, with an hour of that being various breaks for refilling water and grabbing food. I even stopped at home for a quick break about 80 miles in to eat lunch and walk the dog. I felt really good throughout but was really happy to be off the bike at the end of the day. And I slept through the full six hour flight that evening. Success!
