I’ve always known I was an introvert, but my need for alone time to recharge was always a rather casual thing. Sure, I’d miss some parties and maybe I don’t go out as much as other people, but that’s OK. Having kids has changed that. I get very little time to myself, and ultimately it means I feel very tired a lot of the time. At the same time, I love spending time with my family! I’ve concluded is that I probably need a chunk of 4-5 hours each week where I can do something by myself that’s not work or errands, and I don’t have to worry about things at home. Earlier this year we hired a babysitter so I could do this, but it quickly got de-prioritized and we went back to what we had been doing. Bummer. I want to bring it back, but in the meantime I did get out on my own a few times in the past few weeks.
The first was to a baseball game! The A’s are moving away from Oakland next year, which is heartbreaking. I wanted to get a few final games in before they move, but it was logistically difficult. So one day I took the afternoon off from work and hopped on BART to see a game. It was great!
I ate chicken nachos out of a helmet.
And had a delicious churro sundae.
And watched the A’s lose, but that’s OK. It was a delightful afternoon away.
As a solo activity it was OK, I think I prefer going with someone because there’s so much down time in sports and it’s really a more social activity. I think going to movies, museums, or other active exhibits or parks may be more my speed moving forward.
And I know I said solo time should be time that’s not work, but on a whim I went up to RSA 2024 recently with an Expo hall pass. I met with some folks and got some great work done, I’m glad that I went.
Then I got to the solo not work part! I took a lovely walk down Market street to check out the new fancy food hall attached to the new Ikea. It was really nice. I decided to check out Curry Up Now, an Indian street food spot that served up a delicious Saag Paneer And Chicken Tikka Masala burrito, along with a mango lassi. I really miss living in San Francisco, so even if it was a work visit, just getting back in my favorite place was refreshing. On my way back to BART I was also happy to discover that the entrance from BART to the mall has re-opened!
We’ll see where my solo plans take me moving forward. I really can’t let this time get de-prioritized again, my family deserves a happy and energetic mom, and I deserve a happy and energetic me.