Luxury

That's what I consider having four days in a row in which I am free to do whatever I please. Now if I can just make it through to Christmas since that will be my next long weekend.

The focus of Thursday was sleep. Lots of sleep. I think with all my naps that I probably slept about a total of 12 hours. Now you may have forgotten but I'm used to getting four to six hours of sleep a night. 12 hours? Just plain crazy.

Friday was about getting out of the house -- on my terms. After I left the zoo, I heard from my mother. She asked, "You had to pay to get into the zoo?" Yeah. Whatever.

Saturday I knew that I would be heading out with Fluffycat. Strange thing is that I awoke in the morning with lots of energy. So much energy that I finally got around to sorting through the boxes of children's books that I have -- still. Hopefully for not longer. And I discovered stuff mixed in the boxes that went straight to the trash. Two boxes full of trash. It felt great.

So great that on Sunday, I decided to conquer more of the crap. Because yes, I moved in April and there are still boxes that I have not unpacked. Nor is there a single thing hanging on the wall. But I don't feel bad about it. Every month when I make the mortgage payment, I know that it is mine.

OK. So maybe the real reason for some of the organizing on Sunday was because I had also done three loads of laundry over the weekend and I thought it might be nice for the first time in months to actually put the stuff away. Because for months, I have been folding the stuff and leaving it in the basket. Until it's empty. Then I start the whole process again. So the laundry is put away and I can walk through my closet without having to worry about tripping over anything.


When I created this blog, I said there would be food and crafts. There's been plenty of food but really no crafts. This weekend I started three knitting projects. (Actually in the last couple of weeks I have completed the good portion of a fourth project as well.) So I present the above to you as proof that there is actually some crafting going on around here.

And the great thing about Sunday is that I told my mother that I could not come to take her to the mall. She needed to return something that she had bought on Saturday. And no, I did not take her to the mall on Saturday; one of her neighbors did. I said no because there were things that I had to take care of for myself, things that no one else was going to do -- like cleaning and knitting. I also figured why ruin a perfectly good weekend. And although she found another way to the mall, I am sure that this is all being recorded on the bad daughter list to be enumerated to me at a later date. Really don't give a flying fuck anymore.

Done with people telling me that if I love them, I will do fill-in-the-blank. Done with the people telling me that I am responsible for someone else's happiness. Tired of being angry because some people just are not reliable. My bad on that one. They are who they are. As such, I'm done with asking them to be there. I am done with the people who only pick up the phone when they need something -- except for coworkers as long as it is work-related. And I really don't care if that doesn't leave a lot of people because I'll just start all over again. This time I'll do it better though.

And so that's what happens when I have the luxury of time for me.

The year to come

Being the child of Southerners, there are some superstitions that I have not been able to escape. Many of them center around New Year's Day.

Last night I did not make it to midnight. I was bone tired.

See, when I realized that I was going to have to run all those errands for my mother, I decided that I may as well load the laundry basket into the car. I like to do laundry in El Cerrito so that I can multitask. Throw the clothes in the washer. Walk over to Trader Joe's. Throw the clothes in the dryer. Walk to Lucky. Then there was a stop at Andronico's on the way home. (I needed olives and only their olive bar would do.)

I arrived home with groceries and clean clothes -- and a messy apartment. So I set to cleaning the kitchen. I mean really cleaning. The bathroom didn't require as much work. But the living room? A hot mess. And how I could I put my clean clothes away when there were all these clothes I no longer wear? So in the midst of cleaning, I did a wardrobe purge. Fresh linens for the bed. And by eight, I was able to settle in with my tray of food.

Why all this activity? Because I was determined to wake up today to a clean apartment. My mother told me that whatever you do on New Year's Day sets the tone for the rest of the year. So I was able to get up and dine on leftover crab, salmon, pate, cheeses, and olives. And to watch TV and read books. All the while I didn't have the feeling that I really should be doing something else (like cleaning).


This was the best part of it all. I was adamant when I was apartment hunting years ago that it had to have a tub. I rarely avail myself of this pleasure though. Just always feel too rushed. Too many other things to do. Not today. I used the unscented bubble bath from Body Time and add my personal blend of essential oils to the water -- jasmine, rose, ylang ylang, and musk. I keep the oil blend stored in a cobalt blue glass bottle. Don't ask me for proportions. Years ago I used to measure but now I go by smell. And that reminds me. I must remember to pick up one of those overflow covers from Body Time so that I can put more water in the tub.


The other thing I have not been able to give up is my combination of black eyed peas, greens and pork. (Yeah, I know that most folks have rice and cornbread as well. Guess what? I don't really like rice. And I didn't have any cornmeal around.) There have been years that I have missed out on getting my requisite combo at the start of the year. I try not to remember those years. And although last year had some definite low points, the high points were exceedingly so. Now that things seem to be back on-track, I just don't want to tempt fate.

2009 is already starting to look better.