Post-commuting free time

Since trading my job 38 miles away for one that's a mere 3.3 miles from home, I've been asked countless times: "what do you do with all your spare time?" 

In my old job I got up at 6:30, left the house at 7:12a to catch a bus to Seattle, worked from 8:30-5, caught the 5:08p bus home, arrived home around 6:30, made and ate dinner by 7:30, then vegged until my 10p bedtime.  I wasn't particularly productive, especially in the winter when the daylight hours are basically 8-4:30 in Western Washington.  Spending 2 1/2 hours per day on a bus really sucks the life out of you.

Yesterday I decided to jot down what I do in a typical day, it being fairly typical, because I was curious how my new life compares.

7:00 - get up, get ready for work
7:50 - leave for work
8-4:25 - work
4:25 - scoot out a few minutes early sp I can get to glass store that closes at 5
4:35 - dash home to grab the window I'm refurbishing, the dog, and the chisels I want to return at Lowe's

4:50 - arrive at the glass store, order new piece of glass to replace this one

5:15 - arrive at Lowe's, get refund, mentally figure out how much the solid hardwood flooring would cost for the piece that's missing in the living room (the furnace intake used to be there at some point), buy some pickle crisp for the cukes my mom is buying for me tomorrow

5:50 - get back home, collect chicken eggs, squirt the neighbor's barking barking barking dogs with vinegar diluted with water, preheat BBQ, turn on canning water to finish the last batch of vanilla-peach jam

5:55 - get dinner ready for the grill: whole chicken and roasted corn from farmers markets, red potatoes from our garden

6:15 - put away dry pots and pans from yesterday's peach-canning spree, wash some jars for the vanilla-peach jam

6:25 - hubbie gets home and finds that Rosemary has eaten all the cat food, cross "feed dog" off the to-do list
6:30 - delight in telling hubbie that the spray bottle of "Canine Shutter-Upper" (patent pending) is working, hope that neighbors don't notice their dogs smell like vinegar

6:32 - realize that the jam fixings had been frozen so jars and canning water are not useful tonight

6:35 - take out recycling and trash, flip dinner on grill

6:40 - come back into house and squeal with glee upon discovering that hubbie has swept

6:41 - shred cabbage for sauerkraut and take pics for blog

7:05 - timer dings for dinner - ignore it until cabbage for sauerkraut is salted

7:10 - get dinner off the grill, plate it, pop open a hard cider, watch some TV for a bit

8:00 - transfer the sauerkraut into its resting spot for the next few weeks, put away dinner dishes, prepare leftovers for lunches tomorrow

8:20 - check to see if chickens are put away (they aren't), start this blog post

8:38 - take Rosemary outside to pee, lock up chickens, notice they're nearly out of food so refill the feeder

8:45 - start the dishwasher and settle in to watch "It's Complicated" with the hubbie (very, very funny movie)

10:45 - brush teeth and hit the hay

If I had any spare time, I'd probably read or knit but it seems I'm wasting it on sleep.

On a final note, happy 38th anniversary to my parents!