Oh, what to do

For some reason I'm compelled to blog today. I think it might have something to do with the pent-up frustrations of an unproductive day at work. First thing this morning it was announced that Monday, being the 3rd, would be given as a bonus day off in addition to the 4th. Can you imagine? No strings attached... You would think I would be whooping and cheering, but all I could think was what the heck am I going to do for four days straight? Lauren is in England, Christian will be with his dad, or so I assumed (I should have learned by now never to assume anything), I don't have any plans worthy of fireworks or grilled hotdogs, so what to do? Hmm. Flashbacks of my highly successful trip to D.C. danced in front of my eyes. Due to the generosity of Hotel Anica, I calculate the whole four days cost me not much more than $300. Could I manage a repeat performance? After spending most of the day jumping from google to travelocity and everywhere in between, I determined that a) all the "great deals" for flight/hotel packages are really just hooks to suck you further into the website, and b) the cool b&b's and dude ranches are all booked up for the weekend. So, after the internet burst my bubble and then I found out that Christian may very well be back on Sunday, I am issuing this to-do list with the promise that I will try my hardest to do everything on it over my four-day weekend:

1) finish painting the trim in the living room (painter's tape has been up since Christmas day, that's how long I've been meaning to get around to it...)
2) clean the inside and outside of my car (not so hard)
3) get said car long overdue oil change (hope they're open over the holidays)
4) edge front yard (I have to do this with my eyes closed as I can't find an appropriate pair of safety glasses - ouch)
5) find some cheap, but classy looking, large tubs to repot my passion flower and mystery plant which are rapidly outgrowing their containers
6) budget allowing, remove that stubby ever-green shrub in my front yard, weed, buy and install weed-eliminating fabric, and plant some kind of native grasses (this is mighty adventurous and I can't promise to actually do it, so maybe we should just pretend it's not on the list...)
7) sort through closets and find all the clothes that are still in good condition but I won't wear again and take them to the consignment store (I'm sure there is a small fortune to be made from this endeavor so it's worth the effort)
8) if I make the small fortune from said endeavor, I shall see if Chris is available to chop off my hair (it's almost as overdue as the oil-change)
9) spend some time researching State Governor candidates as I don't have a clue and November will be here before we know it
10) spend some more time researching Vernon Robinson, who is running for Congress in North Carolina; why do I care? Because one day I hope to see him running for the position of our first African American president. Two words: Personal Responsibility
11) post reviews on the blog for A Trip to the Stars (which I actually saw on the shelf at Barnes and Noble last week!) and Voodoo River (scroll all the way down from this link to see Robert Crais' own blog comments: cool!): After signing up for Kat-with-a-K's summer book club, I need to abide by the rules. Which also means finishing Lincoln: the Untold and starting Shaman

I feel cleansed. Thank you.