Blank Page Day

Yesterday, I had three meetings.  I had to be at my son's school at 8:00 a.m.  I had a meeting from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. south of downtown, and I had to be back at the Boy's school at 4:00.  There was a fourth meeting at 7:00 p.m., but Jack was working so I skipped.  Just a day in the life of a PTSA President.

Unlike yesterday, today is blank page day.  I have no meetings or appointments, except for one after school.  The time I have to myself today belongs only to me.  I checked my email this morning and there was only spam and newsletters, nothing I personally had to reply to.

So what do I do?  I can do anything I want, or I could do nothing.  I could be bored.  I could save the world.  I could start a business, or paint my house.  I could call a friend and chat while I fold the laundry, but more and more of my friends are returning to the workforce, leaving me fewer people to call.  Not that I mind.  I am equally not available at times, like yesterday when I was booked.

Here is a list I came up with:

1. Clean all the things -- Just like Allie Brosch in my favorite blog, Hyperbole and a Half.  Like Allie, I am not very good at cleaning all the things.  I did sort the shoe pile into "Fits" and "Does Not Fit." I also vacuumed.  I did not fold five loads of clean laundry sitting my bedroom.  I have more clean socks in the basket than in my sock drawer.  Need to fix this so Claire Adele stops poaching my socks.
2. Ponder the meaning of forgiveness.  (Done.)
3. Call one of my friends from high school who I haven't talked to in seven months.  (Left a voice mail.)
4. Buy a new planner for 2015. (Done.)
5. Work on quilt I've just started.
6. Sign up for the Irish Folk Music class.  Learn to play the fiddle. 
7. Go to a quilt shop or fabric store and poke around.
8. Go to that super fancy coffee shop in Pike Place Market that was written up in the Seattle Times.  They charge $5 for a mocha, but you are not buying coffee there: you are renting a soft, comfortable chair with a spectacular view of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
9. Go to Bakery Nouveau down by Swedish Hospital.
10. Look for a job.
11. Call someone to network so I can get a job.
12. Email people about lego team party date change. (Done.)
13. Figure out what I want to do when I grow up.
14. Finish the book about my brother's battle with schizophrenia and/or send what is already done to an agent.
15. Shower.
16. Redo botched nail polish from yesterday.
17. Write a blog post called "Ferns and Flora," only to realize it has no point or insights other than "Ferns are neat!" and that doesn't even come across well.  Oh well.  There is a reason this blog is called Rough Draft.  (Done, but it is still flat.)

And yet, on those days when I am full of meetings, I yearn for those empty, blank page days, where I can do whatever I want.