PTO Planning

That was the subject line of an email I received yesterday.  The message came from HR.  Felt like pouring salt in the wound.  Trust me, once I find myself on the other side of this busyness I will welcome plenty of PTO into my life. 

I believe that most people define this as "personal time off" or "paid time off".  I like to refer to it as "purchased time off".  As in I paid (dearly) by putting in many hours for the ability to take some time off.

After receiving this untimely message I proceeded to daydream about how I would spent my day of PTO.  I would be elated for just ONE day of PTO. In fact, at this point I might be willing to use PTO on a Saturday.  Yes - you heard me right... on a Saturday.  I know it appears as if I have been brainwashed if I'm willing to cash in my prepaid for use on a Saturday. 

With this week's dreary weather I have dreamed up a day of PTO that consists of sweats, raindrops, a little tunder, the dog, my downcomforter, remote control and possibly a fresh batch of gooey chocolate chip cookies.  I am 142% certain that I could spent the entire day alternating between napping, reading a magazine, watching worthless daytime television and more napping.  If I got restless in the afternoon I would simply roll onto my stomach and let one leg hang off the bed.  That would be me making a statement to the dog that I'm not planning on moving anytime soon.  Wait - for the dog's sake I would likely grab a Dingo for him when I went downstairs to get more cookies and some milk (in a glass with ice and a straw!).

After putting the finishing touched on my perfect day of PTO I was starting to feel guilty about wasting my day away so it was back to the drawing board.  Take two would likely involve getting up early for coffee on the deck and my Google reader.  Then maybe I would head to the gym for a class.  I would likely sneak in a quick tan on my way home.  The rays make it feel like an official vacation, so I'll try to ignore the cancer warnings and just pretend I'm in Mexico for about 15 minutes.  After a long shower I would start some laundry, organize a closet or possibly the disaster area in my basement.  Next up is lunch with a long lost friend - not one in particular - but any of them as I haven't seen anyone in weeks!  wait I think it's been months!  I would definitely follow the rule about letting your food settle so I would head over see my favorite nail artist for a mani and pedi.  After a little pampering I would pick up some groceries, catch a quick nap, play fetch with the dog and then cook up a delicous dinner.  As long as this is a fantasy PTO day I would likely crawl into bed around 9:30 and read. Bedtime before 10pm would be perfection.

At this point PTO is only in my imagination.  Come April, or better yet May I plan make these dreams a reality!

For now, it's back to work.