I have been running errands all weekend and am totally wiped. Until now I have never understood how people who live near their jobs can still manage to drive 15,000 miles a year. I drive less than half that, and it’s because I’m not normally an errand person. This weekend I went, with at least one child in tow, to: Blockbuster, Home Depot, the library, the drugstore, the grocery store, the psychiatrist, Blockbuster, Home Depot, Costco, and playgroup. I also planted a bunch of flowers and vegetables, cooked several meals, cleaned the kitchen several times, did a bunch of computer research, attempted desperately to chip away at my mountain of work, and took my own picture twice for a self-portrait project, which I embarked upon because I otherwise never have time to use my camera anymore.

If I were a single person I would probably be very excited to be traveling to Singapore in April and Taiwan in May. Since I’m a married person with children, I begged out of Singapore and am not particularly jazzed about going to Taiwan. What I am jazzed about is that all three girls are going to Florida for a week next month, and when I have a few minutes (ha ha!) I will plan out in detail what to do with all my time. Current candidates:

1. Sleep.
2. Work unusual hours so that I can actually get stuff done when other people are out of the office.
3. Hack together some sort of digital photo frame/movie player out of a touchscreen LCD I have laying around.
4. Steam clean the carpets.
5. Paint some rooms and possibly install crown molding.
6. Take some photos of the sort I never have time for.
7. De-clutter parts of the house.
8. Buy a video game and waste a lot of time playing it.
9. Think of 37 other things to do.
47. Refinish the swingset.
48. Clean the garage.

I think the best contenders at this time are 1-4 and 7-9. In fact, I’ll remind Jennifer to put a sticky note on any objects she wants remain in the house after she gets back, because the rest of it may end up on Craigslist.

¹ Note to self: If I find myself overcommitted, a good solution is not to make more commitments.