Will the Boss Let Me Take Time Off?

It’s funny when you’re your own boss – sneaking out early on a Friday feels so much weirder than it did when you just sent your ‘real’ boss at the corporate job an email and took ‘approved’ time off.

Today I’m sneaking out after lunch to go visit my neighbor and friend Patty, pick up some free eggs from her free-range hens, and just gab for a while. The skies here are dark and heavy and it’s cool – much cooler than the weather channel said it would be. Tomorrow they predict rain all day, so I’m going to do a little writing work, pack orders for our equine art company, and do some baking before we head out for our weekend getaway. We are taking Shadow with us and will hike part of the Appalachian Trail this weekend. This is her first official hike, and we are just hoping she’s good. She’s fine on trail and well behaved on the leash but bad around other dogs. She will probably enjoy the trip very much.

Next week I’ve also got to get all the seeds collected and start pulling up all the annuals that got blasted by the frost last week. I’ve left them, because sometimes they DO come back…but the zinnias really have had it, and the marigolds have all set seed, and I need to gather up the seeds now before I’ve got marigolds growing out of the lawn (which probably wouldn’t look bad, but sure would make mowing around them a chore.)

The house is clean from top to bottom, the laundry folded and put away. Dinner’s defrosted. All I need are the eggs from Patty to make the quiche to go along with the salmon and greens for dinner. I’m procrastinating on just about every single work-related project on my desk; there are articles to write, query letters to get out, two E Books in progress, a novel I’ve started writing, guest blog posts I’ve promised a few friends and three personal essays for contests all on the slate for the next couple of weeks. But I just can’t get motivated. Pierre is standing behind the computer. He keeps sticking his big fat furry face around the screen, blocking my view. I think he’s telling me it’s time to shut down.

Sometimes, you just need to get offline for a while.

But sshh…don’t tell my boss!