On Boredom.

I am normally a very good planner and have some sort of treat in my bag to keep me from getting bored, should the possibility of downtime present itself. I find myself reaching for reading material, nail polish (clear), or scrap paper (to make shopping, to-do, or wish lists) whenever I am held captive in a meeting. Ohhhhhhhh the agony. I can make it through an hour meeting without needing to distract myself, but beyond that I am sunk.

Car trips are another story. When Matt, Vivienne and I drove to Florida a few summers ago, I had the luxury of a brand new Harry Potter Book 7 release to entertain both Matthew and I. I got reaaaaally good at reading out loud. As Vivienne gets older, we are playing a lot more "I Spy" in the car. Matt and I made it through 2 flights each way on our honeymoon with only our Imagineer's Field Guide To Disney World books, some almonds, and a bottled water... but the plane did have free XM radio, so we listened to a lot of CNN Radio.

Whether I'm sitting in meetings, driving long distances or flying, I usually bring a magazine or other reading material, paper for list-making, my iPod which is in desperate need of an updating, heavy lotion (because we all know that there's no time like the present to moisturize), a healthy snack or two and who can forget the glorious properties of texting on my cell phone... Sudoku is a forgotten favorite since Matt made me promise not to download any more games on my cell phone.

The honest truth is that I welcome boredom; you will only find me complaining about boredom when I am unprepared for it. I spend a great majority of my week waiting for a moment to breathe. I relish the idea of having nothing to do! The problem lies in that I am so used to being completely occupied that I don't allow myself the opportunity to do nothing when I can. There is always something next on the list!

Completely unrelated, but Matt and his brothers have decided that they are not going to shave until Christmas. I don't get it. But it doesn't make me excited about having Grizzly Adams in my Thanksgiving family photos. I am refusing to shave my legs until Christmas in protest.