I don't know which is busier and more stressful--working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, or taking "vacation" days to take my husband to the VA (3 different appointments in one day!, go grocery shopping, do laundry, pay bills, make dinner, do dishes.

Whew! I can take today off and relax. All I have to do is clean the kitchen, fold, sort and put away clean laundry, groom the dog, water the plants and make dinner. Comparatively speaking, an easy day.

Once in a while, though, I think back wistfully to the time when a "day off" mean putting my feet up with a good book and a couple of Fuji apples and letting the golden afternoon spin itself out in dappled shade and little dog snores. Sigh....