Sunday, June 22, 2008

Blah-blah, whine, whatever

I learned a long time ago that in order to maintain my sanity, I need to build a certain amount of down time into every day and a big chunk of it (usually Sunday) into every week. It isn’t that my life is particularly stressful; compared to lots of folks, it’s fairly sedate. The problem is that I’ve grown used to sedate. That’s the way I like it.

And the last two weeks have been hectic:

***** I’ve driven into Baton Rouge twice to take Butch to the vet. (Two phone calls were necessary to arrange that).

***** I’ve had two doctors’ appointments for myself: one with the GP to get prescriptions renewed and one with the dermatologist to confirm that all the spots that have materialized on my skin over the past few years are benign and common. (These appointments also required two phone calls, one of which was wasted because they had no record of the appointment when I showed up. Fortunately, they were able to fit me in.)

***** The cable TV guy had to come out twice, once when I was home and once when I wasn’t, to replace the DVR that was installed about five months ago and fix the on-screen caller ID that has never worked. (These repairs took three telephone calls, and I found out the day after they fixed the caller ID that my voice mail stopped working. Haven’t dealt with that one yet.)

***** There were multiple after-work trips to Kmart, the gas station and, because rain practically every afternoon prevented supermarket shopping, an assortment of fast-food restaurants. All in all, I’ve had something to do almost every evening.

Needless to say, all that stuff -- plus a full-time job, of course -- cut dramatically into my blogging time. I did my best to keep up with reading my favorite blogs, but I got way behind on posting and commenting.

The brightest spot of this whole two-week period was Friday afternoon, when my two daughters and I had lunch together, then went to see Sex and the City. We had a great time. I guess I could consider that afternoon as “down time,” but I felt so “up” about it, it would seem like a misnomer.

Yesterday and today, surrounded by chores that needed doing, I’ve taken it easy. It’s Sunday evening already, and I’m still in my bathrobe. I turned on the dishwasher earlier, and I'll possibly wash a couple of loads of laundry before bedtime. First, though, I think I’ll get dressed. It's time to go get take-out food again, and I can multi-task by picking up the Sunday morning newspaper that's still sitting at the curb.

I’ll try to spend some quality time here next week.

5 comments:

  1. Velvet, I need LOTS of downtime too. I can so relate. That being said, you were missed!

    I'm wondering if we have the same DVR. I'm on my fifth (sixth?) in about a 18 months!!!!

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  2. It seems that a lot of us are running here and there and not being around "here" too much as of late. That's summer, and life. It's good to read your words again though! And Sex in the City, wasn't it great? I enjoyed it last weekend (when I should have been doing laundry but...)

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  3. I think blogging slows down when the weather is nice. You've been busier than usual though, so you're excused.

    How is Kadi doing? We've heard about Butch, so ask Kadi to tell us what she's been up to.

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  4. You know I've found that I get really IRRITATED when my schedule is fooled around with. I get sort of settled in and comfy with what I have to do on a weekly basis and any alteration of that, such as appointments and repair calls, get me grumpy. I think this is why so may seniors sitting in doctor's offices have grumpy looks on their faces...their routine has been disturbed! So, I hear what you're saying...I think doctors should start making housecalls again. Hmmmm...then I'd have to put my book down and clean up this place in anticipation of THAT. Oh brother! There's just no solution I guess....unless I find a cleaning lady. And finding one of those YOU CAN TRUST is getting harder and harder. So glad Butch is doing ok...give them both doggie scratches from me. Take care, you.

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  5. CreekHiker, thanks for telling me about your DVR problems. If the equipment is that unreliable, I guess I can forget about saving an entire season of a show to watch all at once.

    Duly Inspired, I really enjoyed Sex in the City, even if parts of it were a little embarrassing to watch with my daughters. They're grown women, but still...

    Janet, Kadi would be the first to tell you she's been sadly neglected while Butch has been back and forth to the vet and crashing around the house in his "big hat." I sneaked her out the other night for a ride to McDonald's and she was delighted. I hope that the special attention, the ride in the car and the hamburger helped her to forgive me just a little.

    GTS Val, I'm really beginning to think you and I must have been separated at birth. You write so many things that I can relate to right down to the last word, and your comment here is one example.

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