Alone at Home

It's officially back-to-school time at the Rush house.

The big girls are in Virginia and just started their first week of classes. And Bird went back to school today.

Looking super styley in her first day of school outfit. 

So what does this time of year mean for me?

A little bit more alone time. 

I don't know about you but I am one of those people that is just a little bit nicer to everyone if I can get just a few minutes of alone time every day. (I know. I know. You're finding it hard to believe that I could ever be anything but nice, aren't you??) After being by myself for a little while, I feel refreshed and revitalized and ready to face whatever comes my way. 

And home is the place I most like to be alone. 

So what do I do with my time when I'm home alone?

Well sometimes, I do productive things, in spite of my best efforts to avoid them. I mean, Lily's in school five days a week and Ryan's occasionally going to ask what I did all day, so at least one of those days should be spent doing something constructive, right? 

My more productive home alone days include things like doing laundry, baking treats for school lunches, meal planning, and making grocery store runs that involve lots of label reading.

But setting aside boring chores, let's get to the good stuff. 

The stuff I don't run around telling everyone because it might make me seem lazy or Heaven forbid, like a real-live-human-being-who-sets-aside-her-to-do-list-occasionally-for-no-good-reason-other- than-she-needs-a-break kind of person. Because, who would do that, amiright??

Here we go.....   

For one thing, I read. 

You know how everyone puts out all those fun summer reading lists? I do read in the summer but probably a whole lot less than any other time of the year. Mostly that's because I don't get large chunks of uninterrupted time when Bird's at home. She'll hang with me, lying on the couch for about 30 minutes while I read, and then she's ready for something with a little more action. 

I bookmark all those summer reading lists, pull out my own TBR list (to be read, for those of you not up on all the hip literary lingo like myself), and get to reading. In fact, after dropping Lily off for her first day of school, I went straight to the library so that I'd have a good size stack of books on my nightstand. Because along with some alone time, a good size stack of books on my nightstand makes me a happy girl.

But I do much more than just read when I'm home alone.

I do lots of very interesting stuff, like.... 

• immediately change into sweats after delivering Bird to school
• wear no make-up
• listen to podcasts of This American Life (like reading, another one of my favorite things)
• watch TV shows that no one else will watch with me, like Call The Midwife and Downton Abbey
• eat peanut butter foldovers, cereal, and avocado toast - but never sitting at the table
• take naps (yet another favorite thing)
• catch up on all my favorite blogs

I told you it was interesting. And unproductive. Unless you count watching Call the Midwife as educational preparation in case I'm ever in a situation where I might be called upon to deliver a baby. 

Now it's your turn. What do you do when you find yourself with a little free time and no one is home with you? Please tell me I'm not the only teensy-bit lazy person out there.... 

This post was inspired by A Cup of Jo, who has cute illustrations to go with her home alone activities, which maybe you could check out right now... I mean, if you just happen to be at home right now.... alone.... you know.