How to use/waste valuable vacation/day off

[indysteel]

I sort of understand Shootingstar's feelings. I've mentioned this before, but I'm typically feels a pretty constant push/pull between extroversion and introversion. It often plays out like this: When I have plans to do something with friends, I often wish I was just at home doing my own thing. If I'm home too long just doing my own thing, I often wish I had plans with friends. It's hard sometimes for me to decide what to do with an extra day off, e.g., certain federal holidays. So, I usually try to schedule just one thing with a friend and leave the rest of the day unstructured so that I can have the best of both worlds. A few weeks ago, I had a federal holiday off in which I met a friend for a leisurely breakfast, went to a doctor's appointment late morning, and then ran a few errands on a side of town I don't often frequent. Then I went home and made a pot of black bean soup before heading to the gym for a 6 o'clock group class. It was a near perfect day off.

[Crankin]

Most of my "semi-free" days sound like yours, Indy. I am working 80% time and I went through a long spate of Wednesdays and Fridays that were taken up with extra meetings and sessions. I usually see 2 people late on Wed. and two every other Friday. The intention was to give me time for riding or skiing. That doesn't always work, but today was probably one of my best versions of an "easy" day: I drove 20 miles for a school meeting for one of my clients, it lasted an hour and 15 minutes of billable time, then drove back home (I get paid, although crappily, for my mileage). Put on a load of laundry, wrote up my notes from yesterday afternoon and this morning, and then drove to Acton and met a friend for lunch for about an hour. Then I went to get my nails done, went grocery shopping, and came home. Unloaded the food, more laundry while I read, did stuff online, and then started my dinner, which is a recipe that I don't have time for during most of the week. I am relaxed because I've had a balance of things, though a little heavy on household stuff, because I plan on x country skiing all weekend and DH came home much later than usual, so he wasn't here to do stuff. And, it was a rest day for me, as I hadn't had a day off from exercise in 10 days.
I do appreciate a weekend here and there with nothing (last weekend), but usually we have plans for at least one dinner out with friends and one active thing with friends.

[shootingstar]

Maybe part of my problem is that I don't have friends readily available where I am right now. 1 friend that I know distantly....has been sick off and on. I think she's burnt out from her job and minimizing her contact with people for now. I haven't gotten into volunteering for an organization yet. And a huge part of me had wanted to give myself time to adjust to a city that culturally has been different from other cities where I've lived plus some major life events that I've had to cope with when I moved.

So today: cycled to my favourite bakery for a pastry and coffee. Then checked out running shoe choices at store. I need a pair after having my pair for last..um decade. (I really live in my cycling shoes more often than runners!) Then bank and haircut.

Off to bookstore which I visit only every 4 months or so. Bought a craft book gift for niece (who discovering the joy of pastels (gloriously messy for the parents)) and a book for me..about the history/stuff/craft of language translation. I look forward to this book since anything on multilingual language acquisition, cultural exchange/collisions and politics of language use, interests me.

Weather was abnormally warm for us: 10-15 degrees C and sunny. I should have cycled further..but didn't. Just functional cycling to do all the above stuff. Oh well.

I'm saving the electrician visit until my next day off.