Things I'm Doing with All That Free Time

Lillian started school on Tuesday so that means all of my children--all--are in school. She only goes for a half-day but oh what a glorious thing those three hours are.

But sometimes I'll meet people who'll express wonder at how I'll cope. "What will you do all day now that your kids are in school?" They say, ready with a hanky should I burst into tears. Well I'm here to report that I'm coping pretty well and this list of things I'm doing with the free time should prove it. If you could only see the smile on my face.

1. Napping? Quite possibly. I reserve that right should I feel a snore coming on. Is there anything more luxurious than the ability to lie down and take a nap when that post-lunch lethargy hits and you can't keep the eyelids open any longer? Oh you know I'm loving it. Sorry if you're reading this while at the office. Maybe you could lock the door and pull out the air mattress hidden beneath your desk and get some sleeping time in too.

2. Knitting. When the fall hits and the air gets cooler I start thinking about being more productive and domestic--i.e. knitting. Lillian's getting a new sweater and maybe now I'll have time to finish it. Finally! I'd better finish it before she outgrows it.

3. Having lunch with My Man. Yup, the minute I dropped Lillian off at the school on Tuesday I whipped out my cell phone and called Andrew. "Wanna play?" I said, "All my chores are done and I'm officially and completely available." We can go eat at a place that doesn't provide crayons with the menu.

4. Working out. Speaking of lunch dates, I'm also back at the gym after eating my way through the summer as if it were a Festival of Food. Walking on the treadmills in front of my HGTV and Travel Channel screens, I love it--maybe I can finally rid myself of these pounds I picked up since spring. One can always hope. This brings me to Number Five on the list . . .

5. NOT eating. Whatever else I'm doing with my extra time I'm not eating. No no no. Not hot chocolate . . . or ice cream . . . or dark chocolate . . . or pasta . . . or cheese . . . or, or, or . . . On to Number Six.

6. Making cookies. Sigh. My list seems to be revolving around food--but you wouldn't believe how many cookies I make in a week. I probably make two or three batches each week, with 2 1/2-3 dozen cookies at a time. That's a lot of cookies. It's next to impossible keeping up with the way these mouths eat and only with some extra free time can I stay ahead of the appetites. A lot of cookies. Luckily I'm not really a cookie person or it would ruin Number Five on the list.

7. Finishing my books. I've been simultaneously reading Henderson the Rain King, Wives and Daughters and The Tavern Knight for six months now and still haven't finished them. I should be ashamed of myself for letting the heroes linger in the rising action for all this time--I have no excuse and it will be fixed.

8. Catching up on a good movie or two. If I want to pull out Pride and Prejudice or While You Were Sleeping and watch them for the 300th time, there's no one here to say anything about it--and I'm feeling so liberated about it. Blues Clues no longer! I guess that also means that I can listen to the music I want to in the car too--forget the Disney tunes, I can rock out as much as I want to now.

9. Working on a new template. I've been blogging seriously now for one year. Yup, haven't missed a day of posting since last September and something about having a birthday like that makes me look in the mirror and think I maybe could use a face lift. Metaphorically speaking that is. So now I finally have time to get things going so I can have that beautiful, shiny, sparkling, trophy template that will make all the other templates jealous. Oh it's going to be so fun!

10. Probably doing laundry. Even with all my free time I still can't escape washing clothes. Not if I ran at 70 mph for a million years could I get away from it. My laundry pile is like the Hydra, you do one load of wash and nine more loads magically appear on the laundry room floor which is why one can never completely finish doing the laundry, it's a physical impossibility--goes against the Prime Directive or something like that--so with all the free time you know I'll still be sorting whites and colors and folding socks.

11. Planning our trip. We've booked our tickets for our next family vacation in March and I need to get the planning done--hotels, car rentals, etc. The only problem is we're going to be going to Florida . . . anyone know of anything fun to do in Florida? I mean if only there were someplace we could go to have a good time---like a theme park or a beach or something. Well, we'll make the best of it you can be sure.

12. Taking up blogging. I need a hobby so I'm thinking of taking up blogging . . . again. When August arrived I was a bit burned out on the blogging thing (you caught the part where I said I hadn't missed a day of posting since last September, right?) and it seemed that so many people were taking vacations that I decided to offer myself a break. I've been posting but that's pretty much it. Oh an occasional comment here and there but generally just keeping quiet and getting my energy back for another year of posts. Yes, with all this free time I think I'll actually venture out into the blogosphere once again. If I'm not taking a nap.

And finally, the number one (or number 13 depending on how you look at it) thing I'm planning on doing with all my newfound freedom?

13. "Whatever I feel like I wanna do--GOSH!"

Technorati tags: Thursday Thirteen, school, motherhood, parenting