I was actually well and truly stumpped this afternoon. Let me start from the beginning. D and M, who flew in from Sydney, had a meeting downtown this morning. They have another meeting this afternoon at the Uni. Instead of going through the torture of looking for parking, and not to mention paying the price of a small Indian car for it, D decided to take the subway downtown and drag M back here to get the car and head out for the next meeting. As they had some time between meetings, we all decided to have an early lunch at our local Italian, La Vecchia. We love the service, the food, and more importantly, the fact that they open for lunch at 11am. It was during lunch that M asked, "So, what are you working on now?". I have done some consulting work for his company so this was asked in genuine interest. And for once, I was stumpped. Previously, I could tell him that I was working on my thesis, on defending my thesis or on another paper. I went through my mental list of stock answers, which admittedly didnt sound overly convincing even to myself. I told him I was working on looking for a job. He pointed out that I am pregnant, not particularly hire-able, and hence I cant be working too hard in that regard. I mentioned that I am working on some data, although that is such a catch all excuse for post-docs. I told him about this grant I am trying to apply for for post-doctoral funding from the Dutch government. But again, that isnt really a project. Bt what was I supposed to say, that I basically do fuck all, other than entertaining one child and marinating another, my life really is boring as batshit. I look forward to things like The Toronto Flower and Garden Festival on Wednesday, and my doctors appointment on Thursday to get me out of the house. I wake up, toast a bagel, have my coffee, check email, blog, read blogs, read a paper, do other stuff, spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what I can cook for dinner which will only take 15, repeat, and Bobs your uncle, its time to sleep. Seriously, even as I am typing this I am wondering, what the hell do I do the whole day, every day? Does anyone else have a problem accounting for their time? Or is this just a personal issue? Should I worry about my lack of activity, or should I just come up with a couple of more interesting stock answers like ..I am trying out each and every Jamie Oliver recipe, or I am working on the great Canadian novel. Yes, I think thats the way to go. I shall spend the rest of the day thinking of quirky, interesting faux projects. That should take up a few hours.