The Official Wind Down

As they say, all good things must come to an end!  After an amazing 7 months of focusing on nothing but travel, exercise, diet, friends and family - I've decided to start winding down my sabbatical to start the networking process in an effort to get back into the work force.  As I have told many people over the past few months - I can honestly say this was one of the best times of my life.  I have been happier and more relaxed than any other time in my adult life.  Reveling in the freedom of owning my own time has allowed me to connect deeply with people, experience new cultures through travel, work on my own health and well-being (I have lost 38.6 pounds since August 31st) and really hone in on what I value in life!  I feel like a better, stronger, healthier version of myself and can't wait to move onto the next chapter.  But, before I do that I have some stories to share since my return from Las Vegas.  Many of you have been kind enough to tell me that you've enjoyed living vicariously through my blog, so I thought I'd share in a few fun times from the past 2 weeks.

Immediately upon returning from Las Vegas I had my friend Liz's 40th birthday celebration at The Wrecking Bar in Little 5 Points.  Cille, Shannon, April and I managed to pull together a motley crew of ~20 friends to meet up in honor of Liz'a BIG birthday!  She had specifically requested an informal setting where we could mix and mingle while enjoying some yummy cocktails.  We settled on The Wrecking Bar because there are a large number of other bars/restaurants within walking distance and we could wander about in the wee hours if we felt so inclined.  :)  We rolled into the bar right on time and spent several hours chatting, drinking, eating and laughing.  Around 11:00 pm a few of the celebrants decided to head home, while the rest of us decided to make our way to the next bar.  We walked (some stumbled) down the street to Brewhouse where we encountered a stranger who had CLEARLY been celebrating in a much more hardcore way than we had been thus far.  We snapped some photos of him for posterity (and your viewing pleasure) before heading inside for some pitchers of beer, nachos and tater tots!  It had been a late night when we jumped in taxis around 2:00 am to head home.  Happy birthday, Liz!

It is safe to say that taking photos wasn't a priority since this is the only shot from The Wrecking Bar!

How much do you think this guy drank?  And, was that pizza delivered to him on the curb?

(We did confirm he was alive before snapping this shot!)

Easter (and Annika's actual birthday) was upon us so Jonas and Cille hosted a pot luck dinner on Sunday. The Nettles and I headed over in the mid-afternoon, while Sue joined when she flew back in from Pennsylvania.  We did an Easter egg hunt with the kids before digging into a delicious meal and some basketball viewing on TV.  Of course, Annika and Charlie entertained us with some piano playing and singing.  Check out their rendition of Take Me Out to the Ball Game:

Well, they have the refrain down...

It was a great day and the weather was so fabulous that we were able to enjoy quite a bit of outdoor time throughout the afternoon!

I had earmarked the first week in April to work on my resume so I could begin the networking processing and as a result,  I actually sat at the desk in my home office for 3 straight days.  I hadn't sat at that desk for more than 30 minutes since August 31st.  WEIRD!  It wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected to get my resume up-to-date and after I got the first draft done, I passed it along to a bunch of people for feedback.  Once I got the resume to a viable state, I went back to my normal sabbatical routine - lunch with friends, swimming or jogging, cooking healthy meals for dinner and enjoying the great outdoors.  Friday was my birthday, so gifts and cards starting arriving on Tuesday.  For those of you who don't know - my birthday is my absolute favorite time of year because I have some sort of contact with everyone who I care about (phone calls, texts, emails, cards, etc.) in the weeks surrounding my birthday!  This year was no exception.  My generous friends and family showered me with flowers, gifts, meals and cake!  Sue and Cille arranged dinner on Friday night and surprised me with a 'Fudgie the Whale' cake from Carvel Ice Cream afterwards!  To say it was delicious would be an understatement.

Fudgie the Whale!

On Saturday, Jason and Frank took me out to lunch before we headed out for some kayaking on the Chattahoochee River.  The weather was absolutely perfect and being outdoors was our top priority!  We rented some kayak's for an hour and hit the river.  It was awesome:

Jason (and the front of my kayak) on the Hooch!

On Sunday my friend John came to town from Elon  He had tickets for the final game of the Final Four tournament on Monday night.  We met up downtown to go to the Dave Matthews Band concert in Centennial Olympic Park and then went to a late dinner at Mama Ninfa's.  It was great to see him and I am still in shock over the volume of people that were walking the streets at midnight on a Sunday night.  It was insane.  He recognized all sorts of players from the various teams, including the 3 players who are expected to be the top 3 picks in the next draft, but I can't even recount their names now.  I can tell you they were all very tall and chaperoned by men in suites!

My networking has been going very well this week and I have several promising opportunities to work through over the next few weeks.  I will definitely do a final post before I bring my sabbatical to an official end by going back to work.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read this blog over the past few months.  It's been so fun to write and I've enjoyed getting notes and comments from people along the way.  :)