The Daily Grind

So, for all those people out there who wonder "what the heck do you do all day if you don't work?", here's the gist of how my day goes now that I am a lady of leisure:

• I get up when Paul goes downstairs, sometime around 5:30. Drink some coffee, eat some cereal, check out our favorite blogs and the news on the web. We used to get the paper delivered, but having to call and complain four or so times per week made me cranky early in the day, and I didn't like that. We get the Wall Street Journal but it comes with the mail.
  
  
• Sometime around 6:30 - 7 I feed the birds. That means cutting up a bunch of vegetables and fruit. I add cooked beans and sometimes eggs, and that keeps them happy while I fix their pellets, change the water, and clean the paper. If I am distracted and don't get to them right away, Tiko will say "good morning", "are you a good bird?" and "hi mom" a million times until I get the hint. (They like to watch Teletubbies on the kitchen tv while they eat.)
  
  
• After that I take the dogs for a walk. We head across the highway and down the hill to the water. Our usual route is 2 miles. After that they get breakfast.
  
  
• Here's where it gets murky. Lately I have been working on selling stuff on eBay so I work on researching prices and getting them entered into the "turbolister" software I downloaded. Taking pictures, optimizing them, etc. is part of this chore. So far I have sold a bunch of miscellaneous household goods and have 35 first edition mysteries for sale now. Some things I want to sell aren't eBay type things - which means I will put them on Craigslist, or figure out some other sales angle. This can suck up more time than you can imagine.
  
  
• Housecleaning, laundry, post office, errands, making dinner, cleaning out closets, blowing leaves around, drinking tea, reading, daydreaming, drinking tea, ski trips on the Nordic track, vacuuming dog hair and bird feathers consumes most of the rest of the day. It's so nice to be able to dash outside for an hour when the rain lets up rather that having outdoor chores pile up endlessly when it rains on the weekend.

I know you think I am actually sitting around eating bon bons and watching the home shopping network but really, I'm not! Really! I am enjoying the hell out of this break, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.