My daughter has been napping for 1.5 hours now, and still going strong.

Unfortunately, I’ve wasted this time by sitting at the computer, going through a fraction of the 400 odd emails that have accumulated in my inbox since I’ve been on vacation.

I hate email because it sucks me in, like TV used to do, and before I know it, an hour and a half has gone by. An hour and a half I could have used doing something more productive, like taking out the trash, making lunch/dinner, or… blogging.

I view blogging as more productive than reading right now because I’m simply overwhelmed by the amount of emails I receive for events from meetup.org and articles I’ve subscribed to from Dr. Mercola. I am woefully behind on reading Dr. Mercola’s articles, even the summaries. What could be more important than preventing cancer, or living a quality healthy life? Really- everything else falls by the wayside.

Yet I’m drawn to the meetups (I’m a member of 14 groups) because I want to interact with others, know what is going on in my community, and maybe most importantly, get out of my 1 bedroom apartment. (I do have a nice apartment, especially since my husband and I redecorated the place, but still, I need to get out every once in a while.)

Through meetup.org I got sucked into all of the email notifications for theater events. (Boy, I wish I knew about this site before I had Polina.) I love the theater, and when I was single and working, it was easy. Buy a ticket and go.

Now, because I’m not earning an income, I have to be choosy about which productions I go to. Even if it’s a free or pay-what-you-can performance, getting my husband to commit to be home by a certain time from work can be a challenge. He works in a lab under deadline fulfilling orders, and he doesn’t know when he has to work late. Setting a time stresses him out. That and taking care of our daughter, who may resort to crying when she’s away from me. So it’s not that easy.

I changed my meetup settings to reduce my email notifications.  I’m giving up for the time being trying to coordinate a theater event. We just got back from vacation and my husband is busy at work. Maybe sometime in the future….

Originally written September 30, 2013.