When I left for my sabbatical last week, I shared some goals with my colleagues:

So what am I going to do?
After a frenetic five years at a8c, I want to retrain my brain to focus for more than 20 minutes at a time so plan to read long books, avoid web browsers, go outdoors, and write. I’m excited about lots of family time — my girls have already told me they want to spend “daddy’s summer vacation” playing Minecraft, coding together, visiting amusement parks, and eating ice cream. I’ll also have some long visits with my mom, which is particularly meaningful after my dad passed away early this month. We’re planning a few short trips but are resisting the temptation of a big one. I may (or may not) clean out our garage. I will certainly play with my new drone and any other gadgets that come along.

Yesterday and today were my first few days. How am I doing?

I walked the girls to school, started and wrote in journals, cooked dinner for the family. Both days. I also did some prep for my mom’s visit Thursday, caught up on eight weeks of The Economist and four weeks of bills, at healthy(er) lunches, and brought some treats for Katherine (fancy cheeses!) and me (Oban!). I watched the keynote to an Apple developer conference (gadgets!), read a fun sci-fi book, and started the new season of House of Cards.

I also did a little too much work trying to wrap up a few things. Fortunately, that is winding down.

A good start…. and a lot to look forward to!