I had a little spare time over the last couple days, with two possible ways of spending it.

• Cleaning/Decluttering/Organizing
• Fun

A perfect day for a hike.

I decided to choose fun. Making better use of free time has been the one objective which I’ve pretty much ignored in favor of the less-frivolous goals. And while I’ve had some down time here and there, I haven’t really made an effort to do anything useful with it. But yesterday and today I was able to socialize a bit and get out and about. Not everything fit into the conventional definition of fun, which was fine with me because I decided to expand the definition a little.

Yesterday one of my friends and I took our kids hiking after school. Another one of Emma’s friends joined us so we had a nice little group. The weather was perfect. One of the things I love about where I live is the proximity to nature. There’s a great hiking trail five minutes from my house, which I hadn’t been to since the final winter thaw. We spent more than an hour on the trails, which was longer that I was expecting from the kids.

Another of Emma’s friends joined us at our house, and I made dinner. When we were done, we went out for ice cream. It was a great afternoon and evening. I got to catch up with my friend who I hadn’t seen in a few weeks, and it was the first real exercise I’d had since the weather improved. Then I got to spend time with Emma and her friends, which might not be one’s idea of a great time, but they are so silly and goofy which makes them fun to be around.

It seems like we skipped spring here in my part of the Northeast. It’s been really warm lately. I normally don’t believe in breaking out the shorts at this point, but it gets hot in school so I let Emma wear shorts. Problem is, I donated most of her shorts last fall because I knew they weren’t going to fit her this season.

Today I took her shopping after school, again, not my first choice for fun and free time but it was great to not be rushed. We only found one pair of shorts as most of the inventory had been picked over, and it’s becoming increasingly hard to find appropriate clothes. I won’t allow her to wear short shorts or skimpy tops and I tried to explain my issues with all the hoochie mama clothes we were seeing which I think she understood but chose to ignore. So we butted heads a little but having the money meant I prevailed. We found only one pair of shorts I felt were acceptable, so when I got home we chose a few things online. I’m thinking she’s now set for summer, and it’s good to get something out of the way early.

I also spent a little time this morning walking a very sweet little dog who will hopefully come home with us over the weekend. Getting another dog isn’t really in keeping with the goal of simplifying my life, but getting rid of stuff we don’t need allows us to use our time for good things, like taking in a stray dog who needs a home.