Monday, July 20, 2009

What I Love

I'm feeling pretty up-beat lately; life has been treating me fairly well. So, basking in my warm and fuzzy mood, here's a purely positive list of things that make me happy.

I Love...

...Waking up in time to see the sunrise

...Chocolate truffles

...Lower numbers on the bathroom scale

...Making new friends

...New neighbors - especially two who are male, single, attractive, and funny

...My church calling (job) - I teach Primary, the 11-year old kids

...Camping, especially with my family

...New possibilities

...Cemeteries

...Meatloaf - my recipe is my favorite because it's the closest to what Mom used to make

...Pink (the color and the singer)

...Sitting on my porch, especially when it's raining

...The smell of fresh-cut grass

...Starting a new book

...Rereading a favorite book

...Talking to old friends (or new ones) 'til the wee hours of the night - even if I have to wake up early the next morning

...Trying new recipes

...Retrying a recipe after messing it up the first time

...Tweaking a good recipe to make it one I really want to use often

...Having one recipe that never works out (bread) to keep me humble and to give me something to aspire to

...The pillow covers Cassie made me for my birthday

...Water

...Having a plan

...Playing croquet (extreme or otherwise)

...Brownies, pie, baklava, chocolate chip cookies, popsicles

...Getting emails on my BlackBerry

...Necklaces

...Watching softball

...Dinner parties - I'm thinking of having one soon!

...Guernsey, WY

...Cousins weekends

...Driving around town with my mom looking at new houses

...Living alone

...Hugs from my niece and nephews

...Getting book recommendations from my 10-year old sister

...Ribeye steaks cooked medium

...My home

That's a pretty good list for the time-being. There are certainly things that could be added, but I'll save them for another day. *smile*

Saturday, July 11, 2009

A Day of Nothing-To-Do

Today, I had nothing to do.

My house was clean, no family functions, and no plans with friends. I was totally free to do whatever I wanted and what I wanted to do was NOTHING.*

One thing I've always enjoyed about a lazy day is the lack of a deadline. It's not a true lazy day if you know in the back of your mind that you have to be showered and ready to go at 5pm to meet up with someone. Kind of kills the lazy buzz, if you catch my drift.

I had no such deadline today. I reclined on my sofa content in the knowledge that I could stay there as long as I liked.

My phone rang at 4pm, Mom's ring tone. I sighed. I knew she'd want to do something together. I had a choice; I could agree to her plans and kill my lazy day or I could politely decline her invitation and continue in my day of nothingness. I chose the second option.

For about 2 minutes. I called her back and said I'd be over as soon as I put on a bra, changed my clothes, and put my hair in a ponytail. Oh, and I warned her that I hadn't showered, had no makeup on, and looked disgraceful. She didn't care. I spent a lovely few hours with her and my beloved Grandma; helping to hang the new window valances, playing cards, and chatting. They left for the play and I came back home, glad I'd chosen to spend time with them after all.

So, why did I chose to go over in the first place? Easy, I was bored. It had been so long since I'd had a day to do nothing - I thought I'd rejoice in it, but I didn't. The inactivity bothered me. Even as I watched tv, I had to be doing something else, even if it was just eating (which is bad on several levels).

I'm a little disgruntled to learn I'm becoming one of those people that can't be lazy or that doesn't enjoy being lazy every so often. Does the ability to be lazy need to be practiced in order to be kept? Kind of like the ability to stay up too late? I haven't totally lost these abilities, I can do both if needed, but I'm losing the enjoyment of them. I'd rather go to bed at a sensible hour (11pm or even 10:30pm), wake up early to exercise (6:30 or 7am), and continue to be active and productive throughout the rest of the day, at least intermittently. You know, an hour of tv followed with a couple hours of cleaning/playing/work/etc. Repeat pattern.

I think I'll live with this new shift, though. In fact, I can see myself becoming quite happy with how things are turning out. There's such a sense of accomplishment when one looks back on the day and knows that fun was had, people were enjoyed, and tasks were removed from the To Do list.

Sigh. I must be growing up...or something. *smile*


* I did make one exception - I had to water my garden plants!