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oh it is just too fun to read your responses!
i love knowing more about y'all
(my southern roots showing up...
oh right
i don't have any southern roots)
especially the y'alls i don't know about at all except for this
crazy blogging world...
love it!
:)

so today i had a meeting at 10:30
& i told brian i needed a couple of hours to myself
& he could choose if it was before or after the meeting
he chose before
& off i went
so today i shall list my three favorite ways to spend a few hours
when i get them
& i get to be ALONE...

ein...(german)
barnes & noble
if i have less than three hours
(& usually that's about the time frame)
i will drive to b&n
(as i affectionately refer to it in my head)
park the car
walk in the door
& take a nice deep breath
then i turn to my right
the blessed magazine section
i take one or two from the current events rack
(is us magazine on that rack?
oh! i never noticed)
then go around the corner to the arts & crafts rack
grab a few that are way to expensive to ever buy
turn around to 'woman's interest'
which includes O & marie claire & instyle
(i have noticed that women's interest & men's interest both have
women on the cover of most of the magazines
interesting...
though the women's interest girls have most of their clothes on...)
sometimes i will travel back to the home decor section
& grab cottage living
or home companion
then on to the cafe
i order something sweet & 'a giant ice water in a to-go cup'
because the free cups they offer on the counter
might as well be shot glasses
& when it comes to ice water i am a lush...
then comes the tricky part
do i sit at a table while i enjoy my treat?
so that i can keep a magazine open on the table
& not have to balance treat & magazine on my lap?
or do i go get a comfy chair before
'the others' get them first?
table is a good choice because of the aforementioned balancing
but i usually choose the chair
because if i have to spend my entire lovely time away
in a wooden chair i tend to get crabby
& want to yell at the people sitting in the lovely chairs
'do you have kids?
do you have only two hours of quiet time?
does your butt really need a soft place to land?
i do!
i do!
it does!
give me your chair!'
anyway
the best times are when
i get a seat
& i have no time constraints
& i can just read until i'm done....
i feel compelled also to thank the people in the world
who actually buy books at barnes & noble
for they are my benefactors
since i don't buy books from barnes & noble
& i doubt that the price of a rice krispy treat &
'a giant cup of ice water in a to-go cup' would cover the cost
of even shipping all of the magazines i read
so thank you!
thank you all!

due...(italian)
going to the movies
ALONE!
i truly love this
i feel like i can laugh at anything i want to
sob if i need to
& just enjoy the time
i get to choose the movie i want to go to
no other opinion needed
i love this
you need to plan a little
since movies start at specific times
(who knew?)
& usually 3 hours is the least amount of time to schedule
but it is great
& i highly recomend it
it is strangly freeing
& we all need to be free
strange is optional...
:)

三...(simplified chinese)
the other two are so high on my list
that a third is hard for me
i would say wandering around cute little shops
if only we had more than 5 cute little shops
in the eugene area
& they were all in one place!
i think that we have some great stores
but i wish we had a great place that had lots of fun stores together
like little artsy handmade & super cool decorated stores
paper & cute stuff & color all around
dream i can...
when i decide that i want to spend
a free few hours on my number three
i have to think really hard
because this bit of time is precious
i can't waste it on a store full of ceramic figurines
(the ceramic figurine people may not want to
spend their special time in an art supply store
i realize this
this is the joy of a world full of different people)
one time i had a few hours so i decided to go to coburg
a little town near me
only to find that all of their cute little stores were bought up
& turned into law offices
& hair salons
this did not go over well with me
i want it to go
EXACTLY as it did when i imagined it in my head
no unplanned changes!
(i am a real joy to be married to
you can imagine!)
anyway
this happens very rarely
these days
but i still dream of strolling through the shops...
someday my shops will come
:)

any post about my free time must include
a thank you to my amazing husband who
during the school year
calls or texts
& says
'do you need to escape tonight?'
(hint: i rarely say no)
this fact alone makes him above average
plus the fact that when he does this
i don't feel guilty for leaving
& any time i can push a bit of guilt off my shoulders
is a good time...
so thank you, bri!
you are a rock star in your traveling pants...
i love you:)

okay friends...
how will you spend your free day?
:)