Thanks to my partner, mother, sister, brother-in-law, and the baby taking a particularly long nap today, I had six hours off.

What did I do?

work—I put in 3.5 billable hours editing one manuscript and working on the marketing for another. I had to get this done.

cook—I rarely cook, but what with no one demanding I hold him while I wield a sharp knife and no one needing her cheesy bread sticks immediately, I made myself greens with preserved lemons—spicy, salty, vivid.

read—I’m usually in the middle of five different books. Today I read about plot, Jesus as a Jew, and several poems in Field. I didn’t read the latest Robert Parker mystery because I gulped that down yesterday.

nap—Didn’t work out so well. I kept thinking about what I should be doing.

bills—I paid my chiropractor but the dental insurance still needs fixing.

write—I actually put some real emotional energy into poetry. I had the time.

What didn’t I do?

shower—I got the family out the door, and I just wanted to get straight to it.

drive anywhere—The last two times I had a large block of time, I had to spend half of it driving to meetings.

exercise—next time ☺

tidy—It didn’t go away, and I had to hit it after the kids were asleep.