My festive season break

From 1983 till early 2016, I worked as a teacher, except for two periods of about 2 years, when I did other things. For 19 of those years, I taught in the government education sector (primary school, high school and college) and enjoyed the quarterly breaks, as well as what was then a 5-to-6-week holiday over Dec-Jan. Wonderfully restorative, and something I took for granted. 

Since March 2016, I've been working in the corporate sector.  I get about 20 days of annual leave, which I spread throughout the year, saving a cluster for the December break. With the public holidays and weekends, I end up getting an uninterrupted break of about two weeks. During the year, I love taking my annual leave in half days, especially around gigs or other events, which makes me feel like I've had more than  20 days. 

I'm a list-maker; before I go into anything, I have to make a list. My list for this holiday has 19 items on it. I've done 6 so far. :-) But they were six significant ones, the biggest being ''Concert with Wayne".  Yeah!!! Our 5th one since he moved to Pretoria in early 2013. 

I live a short drive from the nearest beach - about 10 - 15 mins - and I always plan to go to the beach, during my holiday. But there are two things I REALLY HATE, and avoid whenever possible: traffic jams, and crowded places. Today is New Year's Day, one of the big beach days in Cape Town. So is tomorrow. So my plan is to do other things (from the list) for these two days, and then attempt a beach visit on the 3rd. Wish me luck!

My mom's with me this week, and her daily rhythms are completely different to ours, so there's always the unknown factor in terms of her being awake or even being interested in going anywhere. You have to take it one day at a time, that's all.  

What I love most about holidays is the change of pace: the absence of meetings and deadlines, the luxury of waking up without an alarm, and most of all, not having to sit in a soul-numbing traffic jam twice a day. Do you know that when Cape Town's traffic is crazy (because of weather or accidents), it can take me 90 minutes to do a 22km trip?! On a day like that, that means 3 hours in traffic on one day! I dream of living closer to work, but rentals are ridiculous, so I'll stay where I am. I live on a hill, in a cul de sac, and it's actually a very peaceful spot. I've been here almost 22 years. I will have to move one day, though. 

And our December holidays fall in our summer season, so it's glorious weather, loads of wonderful, mood-enhancing sunshine, laundry gets dry quickly, thanks to  the ever-present south-easterly wind, and there's just this lifetime of happy associations of summer and holiday, of sunshine and leisure time. 

I love writing, but during the working year, I'm constantly frustrated at how little time I have left to do the things that bring me joy - every day seems filled to the brim with responsibility. One of the reasons I stay up so late is that I want to do so much in the evenings, but I generally can't achieve them and get to bed before midnight. That's something I'm going to change, this year.

My word for 2019 is ''rhythm'', and that includes things like getting enough sleep, and managing my time better, so that I don't automatically feel out of balance once the working year starts. 

This year, I want to look after and love myself in the same way I do the people in my close circle. I think that's important. I'm putting Trudy back on my agenda. I have some serious intentions for this year, and I'm readier than I've ever been. No more second-guessing myself. 

As Rafiki says, in The Lion King: "'It is time!"'

                               After my Sabria's gig, on 15 Dec 2018. Photo by Summer