Time Flies

In an effort to determine why I have not been able to blog as much as I have in the previous years, I took a survey of myself. I thought it prudent as I don't feel any busier than any other year. My search for O.B. tampons is over. I have the same job, same house, same wife, same dogs, same life. I spend much less time on Book de la Face. I'm not spending THAT much time on Pinterest. We eat out the same amount of time per week. We're not sleeping more. We don't have more trips to the Cheddarlands. We haven't been going on monthly cruises or vacations or visiting places without internet....

....yet, I seem to have less time. So much less time. I hate to lose time without knowing I am losing time.

In a non-scientific survey, this is where my time goes:

Walking the dogs--Now that Freckles is 159 years old, arthritic ally-slow-moving, mostly blind and quite deaf, it takes FOREVER to get around the block. An 11-minute walk has turned into at least a 30 minute walk. That adds a minimum of 19 minutes to every walk we try and take. If we were to take two walks a day, that would be 38 more minutes per day. No wonder I can't blog--I'm walking in slow-motion. I can't blame her. When I'm 159 years old, I hope to get around the block in less than a day.

Speaking of walking--I'm walking in a work-sponsored walking program. This means I actually have to walk, which adds about 45 minutes to every day. 38 more minutes plus 45 more minutes equals no time for fodder. I need to consider how I write a daily walking entry (complete with photo) for the program, which means I have a new mathematical equation of 38 minutes plus 45 minutes plus fifteen minutes = 1 hour, 38 minutes more "doing something a day." That's a pretty significant "loss." Hmmmm.

Here I am doing a walking tape in the living room. The weather hasn't been very conducive to walking outside. I don't "do" rain. Thankfully, Leslie Sansone is in the house.

Searching for Dove Dark Chocolate has become another time-consuming area. I'm a bit worried as every time I go to Wallyworld or a local grocery store, there is NEVER any Dove Dark Chocolate. There is every other kind of chocolate (even caramel sea salt) but never the dark chocolate. I hope it's just that there has been a run on dark chocolate now that it's been proven it's healthy for you. (Well, healthy in one ounce per day servings....my pound a day probably isn't deemed healthy.) It makes me REALLY nervous that I can't find this stuff. Per repeated Internet searches, there doesn't seem to be a shortage, so I don't know what gives. I really am not a fan of the Hershey Bliss things but will use them in a pinch. I'm actually relying on dark chocolate chips...you know, the kind that you use to make cookies. I'm desperate. I could buy individual Dove Dark Chocolate candy bars, but that's not the same as fondling a bag of individually wrapped squares of love.

And, then there is church. Oh, how church sucks time from my life. Between emails, mail, newsletter, meetings, services, special events and other godly things, I am probably "losing" the most time to this. I suppose there are worse things to "spend time" on, but really--there is only so much God one person can take in a day.  Even though I haven't gone to the past few services, church keeps me busier than all the things listed above--combined. This alone may answer my question of why I have less time--how can I blog if I'm making another newsletter, sending out another personally-crafted email, reading another spiritually based blob of info? I forgot about this aspect of time use until I took the self-sponsored, self-focused survey. I'm not going to even try and figure out how much of my life is sucked away in this area. After all, I don't want to piss off God whining about the time he/she/they/it takes.

Netflixing....I love the term Netflixing as I get it--you watch an entire season of a show in one long marathon. I may be doing a bit more TV-watching because I've been watching Dr. Who, Sherlock and other shows on Netflix. I thought this might be where much of my time goes but that's not true--I don't watch "regular, real"  TV shows anymore, so this is a break-even area. Dang. 

I confess: When the next season of "Orange is the New Black" comes out in June, you probably won't be seeing a blog for the month. I have to watch the show immediately.

Waiting to poop. I suppose this isn't an added loss of time but it is an area of which takes some time. Ya just gotta sit around and wait for things to happen. This really should be a good thing, as I should write my blog while waiting; however, this never seems to be the case. (Actually, this area has nothing to do with time loss. I just wanted to write something about poop.)

Primping.  Okay, this is a stretch as I only go for a massage for one hour every three weeks....I get a hair cut every six weeks (one hour), with every other time being a longer "get rid of the grey" coloring session (two hours)....I have more chin hairs to pluck, so that's probably an additional five minutes a week...and, it's warmer out, so I am shaving my legs (5 minutes every other day). Still, I've always had the hair care time included in my way of being. I've always had to shave my legs. It's not like I've started doing my make up. I guess the massage and chin hairs must be the culprit. 

The verdict? I'm just slower. Although I keep moving, everything basically takes more time. Like it or not, I'm the one wasting time without wasting time. I can only squeeze so much into a day and my squeezing capacity is slower than it was a decade ago. I hate when that happens.

I think I'll stick to blaming Freckles.  Heck if I'm gonna take the blame for moving slower.