Slacking Off

I have SO much to do. Our house is still a chaotic mess since moving in one month and a half ago. Tom is currently working on redoing the master bedroom, and will shortly begin the destruction (and reconstruction) of our upstairs bathroom. Until that time, all of our master bedroom stuff is in the office, and all of our office stuff is in our guest room, and all of our guest room stuff is...well, it's not really anywhere. It's just sitting downstairs in big pile.

In the next month we have many guests coming to stay to check out our new digs. Friends are coming for a weekend getaway, and we've got a big party planned for A's first birthday on the labour day long weekend.

So....I have SO MUCH TO DO.

And yet, when my nanny showed up today to take A away for a few hours, instead of tackling all of that stuff, I instead poured myself a glass of wine (hey, it was 4:30...a little early, but still legal!), got in the bath, and read the latest book by William Deverell.

Yes, I have a nanny. Three days a week, for three hours a day. I somehow feel that I need to explain why I have a nanny, given that I'm on maternity leave and only have one child. It's simply that I am very tired from having to parent little A all night long, and hired a nanny to give me a chance to take a nap during the day (A does nap, but still wakes up every 45 minutes...it never fails!)

Having to write a post to explain why I needed a bath and glass of wine, or why I need a nanny, is so typically "North American" of me. As a society, we judge ourselves by how hard we've worked, and how little time we've spent just doing nothing. The longer the hours we spend at the office (or at our various jobs), the happier we are with ourselves. "I'm so productive today," I think to myself.

Take some time today to contemplate the meaning of productivity in your own life. Can we begin to redefine its meaning? And while you are so busy in contemplation, play a little Sarah Harmer for me. This is "The Hideout":

Look at that green
Out through the screen
After a quick rain came
So fast that
There wasn't time
To roll up the windows
And pull the clothes down off the line
But i don't care
It was so dry
And the grass is happy
And i think 'so am i'
'Cause i'm through thinking about you

For now i'm out at the hideout
Far enough outside of town
You can come
You can stay
If there's something you need
To get away from

Look at the day dropping away
Hear the traffic pass along
A distant sideroad down the way
I think the dust has settled on me
But i don't care, it was so calm
I knew i wouldn't stay forever
Knew i'd get some things together
And move on

But for now i'm out at the hideout
Far enough outside of town
You can come, you can stay
If there's something you need
To get away from

I just thought of you
And what you said
Laid out on the pullout
Did you forget
You said you wouldn't forget

Look at that green
Out through the screen
After a quick rain came
So fast that
There wasn't time to roll up the window
And pull the clothes down off the line
But i don't care
It was so dry
The grass is happy and i think 'so am i'
'Cause i'm through thinking about you

And for now i'm out at the hideout
Far enough outside of town
You can come out
You can come out
When there is no one around
All out at the hideout
Far enough from being found
You can come, you can stay
If there's something you need
To get away from