I’m not sure what to do with a day off
Monday is Memorial Day. Most of the country, including all of my clients, will be taking the day off. But I plan to work, perhaps finish up some billing, plow through the editing of a website I need to finish, knock out an article on the results of a survey. Maybe I’ll follow up with some leads I’ve left hanging, or try to update my own website with its woefully out of date samples and text.
As a small business owner and a single woman who lives alone, I’m not sure what I’d really do with a day off. When I was dating, I guess a day off would mean a little side trip or a fun day watching movies. When I’m here in my house by myself, I’m working, or at least I’m sitting here at the computer. I guess sometimes it means I’m sitting in the bathtub or taking a nap, but full days here of doing nothing are out of the question.
There are days I don’t work, but I don’t spend them here. On Saturdays I do my long runs with Team in Training, the fundraising arm of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Perhaps a hundred of us have been meeting every Saturday for four months to run between 4 and 20 miles. But tomorrow we do 8 and have the final pep talk for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, which is June 1. After the marathon, I’ll either find another group to run with on Saturdays or I’ll go back to spending Friday and Saturday nights at the gym and working during the day. (It’s not as pathetic as it sounds, and if it is, don’t tell me.)
I also meet friends for coffee, attend a dinner on occasion, run hither and yon with Erin, congregate at the track on Thursday mornings with a dozen other people who like to torture themselves…. I’m not entirely alone all the time. But because I live and work at home by myself, I don’t think I’ll get back that relaxed weekend leisure time, when someone calls to ask, “Whatcha up to?” and I answer honestly, “Nuthin. Just hanging out.”


Posts
Claire on 23 May 2008 at 7:38 am #
I’ll be working too. Mostly because, thankfully, I have some work to do, and I can’t afford right now to lose the hours. I don’t want to work 4 ten-hour days the rest of the week, so I might as well work Monday. Unless my son-in-law is barbequeing. Then I might go up there later in the afternoon.
Sara Best on 23 May 2008 at 8:54 am #
My husband was on vacation this week so I had planned to take yesterday off to spend with him. The kids were in school/day care and we were just going to go for a long walk with the dogs, go out for lunch, sit out on the deck and talk, it was going to be lovely.
But then the reality of running my own business reared its ugly head and two different clients emailed with emergency changes and edits to copy I’d sent them earlier in the week.
Our date day turned into a quick buffet lunch in between hours of work at my desk.
Ah well, what can ya do?