I took out the cow and chickens. But I miss them.

I love that old Jewish folktale about the poor farmer whose house is too small. He, his wife, his kids, and his mother-in-law, are all crowded into a tiny cottage, and the noise and chaos are driving him nuts.

So he goes to the Rabbi for advice, and the Rabbi surprises him by asking, "do you have any cows?" "Um...yes," says the guy, and the Rabbi says, "Take the cow into the house to live with you."

Of course it's even worse after that, what with the cow wandering around and mooing and pooping and all. So a couple days later he goes back to the Rabbi, who tells him to bring his goat into the house too. Next day? Same thing, but bring in the chickens.

Finally, with the goat eating everything in sight and kicking things over and the chickens squawking and pecking and laying eggs and the cow, who's still there, the man can't take it one more moment. He returns to the Rabbi, terrified at what advice he'll get this time, and is amazed to be told, "Take all the animals out of the house."

So he does. And the next day he returns once more, fervently thanking the Rabbi. "With just my family in the house, there's so much room! It's so quiet! Life is an absolute pleasure!"

I've never had enough time, you know? Then I had a kid, and had even less time. Then we got wireless, I discovered blogs, and there went any semblance of free time I'd ever thought I had.

So last night, for the first time in a loooooong time, I had no Internet access. And here's what I did:

• Picked up Mermaid Girl from preschool.
• Made dinner. (Easy dinner, a couple of Trader Joe's things mixed together.)
• Supervised MG's bath. (Admittedly, though, this was really easy since for the first time ever she washed her very own hair! Can I hear a Hallelujah!)
• Ate dinner with Renaissance Woman and saw her off to her singing rehearsal.
• Hand-washed MG's ballet socks. (She has only the one pair, and they're required for her class, and almost impossible to find anywhere, these little pink ankle socks made out of some very specific thin synthetic material. So I just let her wear them for class and then take them off right after and put them away till the next week. But even so...well, it turns out that although MG doesn't yet have body odor she does have foot odor. Yuck.)
• Washed the bathroom sink, while I was at it.
• Made banana bread! (It didn't take nearly as long as I feared, and MG was ecstatic at the novelty of Nighttime Baking.)
• Harried MG through her bedtime routine.
• Folded laundry while talking with a friend on the phone.
• Washed dishes while talking with RW, who'd come home from her rehearsal by then.
• Got clothes and lunch ready for the morning.
• Read a few chapters of a book I've been wanting to get to.
• Got to sleep before midnight.

For contrast, here's what my evenings usually look like of late:

• Pick up the girl from preschool.
• Make dinner.
• Eat dinner.
• Harry MG through bedtime routine, if it's my turn.
• Wash a couple of token dishes.
• Fall into the Internet until much too late.
• Collapse.

Methinks this break from home computer use might not be such a bad thing, no? So few distractions! Such a relaxed yet productive evening! Who knew there was so much time in the world?

And yet...when I have Internet access, it's so hard to keep from reading, and reading, and reading, and commenting, and reading...it's not even the writing that takes so long, it's Keeping Up with the Blogosphere. I love it! It's like my dream party, full of kindred spirits and stuff to read. And yet I obviously can't continue at this rate.

How about you? How do you keep blog-reading/writing from taking over your life? Or do you feel like it has? And if so, how do you handle that? (Feel free to leave an anonymous comment if you don't want to be traced by your name or usual pseudonym.)