Lots of free time.

Now that Sundance is over, I have no job, and I have lots of free time. I'll admit, I don't feel very successful right now, thirty years old and no job!

But I don't just squander my time, and my biggest priorities for each day are to make it seem like I'm working.

Every day, I try to do something job related. Usually this is applying to a job, but it can also be doing something for another job past or present. For example, I'm planning on returning to This Is the Place if nothing else comes up, and this week I went and got my outfits again. (I was supposed to do a field trip, but it was postponed because of snow.) I got the final proof of the book I worked on at the Church History Library before it goes to press.

In addition, I have a few non-work projects. One of my Sundance coworkers recruited me to do some writing for a book about national parks, so I've been doing that. Also, I've been doing research for a personal project, and twice this week I went downtown to the Church History Library to use their research resources.

While I'm doing these things, I'm usually on my bed with my laptop, and Jimmy the cat enjoys spending time with me. He often sleeps at the head of my bed at night, and when I'm awake, he stays on the center or foot of my bed. He frequently comes and sits on my chest and rubs his head against my face, purring and kneading, and sometimes he tucks his head underneath my chin. I just love him, and it's good to know he loves me—most of the time. Sometimes things will set him off and he'll either run away or start attacking me. He was sitting on me when I was looking at a funny picture on my phone, and he didn't like me laughing. One day, he left after a typical cuddle session, and next thing I knew, he was biting my foot. As I moved my feet away, he came over to bite my legs, and I think the biting would have continued if I had not hopped off my bed. But then he settled down, and he's very quick to forgive.

Once I'm done with these things, I try to stay productive with cleaning, exercising, and other things. One thing I'm working on is not stressing out about making perfect decisions. Sometimes I agonize over what decision to make, even when the decisions are nearly equally good or don't really matter. I cleaned the bathroom, but should I have cleaned the kitchen instead? I went hiking, but should I have gone swimming instead? I'm trying to be content with the decisions I make.

And there are some days I don't do everything I want to, and I try to tell myself that's OK too. My friend Shane invited some of us to make glass roses, so that's how I spent a good chunk of time yesterday.

It was a little nerve-racking working with molten glass, but there was a professional to keep me from doing anything stupid.

Then I got late notice that I was teaching elders quorum today, so I devoted some time to that.

In a month, I'm hoping that the trails will be clear enough to spend my free time with my true love. Hiking through the snow just isn't the same as running on a clear trail. But now that it's February, I'm feeling much more optimistic.