In My Spare Time....

 Playing with my grandkids is a priority - not something done in "spare" time

If you ask me a question, I'm going to give you an answer.  More than likely, I am going to give you more detail than you desire.  You might as well know that up front.  I know how to talk and I'm not afraid to do it!

Another "just so you know,"  if you ever see me in WalMart or CountryMart and I don't stop and talk with you, I'm close to missing a deadline.  I'm not ignoring you, I simply don't see you.  I've had people chase me down and put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention, "Didn't you hear me calling to you?"  

Nope, I was wondering how I was going to get my errands done, get home and finish whatever I'd left undone, drive back to town with my package and get to the post office window before closing time.  Or, I was wondering why I'd let the laundry get out of control while I worked on sewing or writing projects, or why I can't do a better job of prioritizing, or - well you get the idea. 

I am the poster child for "Too Many Irons in the Fire," but if you've spent much time with me, you know I'm not happy any other way.  If I'm not insanely busy, I'm borderline depressed.  So, when people ask what I do in my "Spare Time" I am left speechless.  I think I work in my spare time, don't I?  I'm not familiar enough with the term to answer intelligently.

I am not whining or complaining, please don't misunderstand me.  I just don't know how to respond when someone tells me they spent the whole day curled up with a good book or spent the day watching reruns of a long retired sitcom.  I don't sit still very well.

This inability of mine to sit still for long periods of time, nearly prevented me from getting a second date with my husband. (Oops!  He told me it's embarrassing when I talk about him in my blog, so keep this quiet and I'm going to be very careful not to mention his name - just like he asked!)

We had known each other for ten years, but had never spoken, when we attended a wedding dance for mutual friends.  September 13, 1980.  It's a long and involved story (if I tell it), but I couldn't leave right after the wedding dance and he asked if wanted to go "riding around."  I agreed and hopped in his big brown Ford pickup.  We hadn't been driving long when I realized that while I knew "who" he was I didn't know much about him - specifically whether or not he tended to act like a gentleman.  

As we drove around in Nortonville, Kansas, population 300 or so, I talked his ear off as I surveyed each neighborhood for a "safe house."  If I needed to make a break for it, I would, but I didn't know anyone who lived in Nortonville.  Anyway, I talked and occasionally he would respond.  By the time we parted ways, I was exhausted, I had worked WAY too hard to get him to talk.  

Obviously, it all worked out, and someday I will tell you about how we dated for six weeks before getting engaged, but now is not the time.  

Later, after he felt it was safe to tell me, he told me that I had made him a nervous wreck that night.  He'd never seen anyone with "ants in their pants," but he figured if he ever did they'd move around the way I did in his truck.  And, he said he'd never heard anyone talk so much, or so fast in his whole life.  

I have a lot of nervous energy, if I make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry.  BUT, I do get a lot done in the course of a day.  

So, what do I do in my spare time?  I get creative.  I formulate plans for new projects.  I take long walks and take notes while I'm walking.  I ride my horse and take notes while I'm riding.  I gave up riding my bike because I couldn't write while bicycling...

While we were in Mexico, I nearly went insane...for three days I couldn't think of anything I wanted to write.  Reading wasn't possible, I tried, but I just couldn't get interested.  For three full days, I experienced total relaxation.  I had heard people say, "I just let my mind go blank,"  I had no idea what that was like.  In Mexico, I found out.  And I did NOT like it.  It scared me.  

I'd been joking with God about wanted some peace and quiet, a few days without these creative thoughts pestering me.  I began to wonder if He'd taken me seriously.  And then I wondered, what if he misunderstood the part where I asked for a few days?  What if this new state of mind was going to be a permanent condition? 

"Lord, forgive me.  I didn't know what I was saying!"

And just like that...it was back.  I picked up a pen and steno pad and wrote until my hand cramped.  As soon as my hand recovered, I did it again.  

I'll never ask for God to quiet my creativity again. And in my spare time...I'm gonna write and plan new projects until my hand hurts!