Suzy Homemaker...

So the blogging has hit a bit of a dry spell here at Dyingtobedivas...as I mentioned in a previous blog, it's that dark, depressing time of the year when the forecast of another 10 inches of snow does little to inspire my creative side. Thank God for the sunshine so far today, that at least is giving me a little hope that Michigan isn't the new Alaska. I've been searching and thinking and trying to notice things around me that would inspire a comical rant and hardly anything has been going on for me. I've been partially laid off, so I'm only working 3 days a week, which at first sounds like a perk, one could even call it extra vacation time, until the ole paycheck gets deposited in the bank with 40% less moola. With my additional time off I've really stepped up my Suzy homemaker duties, taking over the house cleaning instead of having a bi-weekly maid service, doing a lot of important historical research while watching the first 6 episodes of Rome on HBO in one day and brushing up on my political knowledge by dedicating at least one hour a day to watching the first season of The West Wing, (is it weird that I'm attracted to Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman??), and finally, making dinner for Nick (since he's usually the chef around our place). Allow me to digress for a moment to tell you about my current favorite wedding gift, the crock-pot. My Aunt Paula gave me a fantastic slow-cooker cook book and I've been trying some of the meals lately on my extra days off and wow, that thing is a like a witch's magical cauldron (no comments comparing me to a witch please!), you put in the meat or chicken, some cream of mushroom or chicken soup, veggies, some other seasonings and voila, 8-10 hours later the house smells delicious and there's enough sauce or gravy to satisfy the king everything-must-be-drowning-in-sauce, Nick. It's terrific, I'm really feeling like the cook side of me is coming out, heck, I may even take a crack at baking, that Kitchen-Aid stand mixer shouldn't stay in it's box forever!!

Besides sharpening my domestic goddess skills I haven't had much else to do and it's made me realize a few things. Since I started working full time 4 years ago I've often felt jealous after seeing a crowd of "ladies who lunch" at a local restaurant. As usual, the grass isn't always greener. First of all, I don't have anyone to lunch with so eating by myself would get pretty pathetic after the first few times, and second, I'm already feeling totally lazy and guilty on Thursdays and Fridays unless I'm out and about running errands or doing stuff around the house. I'm currently looking for some volunteer work to get involved in to help fill my days so that should help. Another issue is that it's pretty lonely...part of working outside the home is getting to interact with people and for me that's a big deal. Now, whenever Nick gets home from work on Thursday or Friday I pretty much follow him around for the first hour just to reach my communication quota in for the day! I'm sure there's a happy medium and I should quit whining and be thankful that I still have a job in the auto industry but it is interesting that all the times I've wished for more time off have resulted this way.