Time

I’ve never had this much time on my hands before. I’ve had summers off from teaching but that’s usually filled with trying to do as many things as possible before school starts again. Now, for the first time really in my entire life, I have all the time in the world.

I find myself feeling like I’m shuffling through Netflix, seeing 100 things I’d like to watch but can’t pick one and instead just spend all my time scrolling until it’s time for bed. Granted, I don’t have THAT much free time because I do watch my son during the day, but I still have more time than I’ve ever had before. So what’s on the list?

Books! I have piles and piles of books that I’ve meant to read (or listen to) for years. I’m currently listening to I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, which is terrific (and also a great series on HBO). I have a few others on the list that I’ve purposefully skipped over (Dune, for one) but now I don’t really have an excuse. So, I guess I’ll spend 20 hours on Dune.

Movies! I have a list of old movies that I’ve never seen but feel like I should. American Graffiti, On the Waterfront, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Wild Bunch, Guess Who is Coming to Dinner–it’s a long list. But hey, I’m sure my son would love to spend two hours watching Vertigo with me!

TV shows! I’m currently rewatching Friday Night Lights and The Wire, which are both delightful. But I’d like to see The Americans and just pour through whatever Amazon Prime has that I neglected over the years. We all know TV shows are more of a commitment but hey, maybe this is my year for commitments!

Video games! I purchased Red Dead Redemption 2 and the Star Wars Jedi game but have barely played them. I am like five hours into Zelda for Switch and haven’t touched Mario for it. I used to love video games but while I worked I always felt guilty playing them because I felt like I should be doing something else. Well, without work, I guess that guilt feeling should go away. Jedi stuff, here I come.

Working out! OK, probably not. But it’s a good thought, right?