All Work and No Play

I’ve been really working lately on trying to find a reasonable balance between work and leisure. I have a day job, and a side job, and a home business – work lurks around every corner for me. That’s fine, except after a few years I’ve begun to get a wee bit testy, which says to me that it’s time for a little play.

Of course, when I intend to take a day off, I sit down with my morning coffee and turn on the news, just while I wake up. I’m generally okay for the first thirty seconds or so, until somebody mentions the economy and I run screaming for the soap room, because god forbid I pass up a dollar, ever.

That extra day of work really doesn’t make enough difference to justify the exhaustion or the lack of energy. In the long run, it doesn’t really make me any more productive. I’d be better off if I took an actual day off…. If only I could make myself do it.

Of course, I do stop several times during my working weekends to walk the dog. On the plus side, it’s outdoors in the fresh air. On the minus end, well, it’s still tiring.

I know I’m not the only one out there looking for ways to strike a healthy balance, or trying to have fun without going broke. So I went off and googled “cheap fun”. I think they got the cheap part right, but these folks have a LOT to learn about fun.

They suggested:

Learn a hobby. I got one, it turned into a business.

Start a website. I have three, kill me please.

Attend a free seminar. Nobody thinks that’s fun, NOBODY.

Do they look like they're smiling?

I found suggestions to go on a picnic, which we did last summer.

It was okay…. Mostly it was a long dog walk in a giant wildlife park, followed by some incredibly sandpaper-dry sandwiches and then a ride home with a queasy dog who had more sandwich than was probably good for him.

I think most of the cheap fun ideas must be aimed at people with kids, since there are a lot of suggestions for facepainting and wiffleball, and random things like prank-calling the grandparents.

The most amusing suggestion was to stick your finger in the cat’s mouth when he yawns, but this would require me to go get a cat (which would thrill Bander no end and make life mighty exciting but not in a good way).

The same article listed bubblegum, which is certainly cheap but a bit lacking in the fun department.

The good news in all of this is that I like just being home hanging out with hubby, since he’s the human equivalent of a barrel of monkeys. Maybe I’ll put him in a little dress and teach him to ride a trike.