My "unplugged" weekend

Being a County employee, I receive a very generous holiday schedule. Every year we are closed for the Easter weekend starting on Good Friday, returning to work on Monday. A 3-day weekend every year, not really a good time to get away, but nice nonetheless. I was talking to my hubby who half-jokingly said that I would be online most of the weekend, trolling Facebook, checking email, etc. I decided right then and there that I wanted this weekend to be different. I told him I was going to do an "unplugged" weekend - no computer. He laughed and said "Yeah, OK, no Facebook. Sure. Right." I explained that I truly meant no computer: no Facebook, no email, no card games, no nothing. I wouldn't even turn the thing on.

Needless to say, he was sceptical.

As was I.

Could I really do it? Could I spend a whole weekend doing things other than playing on the computer? I could do it, right? I mean, it's only been about a year and a half since we got the darn thing; we used to live a computer-at-home-free life and we did very well, thank you very much. But now that it's here, now that it's practically the first thing I do every morning, the last thing I do every night, the thing I check on at lunch, the thing that we run to when we've got any sort of question... Could I really do this?

I must admit I had my doubts.

I posted to all my friends on Facebook and Goodreads that I was taking the weekend off. That way, if anyone did notice my presence, they could call me out on my lack of fortitude. Plus it made sense to announce it to more people than just Jeff - more accountability. And the more I talked about it, the more I started looking forward to the prospect of a computer-free weekend. Just imagine all the things I could get done! Books read, cleaning done, walks taken, naps enjoyed, etc.

And how did I do? Did I cave in to my addiction? Did I sneak a peek? Did I last the whole three days or give in close to the end - or give in Friday morning?

I DID IT.

Yep, I totally did it. The only time the computer was booted up was when Jeff played a card game or two. Other than that, it spent the whole weekend asleep. The funny thing is I never missed it. Really! I figured I would, so it surprised me to no end that I was able to get up, start my normal routine, and just blissfully sit on the couch. I admit I did glance over at the machine, and I thought "here we go, I'm not gonna make it" - and then...nothing. I just looked at it. I wasn't even remotely tempted to walk over, turn it on, and login to anything. I just went back to what I'd been doing (which, admittedly, was watching TV!)

And all those things I was going to do? Well, that wasn't quite as successful. I did finish a book, and I'm half-way through another one. I did take some awesome naps. I skipped the walks due to sheer laziness. And yes, there was some cleaning done - but not nearly as much as I had been hoping to accomplish. Oh well, all the more reason to do this again!

One of my friends asked if "unplugged" would include the TV as well as the computer. I laughed and told her "no way!" but now I'm thinking that would be interesting, too. If I couldn't sit in front of the TV wasting time as well as the computer, what could I accomplish? Of course, the computer was sort of easy in a way; Jeff doesn't check email, doesn't have any sort of account on any social network, and doesn't play games for hours. TV is a whole other story! But maybe, just maybe, we could do it. Maybe we could start small with the TV - perhaps just a day off, rather than a whole weekend. Baby steps, if you will.

After all, I never thought I'd be able to resist the siren song of Facebook!