Top Ten Tuesday

I see this frequently at Head Full of Books. Since I don't have students today and my first meeting isn't for an hour, let's see if I can come up with Non-Bookish Activities. This is a hard one, since pretty much all I do is work or read books for work. Seriously. 

My Top Ten Non-Bookish Activities:

• 10. Cleaning: I do a lot of this for some reason. 

• 9. Cooking: Also a lot of this, even though I really don't enjoy it. Other people seem to like to eat and are not happy with apples and cans of tuna.

• 8. Running: I can't say I enjoy running, and recent foot issues preclude too much of it, but I do miss it when I can't do it. 

• 7. Thrift shopping: My mother adored the mall, and while I hate to shop there, I do love to ramble around the thrift store and buy the occasional sweater for my daughter. 

• 6. Collecting Pyrex. Well, I used to acquire new pieces, but this activity is at odds with #10, which is veering into Swedish Death Cleaning. So I have a lovely collection, but am trying to give away pieces. 

• 5.Watching BBC dramas: This is new since March. I try not to watch television (a misnomer-- I don't have one, so watch on the computer) because that is also part of my retirement plan. 

• 4. Writing: This is cheating a bit, because what I write most about is books. My retirement plan is to write poetry and force my daughters to listen to it when they call me. 

• 3. Sewing and random crafts like knitting: This summer, I am going to be making denim aprons and picnic blankets because a friend is giving me 25 pair of jeans!

• 2. Quilting: I do this obsessively, but only in the summer. I made about 30 baby quilts this summer. I even have a quilting blog: https://cribquilts.blogspot.com/

• 1. Walking: I walk everywhere, as I don't have my own car, although I do have one I can borrow. I also used to walk a lot with Sylvie, and may be driven to walking the neighbor's dogs over the summer. 

Even though I talk a lot about retirement activities, I have at least fifteen more years of teaching. I believe in planning for the long term, however. Saying I will do something when I retire usually means it is something I should NOT be doing now, like watching television or writing pointless poetry! I like to be productive.