Time Off

I have this week off from work.  My company doesn’t allow us to accrue a lot of time (120 hours), and yet I’ve been there over 11 years, so I accrue quickly.  When an opportunity comes up to take a few days off, especially if I can time it with a break for Maya, and holidays, I’m happy to do it.  I have another week off for Christmas.

So this week, I’m trying to think of what to do with myself.  Ted has to work several days at least.  He’s working as an independent contractor right now, which means, when he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid.  Blech.  Maya has some homework.  Not a ton, I hope, but some.  Here are my thoughts…

• Tuesday, I’m going into the city for lunch with a friend.  I haven’t seen her in awhile, and she’s a kick in the pants (if a kick in the pants were actually fun and lovely, that is), so I’m looking forward to that.
• I’d like to see ‘A Royal Affair’.  I don’t know that Ted and/or Maya are at all interested, so this might be one I go see on my own.  I am not one of those people that minds going to a movie on my own.  I did it sometimes when I was unemployed, and I really liked it. ~ Update:  I have a date with my Mother-in-Law to see this on Wednesday.  Yay!
• I have an avocado tree, that I grew from a seed.  It’s a little taller than me now, and it needs a bigger pot.  I have to decide whether to go to the house down the street and ask them if they want to sell me the pot in front of their house, which has been empty of plants for YEARS and is quite heavy, glazed terra cotta, or else I have to go buy something.  When it rains, the weight of the water on the leaves makes the tree fall over, so it really does need a bigger pot.  The dirt in our yard is clay, and we have stupid eucalyptus trees dropping their detritus all over the place, so putting it in the ground isn’t much of an option. ~ Update: Knocked on the door this morning, but no one was home.  I guess I’ll go to Home Depot tomorrow and see what they have.
• I’d like to do my Thanksgiving cooking on Wednesday, rather than waiting until Thursday.  We’re having Thanksgiving with Ted’s family, and it’s a group effort.  I’m bringing cranberry sauce (with a secret new ingredient), pecan pie, walnut pie, and sweet potato pudding.  I’ll tell you about the recipes if they turn out well.  Except for the sweet potato pudding, because I’ve told you about that one already.
• Read a book.  I have a new book from the library, The Soldier’s Wife.  Cherry mentioned something in the comments here about a book she’s reading, and when I looked it up on Amazon, this came up as something that people who buy that book often also buy.  I liked that it takes place in Guernsey, of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, an unfortunately named book if ever I’ve heard of one.  I loved that story, though, against all odds.  I’m looking forward to diving in there.
• Maybe a little Christmas shopping.  Seems like a good idea to get started before the madness starts.  I would rather pay a higher price than get caught up in the crowds.  Not sure what I’m getting anyone yet, though.
• Go see Grandma.  This one is already scheduled, for Saturday.  My cousin and her kids will be up visiting from Santa Maria, and we like to get together and visit when we can.  I’ll bring some chocolates, and I’m not sure what else.  More and more I’m so grateful that I still have my darling Grandma, who is actually pretty young (well, she’s not young, but I’m going to be 47 this year, and she’ll be 90).  I love her dearly.

So those are my thoughts.  What about you…if you had a week off from work, but family would be working and studying and doing their own thing…what would you do with yourself?