I am home alone.
Yes, you read that right. Alone. It has such a beautiful ring to it, doesn't it?
I love my family, I do. But, 'alone time' has become so precious to me because it so rarely happens.
What to do? What to do? I could do just about anything I want to right now. (Within reason, of course! That trip to Ireland is just going to have to wait a bit longer.) The problem with the time I get to myself is that I usually squander most of it away just trying to decide what to do with myself. I guess I don't do well with more than a couple of options.
The girls spent last night with Grandma and Grandpa. I spent a good hour or so alone in a store I don't usually go into with the kids unless I absolutely need something. You would think that the kids getting older would make shopping trips easier. (Yeah, you might think that!) But the truth in the matter is that the infant carriers and fussy toddlers who get into everything (when they're not trying to make their escape!) get replaced by taller, more confident people who can find a reason to ask me to buy them just about anything. When they're not doing that, they're annoying each other and making all of us miserable.
Honestly, I do take all three of my girls a great many places. But, they are usually the same sorts of places. Target and Sam's Club are sort of neutral shopping places where we have pretty much had all the arguments we can have and we all sort of know our places in those stores. When it comes to those stores, we have a system and it seems to work for us. Most days. But, embarking on a new journey in a store that's not on the usual agenda is just something I'm not usually up to if I can help it.
I wasted some time browsing in a store and bought a couple of practical little things. I met David for a quick dinner on his last break (he had a late night) and ended up getting home pretty late myself. Late and alone. Just me and the dogs. (And the cat...can't forget Snickers!) I had thought about maybe going to Starbucks by myself and just grabbing a coffee and sitting in a comfy chair somewhere and knitting my sock.
Oh, yes...my feet are really that fugly! I dropped something on my big toe and it is taking forever for the nasty purple spot to grow out. This sock has a fraternal twin on another set of needles. I actually knitted them toe-up at the same time on a magic loop. This worked well when I was increasing for the gusset and turning the heels, but I decided it was time to separate them when it was time to just knit the legs. And these were started a LONG time ago. I just pulled them out of hibernation on Tuesday and had the presence of mind to turn the heels.
So, knitting at Starbucks. Alone. David would probably say that sounds like something an old lady would do. Well, I guess I'm too old to be an old lady because I started thinking about how tired I was and how coffee that late might keep me from getting a good night's sleep and...I just ended up going home to knit in front of the television! (I'm thinking 'old lady status' would be a step-up for me at this point!)
On my way to bed, I started seeing spots. (That's the first sign of a migraine coming on for those of you lucky ducks that don't know what I'm talking about! Well, that and unexplained fatigue...which somehow explains last night a bit more, doesn't it?) I just went to bed. I didn't take anything or do anything else. I was that tired. I must have slept through all the miserable stuff. I don't recall getting any of the sour, queasy feelings or any of the actual headache. I do feel like I just had a migraine, so I'm just taking it easy today.
I was all set to watch 'Eat, Pray, Love' on Netflix. My coffee was going and breakfast was almost ready. I haven't seen this movie yet, nor have I read the book. Just as I was about to hit 'Play,' I started overthinking it. (Shocking, I know!) I've never read the book. Knowing me, watching the movie first is a surefire way to ruin my chances of ever reading the book. I can't think of a single storyline that is the same in the movie as it is in the book. Can you? I can read the book and then watch the movie without any problems. The movie starts to stray a bit from the book, I make mental notes of the differences, and I can still sit and enjoy it because I know how the real story goes. The book also gives so many more details and insights that you could never really get from just watching the movie. So, even if it's different I can still enjoy and appreciate the movie because I really feel like I know what's going through the characters' heads. However, watching the movie first just makes the differences between that and the book even more noticable. I start to read the book and come across the first difference and this voice just starts streaming through my head, "This is not how it was in the movie. This is not how it was in the movie." It's crazy, because I can't seem to turn it off. The longer I read. the more things I see that were changed in the movie. The more changes I see, the more irritated I get. Eventually, I usually just put the book back on the shelf to be read another time. I can't tell you how many books are sitting on a shelf and may never be finished because of that voice in my head that won't let me enjoy it because I blew it and saw the movie first. Maybe I can wait long enough to forget exactly how the movies went and I can allow myself to enjoy those books once again.
Maybe. I have a mind like a steel trap. I can remember the most insignificant details about all sorts of random things, yet I once spent almost 30 minutes looking for my car in a parking lot because I can never remember where I parked.
Yeah, I'm special like that!
I guess I've pretty much talked myself out of watching this movie for now. I'll either end up buying the book or find someone to borrow it from so I can read it before I watch this movie. I can't think of anyone else in my house that would be interested in this movie with me, so it will be saved in my 'alone time queue' for another day. Sure, I have a ton of other things I could be/should be doing. But how many of them can I do while sitting on my tookus?
What do you do with those precious moments where you could do almost anything?
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