Monday, April 07, 2008

*Sigh* Back to Lakewood

My cat did NOT want to leave. She was so so happy to be in a huge house all to herself. I don't think I've every seen her so content. So when I drove home she was extra annoying. She meowed constantly, used the litterbox 4 times before we got to Parachute, barfed her breakfast down between the seats, and wandered into the back window, panting in terror at the 360-degree view of cars and wide open spaces. She completely freaked out and was too scared to come down. After ten minutes of coaxing I pulled off the road and she got down.

But I'm pleased to report that all the cuddling she exhibited at the house in the country is lingering still. She actually jumped in my lap while I was transcribing today - and she just wanted scratching! No food requests! I let her purr away until my legs fell asleep.

Whenever I leave my parents house they pack up some groceries from their pantry. It's a good deal: I get some nifty food items and they get to clean out their overflowing cabinets. This time my dad packed up three bags and a cooler while I was packing my suitcase. What a strange array Ben and I found when I unpacked them four hours later. Let me give you an idea of the vastness and variety included in these bags:
  • canned lychees
  • lingonberry bread mix
  • tuna in foil packets
  • roasted pepper bruschetta spread
  • Power Rangers kinder eggs
  • water chestnuts
  • two dozen eggs
  • Swedish sour jelly stars
  • fresh herbs from Mom's garden
  • roasted cashews
  • japanese rice cracker snack mix
  • dehydrated mushrooms
  • dried mango strips
  • coconut milk
  • tabouli and gumbo boxed mixes
  • creamed honey
  • 3 pounds of short pasta
  • a bottle of sauvignon
  • fritos
  • 4 boxes of pocky
  • marinara sauce
  • cat food treats
  • marinated artichokes
  • various canned beans
  • and the strangest of all - rye bread mix in a milk-carton like jug.
I love it. It was pretty hilarious sorting through all of it :-) So now I have a well stocked and diverse pantry. Ben was especially happy to see the tuna, since I don't eat any seafood whatsoever. (Really. Nothing from the sea. Period.)

I get two questions asked almost every day since Febuary (which is quite an accomplishment since I don't get out much).

1) When does school start? (May 5th May 5th May 5th)
2) What do you do all day?

What DO I do all day? Well, for starters, it's very hard to wake up when you have no schedule. I set my alarm for 7:30 and fully intend to obey it when I go to sleep each night. But then I sleep until 8, that becomes 8:30, that becomes 9. On good days I get up then and on bad days I stretch it to 10.

I try to do my Denise Austin aerobics video for 30 minutes each morning, but my hit rate is about 50%. I have some cheerios and read a magazine or book. I shower and dress. By then it could be anywhere from 10:00 to 11:30, so my day is almost half over!

I do medical transcription for a couple hours, taking a break for lunch and to walk the dog. I work slowly, usually chatting with friends and checking my rss feeds between letters.

By 2 things are pretty slow. I may tackle a to-do item, like today I cleaned out my basement storage room. Tomorrow I might deep clean my carpet. Then I'll usually watch TV or a movie while working on a craft project. Around 4:30 I start thinking about making dinner and we eat around 6 pm.

At night I hang out near Ben, usually reading or crafting. I might play games with friends or go out on shopping errands (like tonight we got groceries). We go to bed between 10:30 and 11:30.

Wow. That's pretty boring. I don't know why I bothered writing all of that out. I guess because when people ask me I say "oh, I'm working from home and I do this and that." But that answer doesn't make sense to me because I know I only work for a couple hours. So maybe I needed to see for myself how I pass each day. Somehow something usually comes up that I can spend time on, whether for school or my parents' work or household chores. On the days when nothing comes up I get a bit depressed. It's hard to enjoy free time when there's a lot of it. People say to enjoy it because I'll be so busy once school starts that I'll miss it. But you always want what you can't have.

Four weeks left.

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