10 days to fill

The kids are going to the Adirondacks with their grandparents tomorrow and will be gone for 10 days. 10 days with no one to be responsible for but myself. I've contemplated how I'll spend my time. The last thing I want to do is wonder why I didn't take advantage of my alone time while I had it. I'm having negative cash flow issues (never say you're broke) so I have to be creative with my ideas.

I've come up with the following list:

1. work on a new small cross stitch project. I have a cute pattern for an American flag I may work on using the colors in my guestroom and the embroidery floss that's stuffed in a drawer there
2. finish reading my book on Einstein
3. walk daily at the lake. Maybe go a little crazy and stick my feet in the water.
4. get ahead in my schoolwork
5. clean out my car
6. finally watch Slumdog Millionaire. It's been sitting on top of my TV for weeks and I'd really like to get it back to the nice people at Netflix.
7. sit in the sun and try to get a little color on this Irish skin

All these options don't cost a dime and I know I'll enjoy each of them. I always seem to be short on time and money. This week, I'll have the time even if I don't have the money.

Magic at the lake

I had a great night tonight. My neighbors, Sergio and Iris from across the hall invited me to have dinner with them. Iris had been waiting for me to come home all day and started bringing food out as soon as my car pulled into the parking lot.

Pulled pork, barbequed chicken and ribs, Spanish rice, pasta salad. You would have thought they were feeding an army! Iris' son and girlfriend from Brooklyn joined us and the evening turned into a full moon night.

Sergio pulled a speaker from his apartment and we listened to Luther Vandross and Donna Summer and drank wine under the stars. It was wonderful. Iris and I sang stupid disco songs from the 70's and Sergio brought out hot fried plantanos with cilantro and olive oil to dip them in. Usually, I have two speeds: full tilt and stop. Tonight I found another: relax.

I kept looking for a good time to say goodnight and head upstairs but every time I tried either Iris or Sergio would say, "this is how life should be" or "you could never find this kind of night in Brooklyn" and I would believe I was part of what was making the night so special for all of us and would feel compelled to stay and not take a chance of breaking the spell.

I finally said goodnight at 11:00 with a reminder from Sergio that I was invited for breakfast at 11:00 the next morning. I crept into my apartment and shut off the lights taking a last look at the backyard and watched the tiki lights being extinguished, one by one.

Who would have thought such a magical night would have happened in Whitney Point?

DAR

Last night I did a presentation for our local chapter of the DAR. This is a small group of very nice ladies who appreciate my willingness to provide them with historical information.

We had only about 8 people but the amazing thing was that four of them were descendents of Deborah Sampson, the person whose story I was telling that night. I was pleased to see them taking notes which meant I was providing them with information they didn't already have.

I'm giving serious consideration to starting a small (very small) business doing this for other organizations. The whole reason I started reenacting was to educate the public and there's only so much I can do at actual events. This will give me a fun way to get information out to interested people and make some money for our regiment.

When I told a friend about my engagement last night and my thoughts about starting the business, she told me I was crazy. Single mother working full-time, taking classes and involved in a demanding hobby. Why do I want to add more to my already full plate?

Life, to me, is to be lived. I'm happiest when I'm feeling busy and needed. I can't imagine having a dead end job and coming home every night to an empty house with nothing to do but watch television or surf the internet. Life gives you many opportunities but very little time. I choose to use it wisely.