Sabbatical Post Mortem

As Amy mentioned previously, today is the official end day - day 56 - of my 56 day sabbatical. Before I get my head all clouded up with work again I feel it's important to jot down a few words about this summer and this unique opportunity I had to not really worry about work. This is called a "post mortem" in Intel-speak but I hope it won't be as boring as typical post mortems are.

Amy has done a great job chronicling most of the major events we have had as a family in this blog but for posterity's sake direct recollection from me may be in order (and appreciated - I hope). Going into this sabbatical, I had a few goals in mind of things I wanted to accomplish and do. Overall I think I did pretty well. Certainly I didn't get everything done but enough to feel satisfied with the results.

My goals were pretty simple - essentially to have fun and spend lots of time with my family, get the house order, catch up on some reading, see a movie or too, enjoy the cooler weather up north, hit the links, enjoy a new (or rather "old" hobby), get some exercise, and do lots of house projects. Perhaps not the most ambitious of goals but ones that I felt I could achieve.

In terms of having fun, I definitely nailed that. I had a great time. I have the best wife and kids that a guy could ask for and I really enjoyed spending quantity and quality time with them. I think they even liked to have me around most of the time. We started things out with a bang with 2 week trip to Disneyworld and South Carolina. It was truly a blast to spend vacation with the kids and Amy's family. Disneyworld was hot and humid but watching the kids have fun more than made it worth it. To me, that was the best part - seeing them smile and laugh and get all excited on the rides and attractions.

It was a bit calmer for the remaining 6 weeks but nonetheless busy. It certainly afforded more time to get working on some of my goals. First, getting things in order in the house and doing as many house projects as possible. By getting things in order I mean working on a food storage plan and general house organization. I was able get our current food storage inventoried but I still have to work out the plan to get us to our ultimate goal - that will remain a constant work in progress for the time being - but I got started so at least that's better than nothing. Another area that needed organization was a few of our closets. I'm a pack-rat at heart so I had tons of stuff go through and get cleaned up. We also had several stacks of documents - our "file pile" as we call it - that I had neglected for about 4 years. So we ended up throwing out a ton of old stuff that I had thought would be a good idea to keep around. I told Amy to remind me of this the next time I insist on keeping things. Amy and Madison did the arduous chore of shredding hundreds of documents. But in the end, our bedroom closets look great and spacious once again. I worked on other house projects that provided that great feeling of accomplishment. We finished Blake's room for one. I think it's the best looking room in the house now. I think after several rooms under my belt I have the necessary skills down for a great looking room - mostly painting utilizing tape and painter's caulk. Now my lines look clean and straight - no annoying bleeding! I also added crown molding and repainted the base boards and trim. Before, I convinced myself that the default cream base cost KB Homes so graciously provided looked fine. But I had to humbly admit that Amy was right about the trim color. We're definitely going with this new white from now on and sometime I'll have to go back and redo past paint jobs I was admittedly too lazy to do in the better bright white. Other house projects included painting our oak tables in the great room black, hanging new picture frames, and a major (well, major for us) kitchen remodel. The latter is quite the undertaking and will definitely occupy much of my post-sabbatical weekend's in the near future. But I think the worst part of the project (sanding!) is behind us so it should be relatively fun from hear on out (I mean, I got a new toy - er, tool - out of this so I do look forward to continuing the project). I've always wanted a table saw and Amy has always wanted a nicer looking kitchen so I guess this will work out for the best for the both of us.

Another thing that I wanted to do during my sabbatical was work on a new hobby. In this case, I decided to pick up on an old hobby that I enjoyed growing up but has been on hiatus since high school. That hobby would be building model airplanes. I was always working on a model airplane as a kid and since I knew I would have some free time, I decided - success or failure - that was going to get my old radio controlled glider flying. In junior high I build an RC glider an flew it a couple times before totaling it in a crash. A few years later in high school, I build another one but never really flew it. So getting back into the hobby was really quite inexpensive (for a hobby that can be notoriously expensive) and it was fun. I restored the glider and radio equipment over the course of a couple weeks. Then I purchased a hi-start (launching mechanism) and set off to become a pilot of sorts. I'm happy to report that my 2-meter wingspan glider flies beautifully and I had a couple of successful outings learning to fly it. It's a really fun challenge I look forward to future flights.

During this time home, we settled into a rather nice routine that I will really miss, one that helped me with more of my sabbatical goals or desires. The kids pretty much prevent any real sleeping from occurring so what would typically happen is Amy would get up about 6:00 or so and get breakfast for the super early riser (usually Ben and/or Blake). Then should we start walking on the treadmill about 6:30 at which point I would get up (usually willingly although Amy may beg to differ) to keep an eye on Blake while getting the rest of the kids and myself breakfast. Then usually between 7:30 and 8:00 I would walk and do my big rubber ball exercises. Thus I'm happy to report my "get some exercise" goal was met. I also started counting calories for the first time in my life so that was kind of an eye-opener - but a good one I suppose. I think I may have shed a few pounds but I'll have to wait and see. After that, swimming lessons were at 10:30 and after that we would have lunch. That left the rest of the day to work on projects and the like. We also went swimming at the Robb's pool every now and then. The great thing about all of this was just being able to be with each other. Sure, the kids can be annoying at times but it was great to say "sure" to Megan if she wanted to play kitchen instead of no, or sit down with Madison and teacher her how to play the piano, or watch Star Wars with Ben (who has become quite the Star Wars connoisseur this summer). Many of these things just would not have been possible with my normal job schedule so for that I am very grateful for this sabbatical.

