The Weekend Agenda Inadequacy

 I remember days when getting off work Friday night was this trigger into excitement. I had rituals that went along with that such as washing my car or truck, vacuuming the interior, and wiping down everything to a shine with Armor All. It didn't matter if I had a date, plans with friends, or was just hanging with the family. Thursday night was time to polish up my ride for whatever the weekend was going to bring. 

I was also a big fan of knocking out laundry Thursday evening. Sure, I would likely need to do another load Sunday night, or more likely Monday night, but I wanted to make sure I a full closet rather than a full hamper going into the weekend. 

Times change. I don't know that I washed my car in 2022. I do occasionally wipe down the interior and, mostly, keep the floorboards clear of trash. I am ashamed to admit that I haven't run a shop vac in there in quite some time. Laundry gets washed before the hamper is full most of the time. I feel like we use way more towels in this house than are necessary. There is no special significance on when the wash happens. I just don't want it to build up and be a major job. 

I had not thought about my change of perspective on the weekend until I found myself happily catching up the dishes on 6 January. I had made big, specific plans for that week's menu and they had gone off track. Four days into the week I was still munching on the leftovers of two meals in order for them not to go to waste. Again, I cook too much and too often which is a relic of younger days when I liked to prep a meal that I could eat on for the majority of a week like a good pot of chili. 

I was scrubbing cheese out of a bowl when it hit me that it was Friday night. My major plans for the evening were to make pizza for the kid and then sit back down to the computer to develop a story idea into something viable. I realized that I had bought myself all the toppings to make a supreme pizza. I got Teagan served and took my time about frying up Italian sausage, slicing up onion and peppers, and finally building  my pizza. 

I get into a zone while cooking. My concentration on getting the meal together allows the back of my brain to chew on the matters in life I am contemplating. Many blogs are born in my kitchen, this one included. Most of last year I kept a pocket notebook and pen with me everywhere I went even around the house. That started feeling like overkill. Now when something sneaks across my grey matter I just pause and come to my office to jot it down. I don't lose the thread of the thought most of the time. 

I also work out resolutions to a lot of the challenges in my life that way. Those rarely need notes. I just come to an understanding of a course of action and shift gears. Occasionally, I identify problems while slicing, browning, or baking up something tasty. Those are mostly times where I am processing emotions that are haunting the corners of my mind and darkening my otherwise bright outlook on life. Why have you been so frustrated lately? Seems like you are not satisfied with...whatever. 

As I finished up the dishes I realized that I am not unhappy that my weekends aren't filled with adventure the way they once were. You aren't going to find me streaking across a clearing up in the mountains. I am no longer equipped with a desire to take along cameras to capture those intimate moments on the side of a less traveled road. I am not even trying to talk anyone into hiking topless up and down a mountain to a quaint little swimming hole that few people know of. On the mundane front I am not headed out to the movies, skating, or even to walk around the mall and people watch. 

Granted, I have some fond memories. Many of those I wouldn't detail in a blog because I doubt anyone would want to hear about them. I like having the memory of screaming good time adventures. It seems as if I got my glut of those things a while ago. 

The weekends now are more about relaxing and planning ahead for the next thing. I still get excited to get up and watch cartoons with Teagan (though I am am up earlier and watch a few by myself.) I like those windows of time where she and Dad take off to eat, often at an Asian buffet, and I can grab a short nap or collect my thoughts. More often than not I am just waiting to be ambushed with a well aimed Nerf dart which Teagan seems to enjoy more than a game of Chess. 

I have seen people around my age suddenly try to recapture the bacchanalia of their youth with sports cars, liquor, boats, or other equally ridiculous things. I may be strange that I don't have those drives. I don't think either of my parents did. For all of Dad's running around on a motorcycle in his late 60s I don't find his behavior reckless, wild, or any attempt to feel young and free. Riding with him forces me to slow down and enjoy the scenery. 

I do think I am going to make some effort to break my enjoyable routine with a few camping trips this year. I need some trips to Cades Cove to wade in the creek and hike a few trails. When warm weather hits I would love to have some bicycles ready to make some family pedaling trips. Those adventures are a different energy though. They tend to leave me relaxed in much the same way cooking and being a boring old dude does. I am oddly good with this. 

The only downside I see to starting to make those weekend plans is I am going to have to get back into the swing of getting all the prep out of the way during the week. Few things in life are worse than spending a weekend in the mountains or on the lake only to come home to a stinky house because you forgot to take out the trash and had a sink full of dirty dishes. Worse still, those trips generate laundry and if you find yourself having to wash three quarters of your wardrobe just to be dressed decent for Monday it can be quite maddening. 

Oh, well. Sometimes the scramble is half the fun.