Is my boss trying to get rid of me, how to quit kindly?

I have been a work horse since high school, and have never had a job that I didn't excel at. I interned with the company I work for now while in college, listened to their advice to move across the country to get experience at a small market and then moved back when they hired me. I received little training and pretty much had to "learn the hard way" since there's not a manager 2/5 days I worked. To make a 2-year long story short, I work with a boss who is like the Rachel McAdams of Mean Girls. She and the 2 other girls we work with, call each other every morning to coordinate their outfits, then each day they go take a picture of themselves in the studio. About a year ago I was written up for insubordination because I did not sit in their little hub when she said "Hey, you can come sit over here if you want." Why would I sit at another person's filthy desk (crumbs EVERYWHERE) when all my shortcuts/messengers/phone is set up in my nice/clean cubicle?? Six months after that I was put on a 60 day probation by another manager who assured me the probation had 2 outcomes and 2 outcomes only...you stay, or you're fired. The reasoning they gave for my probation came as a surprise to me. There were about 4 issues they wanted resolved and it was later discovered (due to my own record keeping) that 3 of them had to do with my co-workers coming to work an hour or two late on the weekends when management wasn't there (they were later written up). Each week we'd have a probationary meeting where my bosses would discuss the 4 topics. Every single meeting they had "no complaints." After my 60 days we sat down..and instead of staying or getting fired they decided to extend my probation another 60 days. I asked for them to write down what still needed work on since they always had no complaints, they told me off-hand they couldn't think of anything but that they'd make me a list. I did not receive that list for another 60 days!! and none of the bullet points on it were from my original probation plan, and 2 of the new bullet points were disproved by a quick google search. It's been 90 days on my new probation and I asked my boss when it would be over...and he took another week to get back to me...finally resolving to "let me know or let me go at the beginning of March. Going to work for 1/2 a year now knowing I may be leaving the office that day without a job has been incredibly stressful on me physically and emotionally. I have made plans to take a year off, to spend time with my family who I haven't seen (other than week long vacations twice a year) in 10 years...I think it will help me get back to what's important. My concerns are this...my boss is known for firing people when they go in his office to give 2 weeks notice, so I don't know how to tell him thanks but no thanks without getting canned, especially given the circumstances. I also know his recommendation is the one that matters for any future employer in this industry and don't want to flush 4 years of hard work down the toilet. Most people I know get to say "I'm moving on to something better, got a job at a bigger station...etc. and their boss somewhat understands but I'm going back to a tiny town where I will probably be waiting tables for a paycheck." What I have going for me, I'm the number one rated show he has, and I've kept all my ratings documents to prove it, I also received an amazing write up from a local tv critic who my boss has never been able to please, and I will find out in June if I'm an Emmy nominated/winning writer which is a stand-alone recommendation. I'd really love to hear advice from anyone who has it, thanks for reading my novel