Furlough Day No. 1

You'd think that I'd get to sleep in. But no.

The alarm went off at 6, so I had no choice but get off to an early start. I had visions of a long run in Forest Park, followed by a late breakfast somewhere and then easing into the rest of my day.

Instead, I began with the breakfast -- treated myself to a meal at Zell's on Southeast Morrison -- and came home to a list of chores that kept me busy all day long. Washed dishes, did the laundry, raked and swept around the house, and finished the tedious job of assembling six chairs that are part of lawn furniture set we bought several months ago. (I'd devoted part of a recent Saturday assembling the table.)

You'd think it wouldn't take very long, but unboxing and removing yards of plastic from the chairs, followed by the actual fastening of nuts and bolts, began before 11 a.m. and ended around 3 p.m., with a quick time-out for lunch. It was only after all that I finally got around to my run on city streets -- nearly a full hour, from our house past three schools (Meek, Rigler and Harvey Scott) -- and got back just in time to barbecue some steaks for dinner.

My reward came later. While Lori was at a business networking event for women, I went to the mall to buy (drumroll, please) some new running socks and another Susan Tedeschi CD.

While it sounds mundane, yesterday was very relaxing. I didn't get time to take Otto to a dog park, but he did spend some time with me curled up on a pillow in the garage while I worked on the chairs. During a sunbreak, he laid on his side in the backyard catching some rays. Must feel good to a creature who spends most of each day inside the house.

I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to regularly spend time at home during the week. The neighborhood is so quiet during the day. Young moms push their kids in strollers; an occasional hipster rides his bicycle past the house; traffic is so light as to barely notice it.

I have three more furlough days coming between now and Sept. 1. The next one will be one to remember -- it'll come on the front end of four days Lori and I have planned for a Memorial Day weekend getaway.