A final synopsis of other things I wanted to do: go see some movies - success. We saw Spiderman 3 (long but pretty good summer flick), Ratatuille (very good movie for all ages), Evan Almighty (great family movie), Bridges of Terebithia (another nice little family film). I also watched most of the Star Wars movies with Ben - that was fun. Catch up on some reading - success. I finish Lord of the Rings, my favorite fictional literature and now major motion picture trilogy! Hit the links - success. I went with my friend John Herron to Toka Sticks, my Dad's old stomping grounds at the old Willy AFB (now Mesa Gateway, ASU East, et al.). I had some pretty good drives (meaning straight and in the fairway, not O.B.) and almost broke 100 so it was a good day (despite the heat which wasn't as unbearable as it should or could have been). I would have gone again if not for a cold that befell me at the end of week 7 and a nail in tire that delayed my parents' trip to Oklahoma and in turn delayed a planned outing with Dale and my Dad. Finally - enjoy the cooler weather up north - another success. This past week I went with another friend (Matt Craig) and his family to Woods Canyon lake on the Mogollon Rim. The weather was perfect and Megan (1st camping trip) and Ben had a great time. Next time we've got to get the rest of the family up there. It sure beats the heat down here.

In true post-mortem fashion, a list or summary of "minuses" is also required. In all honesty I have very few but I suppose it won't hurt mentioning them. If anything, it will help with improvements in the future and at least ensure I continue to strive toward these goals in some fashion. One of the things that I intended to do was at least search for new job opportunities out there. I didn't do anything of the sort. For the most part, I am satisfied with my job at Intel. For all intents and purposes, I am going back to a new job with new projects and responsibilities. I hope I'll be able to hit the ground running with it and hope it will provide the challenge and intellectual stimulation I seek. I also received a nice raise this year (3rd best in my 7 years at Intel) so it made looking for something else seem somewhat less urgent. I'm positive I could find a higher salary at another company and I intend to put some feeler's out there, I just didn't feel the overarching need or desire to during the sabbatical. Hopefully I'll start doing that later this year. I don't have any aspirations for leaving but I am curious to see what's out there and what I could get.

Another plan that Amy and I had discussed and considered was a trip for ourselves without the kids. We're coming up one our 10th wedding aniversary so we felt an early celebration would be nice since I would have plenty of time off. However, finding adequate help for watching the kids proved difficult. Primary options, my parent's especially, with their trips and visits from my siblings, made the timing and planning problematic. Plus we vacillated between ideas of Durango with white water and local resort options taking advantage of nicer summer rates. In the end it didn't quite work out like I had hoped but I just now all the more resolved to ensure we have a nice getaway closer to our anniversary in September.

A couple of other things I would do if I could go back and get some more time: Disneyworld DVD - I planned on making a DVD of our Disneyworld trip and give a copy to everyone that went. I did put a rough storyboard together with ideas for content but that's all. My vision will take quite some time put into final form but I hope to have it done for a special Christmas time release. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Another disappointment was losing some first rate DVDs on the airplane trip home from S.C. If I could go back, I'd definitely correct that mistake. I'll just have to learn that experience and remember to gather all my belongings when exiting an airplane or other public venue for that matter. Finally, if I had my druthers, I'd do more to minimize if not eliminate the few "lazy days" where didn't seem to be doing much or have anything planned. Amy will probably remind me that I could have done less crossword puzzles too (I think I tried each daily crossword in July - even finished some, which is good by my standards). But really, how often does one get to spend a good portion of their morning and/or lunch routines just figuring out a fun puzzle? If you work at Intel, that answer is not often! It may not have been the most productive activity, but at least I kept my mind active, right? OK, maybe I can find better use of my time during my next sabbatical but I don't regret it that much... what can I say, I get fixated on things and just can't help myself!

Well, in true Scott Edwards fashion, I went way overboard with this account. I admit that I can be long winded in my writings. I'll just quickly summarize that I had a great time with my family this past couple of months. I love them dearly and truly enjoy minute I can be with them. Super saturated amounts of time with them was that much better and it spoiled me, that's for sure. When I count my blessings, one of them includes working for a company that provides a 8-week sabbatical every 7 years. It was a great experience I look forward to such opportunities in the future. Now it's time to get back to work and somewhat to my surprise, I look very much forward to this next phase in my life. Reality will do a world of good for me.