Of late, weekends have but one implication for me – 64 hours incommunicado with the PC placement office. Sixty four hours between 4:00 p.m. CST on Friday and 8:00 a.m. on Monday. Sixty four hours with no need to check eMail or look for that special area code on incoming phone calls. So what does one do to cope during this black-out period? This is a list of 10 ways to pass the time:

• Organize the sock drawer – riveting!
• Pet and hold a dog (in my case, Jill the Pill, world’s best Lakeland Terrier). Tell her that she’s loved and will be missed.
• Pick a garment onto which the Peace Corps patch will be sewn. (though I’m resolved not to attach it until I receive an invitation; thus it rests in a beautifully organized sock drawer.)
• Update the tunes on your iPod(s).
• Become proficient in telling Les Trois Ours. Well, maybe Les Trois Petit Cochons - I’m not certain that bears have any significance to children of SSA.
• Read the packing lists of other volunteers at the PCJ site (I love the discovery of what other volunteers are packing).
• Work on your own packing list (and finally give-up the idea of taking that flatiron).
• Volunteer, even when you think you cannot possibly fit one more volunteer hour into your life.
• Memorize a generic recipe (perhaps cookies), which can then be adapted with locally available ingredients. Thanks, Alton Brown.
• Wonder when was the last time you had a life that didn't include PC-induced OCD . . . we can only speculate.