The girls, Kyle and Sandra, have gone home and I thought what if this was my retirement? What would a day look like? So for the last two days I’ve tried to, not only envision, structure my day as if. Here’s how it would look:
Wake up at my leisure. So that really turned out to mean I wake up around 6:30. Habits are habits after all and when you feel relaxed enough to want to get your day started early that’s what will happen. Take care of business and off to the beach walk with the girls, Toto and Lina, I go. I love that walk, I might not live by the beach when I retire but I will continue my morning walk routine.
Home to coffee, dog feeding and playing, the girls were so vigilent when Kyle and Sandra were here that they finally let lose in the backyard running back and forth and enjoying the space.
Relax over my breakfast and affirmations for the day.
Sit down and write. Finish the post .
Weather permitting, pack lunch and go to the beach. Ok so maybe I do need to live by the beach, gotta think further on that. I met a darling man at the beach the other day that was walking toward me as I was stretching my legs. He said it was a fine great day wasn’t it. I agreed.
I was poking around looking for hopscotch rocks (much easier to find than good shells or sea glass) and he was coming back the other way and let me know I was moving far too slow to be exercising. He went on to tell me that he met a woman the other day that was much older (he appeared to be in his late seventies) who told him he had big feet. He figured that’s why he was so much better at getting up and down the beach. He parked on the bench near me reading his paper and we left it at that.
I stayed at the beach doing my research (reading with my blessed Kindle in the blazing sun, love that) on everything from legacy to mean girls to the impact a father has on their children’s lives to how to make content on your blog count until late afternoon.
Now home to shower and prep dinner; cook something fabulous and healthy, pour an inch and enjoy dinner on the deck if weather permits or at the dining table, definitely not in front of the TV. Turning the TV on would be my demise. I get sucked into the damnedest things. At home I’m hooked on this show “Abandoned” where these guys go into abandoned buildings looking for treasures. And God knows I don’t need another marathon anything on HGTV or the Food Network.
Then catch up on email. At work I’ve started answering email late in the afternoon not every minute of every day. I find things have a way of resolving themselves if people copy enough other people on the email. By the end of the day I simply need to confirm they are right or give them another alternative. My worth is no longer tied to the number of times during the day I email rather it’s tied to the quality of my reply and getting the last word has always been my strong suit. Quite the concept once you get the hang of it.
Take the girls for another walk, feed them and straighten up.
Make notes for future posts, make notes for a personal history I’m working on for a friend, make notes on Ordinary Legacy seminar. Read. Talk to my sister. Wind down.
One more quickie pee pee for the girls and then into bed. Sometimes that’s early, sometimes that’s later. I’ve always wondered about those people who say they lose track of time when they are doing what they love. I’m starting to get that concept too. Before going to sleep I catch up on pleasure reading, magazines, Facebook and some of the blogs I follow and am inspired by.
So could I fill everyday this way? I’m sure I’d have to clean and do laundry once in a while. Zumba at least twice a week until my joints all give out. Oh yeah and visit with friends, go to the movies, shop, day trips to interesting places in the city. Break out my camera again, go to classes. Yeah I could pretty much handle some version of this each day.