Is the grass greener on the single side of the street?

During the last couple years, a number of my coworkers and acquaintances have gotten married, and in the last few months, a number of them have had kids. I've heard more than one of them wax nostalgic about their single, pre-child, pre-marriage days. Which seems odd, since madanthony spends quite a bit of time grumbling about being single.

Obviously, the people I've talked to don't mean that they wish they hadn't gotten married or had kids, but rather a comment on the stressfulness and changes that, well, life-changing events bring. But it is a reminder that things in life have their advantages and disadvantages.

And I suppose those single life has it's advantages. I can do what I want when I want, without having to accommodate anyone else's schedule. Nobody grumbles when i go to an auction and bring back a 6-foot pickup bed full of computer parts, or points out that my master bath has reached the Greyhound Bus Terminal level of cleanliness, or that my "home office" resembles the aftermath of an explosion at an electronics warehouse or that my clothes look like I slept in them.

Which isn't necessarily a good thing. In a lot of ways, I could use a good shove - I have a ton of minor-but-necessary home improvement projects - from electrical outlets without faceplates to a hallway without carpeting to a bulging soffit under the gutters on the back of my townouse to an unfenced backyard - that I need to get done, but keep putting off, because I don't care that much and I don't have anyone to nag me.

And as far as my unfettered schedule goes, I don't really have a whole lot of things begging to fill it. It's not like I want to go out partying or drinking every night - I'm cheap, I get drunk off two beers, and most of my friends/acquaintances don't drink and are in relationships, so they really aren't down with partying anyway. I am glad I usually make it to the gym, and I go to auctions and yardsales when I don't have anything else better to do, but other than that I'm usually at home watching the cat ignore me.

I do want/need to find more hobbies, start taking more day trips, maybe actually use some of my vacation time at work. I probably should start focusing on the advantages of being single, in the hopes that some day I won't be.