SquarePeg Books

Okay, to be fair, you can drive a car, you can buy your own alcohol, and you can stay out as late as you want, but I’m not convinced it was a fair trade-off.

When I was a kid, I loved Halloween! My mother and I would plan our costumes for the next year on November first.

I still prefer Halloween decorations and jokes and such not. But participation – like decorating the yard, is a chore that makes me sigh heavily when October 1 rolls around. Dressing up isn’t even fun anymore with all the stuck up work-place attitudes. “That’s not professional attire.” The gods forbid you dress up to collect your kid from school or go trick or treating with them.

When I was a kid, I would see snow and I would squeal with glee. Snow forts, snowmen, snowball fights, snow angels! Just walking in it was amazing!

Now I see snow and curses leave my mouth such that a sailor would blush. More white shit! And now I have to shovel that crap off the driveway or it will solidify into ice! And I have to drive in it to get to work/the doctor’s/the kid’s school! M*#%@&@#$%r!!!!

Horror movies! Yes! I loved to watch those things!

Now I know there are REAL things quite a bit more scary than some zombie trying to get into the house – like moles on your skin you never noticed before. And billing statements. And will I have a job this time next week? Health insurance!

Budgeting my time back in the day meant clear the homework as fast as you can so you can watch TV/read/go outside and play/whatever. That was the cookie – once I get the crappy stuff done, I can do what I want.

Now budgeting my time takes on a whole different meaning – If I get home at 5pm, I’ll be just in time to look over the kid’s homework, get dinner and then maybe work on a page or two of writing. If I take my phone to work, I can try to get through a little more of my email backlog. I can go grocery shopping at 630am on Saturday and then have enough time to clean some of the house. If I start a load of laundry at nights, I can throw it in the dryer in the mornings and have a dry batch ready to be taken out when I get home and if I put a smallish part of the project I’m working on in the car, I can be productive while Brant is driving.

Yay. Fun.