Wouldn’t it be nice if…?

Clip art

I got to thinking about this Thursday as I scrambled around trying to get everything done before I had to leave for my citizens’ police academy.  Sometimes I wonder if my life will ever slow down.  I can think of several things it would be nice to do if I wasn’t always on the go.

Thursday I was trying to set up the printer replacement I received a month ago.  That still isn’t done, by the way.  I think I need to change the black ink cartridge and try again.  There’s plenty of black ink in the cartridge but it seems to have the same problem as the printer I sent back.  I was trying to catch up on bank statements at the same time because I got tired of waiting for things to load for the new printer.  Naturally, all the menu items for set up are in a different place too.  I don’t have the time to spare for all this stuff right now, even if it does need doing.

I finally gave up on that and the bank statements and got ready to leave for class.  As I ate a quick microwave cup of soup for dinner I texted with my sister to catch up on her news.

Then a sergeant from the police department called me to set up a time for my ride-along.  Yeah.  I can’t wait.  He told me I could do it on a Friday or Saturday evening as those days were the busiest ones.  I had written a note on my request form that I wanted action.  Now I have to work that out with work.  I don’t imagine they’ll let me take notes and I bet it’ll be too dark anyway, so I hope I can muster up a photographic memory to take everything in.

As soon as I walked into class, a fellow citizen in the class asked me to help him with his book.  Good grief!  I have no extra time for that and don’t really want to get involved in his survival book.  It sounds like he’s not computer literate, so he had someone type a handwritten manuscript he wrote ten years ago.  Now he tells me he has that on a flash drive but it needs editing and formatting and pictures inserted that he hasn’t even taken yet. Yikes!  What?  I gave him the address of a website that could help him.  I hope I encouraged him to go that route, although I doubt it.  When this academy first started we had to introduce ourselves and tell the reason we wanted to take the class.  I guess I’ll never know when to keep my mouth shut.  He says he’ll pay me, but I didn’t even go there.  Something tells me I haven’t heard the last about this.

I still have to gather all my stuff for taxes too.  Don’t you ever wish you just had a day to do nothing at all?  That thought has crossed my mind a few times lately.  Why can’t I just sit with my cats in a sunny window and read a book half the day?  

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

One thing about my husband going out of state for a while is that I always do this.  I love keeping my own schedule, eating and sleeping when I WANT TO – not when I HAVE TO.  What a difference that makes.  Unbelievably, I usually get a lot accomplished too although many times I wish I had more time.  I don’t think I’ve crawled in bed before 3 AM the whole time he’s been gone.  If there’s one thing I hate, it’s almost finishing something and having to stop to go to bed.  That drives me crazy, so I’ll stay up the extra hour or half hour to get finished and then go to bed when it’s up to me.

Rotisserie chicken on a bed of spinach with tomatoes, green onions, carrots, celery, cranberries and toasted almonds - Yum!

I’ve been craving salads since I’m only making dinner for myself.  The salad I had the other night was so yummy and fit for a king.  I had to take a picture of it.  Usually on an ordinary day I find myself fixing two different meals (or I should say side dishes) because my husband isn’t as fond of veggies as I am.  In fact, he downright hates veggies and accuses me of making his salads too big.  In my book – he needs something green and nutritious.  How can people survive without that?

In addition, I can eat this salad at 9 PM, 10, or 11.  There’s no one here to tell me not to and to keep me on track of a “normal” person’s schedule.  And a salad, or any other meal, wouldn’t be as nice without my glass of chardonnay to top off the day after the blasted heat and slaving away on my projects.

 Chardonnay

I’m trying to make headway of organizing for the move and also taking advantage of the schedule I set out for myself daily.  Wouldn’t you do the same thing?  I really wish this situation would last ten weeks instead of ten days.  But I guess I’ll need to be saved from myself after ten days.  After all, how long can you survive on three hours of sleep a night?

I had a great respite week

Flowers - public domain

Sometimes it is nice to have peace and quiet and to be alone with your thoughts. My husband was out of town last week, which doesn’t happen often. I enjoyed myself a lot, despite having to spend my birthday by myself this year. I got a lot of writing done and was able to keep my own schedule. I really like doing this occasionally. It makes a lot of difference when I don’t have to watch the clock, cook and clean, eat and sleep on a certain schedule.


Of course, this can be good and bad because I don’t keep a normal routine, if left to my own devices. I eat little, preferring to “graze” when I get hungry. It is too hot to eat much of anyway this time of year. I also tend to burn the candle at both ends, so I get little sleep. Usually by the time he’s back, I’m ready for a good rest. Like anything, the time always goes by excessively fast and there’s always more I’d like to accomplish in the way of my projects.

No Schedules for eating - that speaks to me

Besides write, I did do some visiting with my girlfriends, picture taking, watching the wildlife in my backyard, reading, and catching up on some recorded TV, but for the most part, it was quiet with no TV or radio blaring away. The best part is, besides being able to stay up half the night, not having to listen to any politics. Yeah! I can clear my mind and focus on my book when that isn’t on. As an added bonus, I didn’t have to cook and wash dishes. Double yeah! I can survive on salad, especially in the summer.

But life is back to normal now with having to watch the clock, cooking, cleaning, sweating, daily politics, and constant noise. The cats and I have company again and it’s nice to have him home, but I cannot say that I missed any of this normal routine stuff. I hope that doesn’t sound horrible to you guys because I feel more refreshed.