Yesterday I had the day off but went back to my workplace to attend a goodbye lunch. My colleague K. has accepted another job and we gathered to wish her well.
My colleagues asked me what I had planned for my day off. I wished I had more exciting things to tell them. I was planning to go home and do my laundry and maybe make some gazpacho for dinner.
And I was really looking forward to both of these activities.
My friend P. used to ask me — if we happened to be going out for after work drinks; and we often did back in those days — what I had planned for later in the evening.
When we first knew each other I was in my early twenties and he was about a decade older. Back then, I often had two things to do in an evening — after work drinks were usually just the warm up. Getting to bed by 11 was a rarity when the second round of fun started at 10. (I never had any trouble making it to work the next mornings — you can ask P. — he can tell you.)
These days I look forward to relaxing on my days off. Laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning up — I enjoy them all. I also like to have baths and read in the tub. I also use the time to clean my shoes and tidy up my closet. Fun!
Oh, I did end up doing something after lunch after all. (I was tempted to go into the office to do a little work, but I was very strongly dissuaded by my colleague J.) I ended up going to the Bay to buy a new bathing suit.
I have an occasion — possibly two — coming up that require a bathing costume. See, I sometimes do fun things when I tear myself away from the joy that is the office.