Focus Groups + Other Work

One thing that I try to do with my "spare" time is participate in focus groups.  If you're not familiar with this type of marketing research, they are either one-on-one or interactive groups where a moderator/researcher asks questions and participants give feedback on products, services, etc.  I like giving my opinion, but even more, I like the stipend that is distributed after the discussion :)

So today I was scheduled to do a slightly different type of focus group....a shop-along and in-home visit.  The topic was.....toilet paper!  I was to meet the researcher at my local Safeway and after 45 minutes we'd come to our house for questions/visuals.  Sure, I was a little nervous about the questions getting too "personal" for comfort, but I figured that I have been in the hospital so much now that I have lost a little of my modesty and that I could handle this.  But something really great happened.  The market research company called me and told me that I had been assigned as an alternate, so I wouldn't need to meet at the store, but rather stay home during the requested time period and wait to see if I was needed.  And I wasn't!  So I'll be paid $200 for baking cookies and painting my toenails!!

I put "spare" in quotes above because there is a question on the focus group screeners that always stumps me with regard to my day-to-day time -- my employment status.  The options are usually full-time, part-time, homemaker, temporarily unemployed, etc.  There is nothing that reflects that my full-time job right now is just getting healthy.  In this article in the Life, Interrupted column in the NYT, Suleika Jaouad really articulates well how I'm feeling about not working.  I'm not really restless or bored ever (I guess I take after my mom - I can always find something to do and it's usually not watching tv!), and Nicholas is around a bit during the day for distraction/company.  Right now my focus is being well again.  I'm doing focus groups to try to earn my keep, and am envisioning the day when I can contribute in a more meaningful way.

Speaking of getting healthy, I had another skin biopsy yesterday on my neck.  Lovely.  Now just waiting to hear confirmation of whether or not this rash I have is GVHD.....

PS Nicholas will receive this Craigslist purchase when he gets home today.  It's a ride-on toy and it choo-choos and whistles!  He is going to shriek!