Fuloughed but Not Forlorn--Furlogue Day One

Federal Government

There is no better gift than the gift of time, and that’s what the federal government has given me. So it is my duty to spend this time efficiently. Here is a list, by no means comprehensive, of my furlough plans:  exercise every day; catch up with old friends over long leisurely lunches; write every day; switch over winter/summer clothes closet; do home office paperwork/filing;  make spontaneous appointments at the Dry Bar and Acqua Nails;  make test desserts for wedding shower I am hosting next week; get back into yoga; read Part Two of War and Peace (an assignment from my underachieving book club); and, it goes without saying, helping the Prince with whatever he demands.

I thought sleeping late might be a part of this plan but apparently not, I woke up at 4 and 5 and finally gave in and got up at 6. My immediate duties were to make lunch for the Prince and prepare him for his senior portrait. He asked his personal valet to bring his clothes to school and leave them in the front office so that he wouldn’t “have to carry them around.”

So I found that by 9:30 a.m. I had already gone to the high school, gone to the pharmacy, gone on a 2.5 mile run, done two loads of laundry, and read the paper. Only 12 and half hours until I go to bed.

Yesterday, the first half day of furlough, I came home and worked all afternoon on my other job,  freelance editing for a health magazine, where finding typos gives me inordinate joy. Good timing because the magazine is at the peak of its production schedule. Lots to do.

Yum, Yum, My Gum

Something else is happening this week. I am on Day 2 of stopping Nicorette Gum which I have been chain chewing for about a decade.  Oddly enough it was the expense, at least $50 or $60 a week; that drove my decision, more than concerns about long-term health.  So now I am going through nicotine withdrawal which leaves the mind a little scattered. My brain looks like Morning Joe when they have 7 screens of pundits on at the same time. One screen is looking through pockets of winter coats for the odd piece of gum. One is chewing Cinnamon Trident and then when the brain realizes the trick, says, ”Where the hell is the nicotine?”  One is figuring out how to get all the furlough plans done; one is writing this blog and I guess the other screens are screaming about extremist Republicans and moderate Democrats.

Gotta go make granola now.

Homemade Granola-What is Happening to Me?