In my spare time

My husband doesn't think I have enough to do. He is always proposing various money-making schemes, phrased in the first person plural, but meant for my first person singular.

Maybe he thinks I don't get out enough, or that I'm bored. Maybe he thinks I have loads of spare time on my hands, or need a new hobby. Maybe this is his way of making sure I have some adult conversation once in a while. (My friend Sam suggested as much when she once heard me refer to a pretty little bird perched on my fence as Mr. Blue Jay. God help me.)

Sometimes it seems like I will only be a valued contributing member of society when I begin contributing financially.

G's opportunity du jour involves finding a market for a warehouse full of granite sphere water fountains abandoned by a deadbeat tenant. Do I know retail? I do not. Do I see the possibility to make a lot of money hustling stone? Absolutely. Is it hard to pass up the chance to make a ton of money? You betcha. But right now I've got other things to occupy my time.

Like raising and educating our daughters.

I have a very slow metabolism, like a turtle. I may even live to be 150 years old, though I hope not. Like a turtle I plod along at a slow, steady pace, focusing on one major project at a time. Although what major projects turtles actually focus on, I don't know. I am not a good multi-tasker either, unless you count the other day when I took advantage of my wireless internet and blogged in the bathroom. I won't tell you which post because I don't want you to feel icky about it.

Prioritizing leaves me plenty of time for all these other projects at some point in my empty nest future.

One day I will finish my needlepointing, spend more time on infrared photography, and handcoloring photos. I will finally get around to all those activities that are just impractical and imprudent with young, dependent children, like skydiving, caving, hitching a ride on a freight train, flying across a gorge on a zip line, and tubing class 5 rapids. Why, I may even start selling real estate.

Just not right now.