A Lazy Day Off
Today is Tuesday. That means it is half of my “weekend.” Last year I did not schedule myself any regular time off, and it really turned against me in the end. I was willing to go to any lengths to make a living, but I also did not rejuvenate myself on any regular basis.
When I scheduled this term, I took advice from several wonderful folks who love me (thanks in particular to Luann C.). I scheduled myself with Tuesdays and Fridays off. So far, I have been able to stick to this. It’s hard, because people want my time, and I’m used to giving up any blank spot on my calendar. What I am finding now, is that people will wait a week if they really want to see me. So far it is working out fine to take time off. I’m practicing living the way other Americans (with day jobs) do without thinking about it!
Today I was supposed to go and see my brother, Eric. We have not been able to connect since I got home from Africa. However, he called me yesterday and said that he has to take some training at work today (he also usually has Tuesday off) and so we have to wait until later… maybe Friday, maybe next Tuesday.
So now, it’s a gray day in Lansing and I can stay home and knit. Imagine that! I found a small circular needle to substitute for the broken double-point set I was using on the mohair hat last night, so I am knitting that right now as I read other folks’ blogs. I’m drinking good tea and wearing my new fat footies over my other wool socks, so that my feet are only a little cold.
I also have a handwarmer I can finish, in hot lime green Lamb’s Pride bulky I got at Threadbear this Sunday. I finished one of them last night… bulky is not that flattering to wear, but it’s really warm and the color is right. And I just love the immediate gratification of wristwarmers! They are so warm, so practical, and so fast to knit! I wear them indoors alone to keep the chill (and arthritis) at bay, wear them outside alone in springlike weather instead of full gloves, and over wind-breaking gloves in this miserable winter weather. Gotta love something that useful!
I’m also considering taking out my knitting machine today. I have to give up some kitchen space to do it, but today Brian has a very busy day at work and will not be home till late… and we have leftovers so I don’t need the table space to prepare dinner. I really would love to make those wool/cotton longjohns (long underwear trousers for those who live outside the US) that I planned out last year before it got warm. There have been days that would have been more comfy if I had those to wear under my leggings and legwarmers!!!
And right after I post this, I plan to do a Windows Critical Update on my laptop. Cross your fingers for me, please… I know I need the security built in, but every once in a while these things backfire. I’m scared to death that my laptop will stop working. I have backed up all my important documents to another computer here at home, and I have a rescue floppy disk at hand. I don’t trust Microsoft, but I have no choice but to do what they suggest, like it or not. Brian reminds me that “probably it will work just fine.” I am not sure if that is encouraging advice or not!
I hope it’s a non-issue and I just get to merrily go on my way playing with wool for a whole lovely day. There is no guild meeting tonight, no driving to do. I’ll cook in or eat leftovers, so I don’t have to set foot out in that miserable (though warmer, almost up to freezing) gray winter weather. And take a real day off, like regular Americans with regular jobs do all the time!
For your viewing pleasure on this gray, gray, white-sky, white-snow day, I offer you color from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first six of the seven photos were taken out of the window of a car (usually as we drove past… my new camera has a setting for moving subjects, and it worked very well).
They are: 1) colorful storefront; 2) storefronts with brightly-colored bricks (this is very common, and is often done very creatively with many colors on one storefront); 3) bright awnings on storefronts (I bought much traditional Ethiopian cotton clothing/blankets/headwraps at the one with the purple awning… the young man in yellow is the parking attendant); 4) colorful storefronts (notice black and white curb… that means it is a taxi stop area), 5) furniture store; 6) schoolchildren in their uniforms… blue or purple pants/long skirts and turquoise sweaters; 7) The Purple Cafe, a place where we did not eat, but it’s very close to Altu’s sister’s home so we drove past it often.