Thirteen Things I’ve Been Doing Instead of Blogging

Sorry for the bloggy silence this week. I guess I just haven’t been motivated. I have had a few ideas, but couldn’t be bothered to suss them out enough to write about them. Swine flu? Torture prosecution? Pirates? Obama’s first 100 days? Yawn to all of it. I suspect that no one cares what I think about any of these things, and there is plenty written in the news media on the subjects, so why bother, right? But, so you don’t think I’ve been hit by swine flu myself, or am being held hostage by Somali pirates, here’s what I have been doing, rather than blogging.

1. Walking the dog around Heather Farm, where this week I have seen a turtle and the first goslings of the year, in addition to the usual suspects.
2. Taking yoga classes, though I have the chance to go twice a week, I seem to be only making it there once a week.
3. Sort of looking for work.  I have an interview tomorrow for the job I want, which has taken the motivation out of looking for other, less desirable jobs.  Which is stupid, I know.  But there really isn’t much out there right now.
4. Trying to remember about slopes and Y intercepts, because that’s Maya’s math homework this week, and I seem to have forgotten some important details in the 25 years since I saw them last.
5. Getting a massage.  Had a knot in my back that was keeping me awake, so I went to get a massage yesterday to beat it into submission.
6. Riding my bike along with Maya while she jogs.  She has discovered that jogging alone with your iPod is a totally different experience than running around the track with a bunch of other kids in P.E.  But Ted and I have noticed some sketchy characters out on the trail over the last few months, so we don’t really want her jogging alone.  And my knees don’t jog well.  So I ride my bike up and back and kind of keep an eye out, without cramping her style too much.  I hope.
7. Cooking.  I like to cook, and I like having the time to make yummy and good for you meals.  When I go back to work, we’ll have to start eating later, I guess.   Believe it or not, Ted and I have never both had 8-5 jobs at the same time before.  Someone has always been home early enough that it really hasn’t been an issue before.  That might be changing soonish.
8. I’d like to say that I’ve been reading books, but I haven’t really gotten into my new book yet.  I get the feeling that once I do, I’m going to love it.  But I’m easily distracted lately.
9. Reading your blogs.  And commenting.  Sometimes.
10. Napping.  One of the privileges of unemployment is the afternoon nap.
11. Whitening my teeth, the cheapo way.  I read somewhere that if you swish peroxide (3%) around in your mouth for a few minutes, and follow that up with brushing your teeth with baking soda, you get the same results as the drugstore whitening kits, for about $2.  I’ve been doing this for about 5 days now, and I haven’t really noticed a difference yet, though my teeth do FEEL a lot cleaner.  I used white strips once, and I didn’t notice a difference then, either, except that my teeth got very sensitive.  Supposedly this method doesn’t have that drawback, which is a bonus.
12. Manicure/pedicure.  I’m going for that today.  I haven’t had a professional one in almost a year, I don’t think.  I want to look as polished and put together as possible for my interview tomorrow.  That’s the manicure.  The pedicure is just because I LOVE a pedicure.  Who knows, I might get some reading done on my book while I’m at it.
13. Trying to prepare for the drought.  CA got a decent amount of rain in February, but not enough to make up for the two very dry previous years, or a very dry January and March, so it’s a drought.  What sucks about droughts, besides the short showers, is that you cut back on your water usage, and because people are conserving, the water companies can’t make enough to cover their expenses, so they raise the rates.  It feels like you’re being punished for doing the right thing.  Which you kind of are, but kind of not.  It sucks.  Anyway, in preparation, I went to our local water district and picked up a free low flow shower head, a thing for our hose (which doesn’t fit, because the end of our hose is old and mangy, and we just need a new one), and some coupons for $175 each off of the price of a high efficiency toilet or two.  OK, two.  But we haven’t gotten around to going out and buying the toilets yet, or installing the shower head.  I guess we should work on that soonish.  As long as it doesn’t interfere with my naps.

So now you know why I haven’t been around here writing much. I’ll figure it out soonish, I guess. 🙂 Right now, though, gotta finish the laundry, take out the recycling, and get ready to go get my nails done. Oh, and try not to stress about the interview tomorrow.