Busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest (his favorite)
Busier than a one armed wallpaperer
Busier than a mosquito at a nudist colony
Busier than a rooster in a hen house.
And so on. Google "busier than a" and see many, many more!
Sometimes people ask me what I do all day. In sort of a negative way. First of all, what is wrong with doing nothing? After racing around for YEARS investing time and effort into loving my husband, working full time or part time, raising a child, volunteering, caring for a dog and/or a cat, keeping house, entertaining, etc. I rather enjoy moving at a very slow pace. Some days I spend 45 minutes meditating (or napping) ticking off my list of "remember that day in June 1987 when I was up all night with a little one starting an earache".
I probably spend more time doing a task than before, because I have the time. When you're in a hurry you can fold a load of laundry in ten minutes. Now I enjoy the process (kinda Marie Kondo style), folding purposefully, smoothing the wrinkles, sorting by person. It takes me 10-15 minutes to make my bed these days.
As I age, I no longer multi-task...although today I did. SOOOO busy. Turned on the self cleaning oven. Backed up my hard drive.
I also installed my Hickie shoe fasteners. Spent an hour with some kitties I am caring for. Read what I wanted from the NY Times. Filled my week long vitamin caddy. Lost three games of Word Streak. Played three games of LetterPress. Walked 2,000 steps on purpose, another 1,500 just living in this tiny space. Signed up for Defensive Driving (I couldn't get the online version to work ... and it's FOUR hours so I would get bored and procrastinate). Made a doctor appt (no easy task some days!)
Spring Break for the boys starts at noon tomorrow. I spent some time finding family things for them to do that are affordable (does your library have cultural passes you can borrow? Amazing opportunities ... art museum, Japanese Garden, Oregon Historical Society and more).
And now ...
Don't forget the time sucking Facebook. It's how I socialize daily with family and friends and a few comic relief pages. I try to put a colorful greeting for birthdays or anniversaries or congrats. I'm getting more vocal with local issues.
Here I am ... dinner time!
I totally identify with your post. At times I feel like I should be making apologies for the slowness of my days, but I enjoy them too much to feel too guilty. You're right...we've earned this.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathleen! Thanks for commenting.
DeleteGlad to see I have a friend in un-busyness!
Someone just yesterday asked me what I do with my time. I find that question so annoying. At times I think it's insulting because they think widows living alone are sitting around sucking our thumbs, and other times I think it's a fishing trip because the person asking is looking for ideas for filling their time. Either way, I have trouble coming up answers. For one, I don't like to tell most people that I spend my mornings writing. I usually say I'm active at the senior hall and leave it at that.
ReplyDeleteI also spend my mornings on the computer, with coffee! This week with a lot of boy noise going on around me. Now they play music on Alexa. I can do the more mellow stuff ... but when they want dance tunes ... I move to my room!!
DeleteI think we should make a list, memorize it, and spout it off to those who ask. Actually ... it would be pretty long!!
I spend a lot of my morning reading the paper (online), checking news sites (we don't use TV), doing my correspondence, etc.
I sleep in til 9am (why do people think that sounds lazy ... but going to bed at 9pm isn't!)
People!