Boring Day Off Things

I get three consecutive days off most weeks unless my schedule changes slightly to allow for a four day stretch or just a two day to accommodate the extra days off.  When my days off roll around, I always have the perfect envisioning of how they will go.  Ideally, I'll have time for my favorite activities, enough time to watch a few episodes of my favorite shows on Netflix and Hulu, maybe cook something, publish a new blog post or two, and of course the weekly episode of Untitled.  Most weeks on Wednesday, I will also make time to watch Riverdale as it airs on The CW if I am home at the time and will eat at home instead of going somewhere before Untitled.

My days off come, and I am ready for these plans.  But then I have to do other things, these things being....

• Homework
• Extra sleep to accommodate missed sleep during my work days
• Housework
• Trips to the laundromat
• Grocery shopping
• Unexpected errands
• Doctor's appointments and meetings

Before you know it, it's the night before I go back to work, and I'm stuck wondering where my time went, as it seems it was all just there a second ago.  Now, you who are reading this might say it's better to spend your time off being productive and attending these things rather than just sitting at home and doing next to nothing, but I tend to disagree.  When you spend four days a week waking up and having to rush somewhere within an hour or two followed by spending the rest of your day at your workplace before coming home and hastily cooking something before you pass out for the night, you want to be able to kick back and do nothing instead of having to drive back and forth all over your Metropolitan Area.  But sometimes, we have no choice in the matter, and we must go out and about.

Personally, I don't mind coming to the laundromat all that much.  It's actually where I sit as I write this blog post.  But I seem to end up here almost every week depending on which day I last stopped in, and that takes up a lot of time.  On the bright side, this laundromat has free wifi, which allows me to complete online homework and write blog posts while my clothes are washing, effectively killing two birds with one stone.  And, it's really nice to feel better about yourself for taking the time and care to wash your clothes, fold them correctly, and pair up every last sock with it's twin.  It makes me feel accomplished every time, because despite my mental health struggles, I am still taking care of myself in this fashion.

I also don't really mind the grocery store.  I tend to shop at either Walmart or Cash Wise Foods, a grocery chain very well-known in Fargo-Moorhead depending on which one I'm closest to or the products available.  For example, Cash Wise has a truckload buy store in West Fargo where everything is slightly cheaper than the other one I've been to in South Fargo, and both offer sushi through an in-house sushi chef.  Walmart on the other hand, lends me my ten percent discount of course, and has the cheaper heat and serve meals.  The Walmart in Dilworth also has ready to eat meals made fresh in the deli and then chilled in the cold case at the front of it.  I could never pick one over the other, so I use both equally.

Lastly, extra sleep is fun also, because you can feel incredibly drained after four days of non-stop movement at your workplace.  To wake up at 10:00 or 11:00 without the immediate need to shower and rush somewhere is pure bliss.  A few years ago,  I would lay in bed until almost 12:00 on my days off or when I worked later and didn't have class to attend, but I tend not to do that anymore. 

Sometimes, I look at the social media pages of my friends and classmates, and wonder how they're having so much fun on their days off while it seems like I have so much s**t to take care of.  But then I stop a second, and realize that I'm doing something that may seem menial, but I can find ways to make it fun and have the time go by if I really try, and that not everything must be dry and procedural like it is on the days I work.  So while I may not be frequenting the local night club on my days off, or always at the movies or trampoline park, I'm taking care of my business, something I used to struggle with, and for that I pride myself.

So the next time you have to go do "boring day off things", remember that they're not boring, but they're you working to keep your life together and take care of you at the same time.  Smile, and maybe pick up a treat from the grocery store this week, because you deserve it friend!

Do you do anything really fun on your days off?  Tell me in the comments!