6 Things to Do While Baby is Away

Baby is coming back from her Durban holiday on Saturday, as school is about to reopen. I missed her dearly, but I also got a chance to do things that I would not normally have had the time to do:

1. Travel to major cities – As mentioned previously, I went to Cape Town for a week and Margate overnight on business. These were useful business trips that provided me with a lot of information and insight into the South African ICT industry, specifically IT in government. The trips also helped me make new contacts.

2. Replace the whole floor of a cottage I rent out – I’ve been procrastinating on this job for months, and already had the ceramic tiles and materials ready. So last Saturday I had a meeting with the contractor to discuss the job, and this Saturday they began the project, finishing it today. The floor looks lovely… so lovely I should just paint the cottage too so it all looks spick and span. So my tenants are very happy too.

3. Clean up the garden – Well, I didn’t do it personally, but the young man I previously mentioned on the blog has been working hard every Saturday. My job was to provide lunch. So while my garden is not the Eden of spring flowers yet, it’s no longer trapped in the winter doldrums.

4. Go out for drinks/dinner with friends without prior notice – It’s so nice to be able to go out with friends / colleagues without having to line up a baby-sitter! I could also party for as long as I liked without worrying about the time/baby-sitter who also needs to go home. Not that I did much of that, seeing I was very much busy with no. 5.

5. Lots of creative writing – Sure, I do a lot of creative writing even while Baby is here, but my output increased tremendously in her absence. The time time you have alone, the more time you have to write. Unfortunately, I also found I didn’t have too much to say on this blog about parenting. I think Baby took away my blogging muse with her.

6. Read novels – I managed to read three novels in the J. D. Robb series. I'm a huge fan, and am slowly making my way through the books. I also rearranged my bookshelves.