I usually lie there and see if I can go back to sleep for a little while since he often leaves at 6:45 AM. More often than not, however, it's not I who makes that decision. That is made for me by the resident cats, Piper and Marlowe, who have been without food for almost twelve whole hours and are wasting away from starvation. I'm often walked on, head-butted, pawed at, and get my hair chewed, accompanied by some pretty indignant narration until I get up and feed them. Only then can I make my coffee and wander into the living room and open up the drapes for them to patrol the neighborhood from the back of the couch.
I make the bed, grab my coffee, check email, then read my Cleveland Plain Dealer online before settling in to answer Comments, read and comment on blogs, and fritter away a good chunk of my morning. During this time I also play Words With Friends.
After I shift myself from this, I get cleaned up and dressed to face my day. I take care of catboxes and then head out for my walk. When I return, if my bird feeder needs to be filled, I do that. If my neighbor dogs are out, I run in and grab them a few biscuits and visit with them over the fence.
At this point in my day, I have to perform my Light Domestic Goddessing, and I sneak in some cat brushing, too.
Everything stops at 1:00 because Sam comes for his lunch. I love this hour every weekday to visit with my youngest son. Sometimes he makes his own lunch; sometimes I make it. Always, we chat and enjoy each other's company. On days when his girlfriend is off, he sometimes goes home. I miss him.
At 2:00 when he leaves, I write in my journal for about ten minutes or so. If I haven't already, I make a stab at planning dinner. I finish up whatever else there is that needs to be done so that I can have time to read for awhile or knit for awhile. Sometimes, my friend from North Carolina calls for a long, long chat.
Rick is usually home at 4:00 or 5:00, and once he decompresses a bit, he comes into the kitchen and helps me prep and prepare dinner. Sometimes we have a glass of wine while we cook. We usually eat dinner in the living room on the couch, and we love when it's just a casual one-bowl meal. After dinner is cleaned up, I change into jammies and grab my comforter and stretch out on the couch, immediately covered by at least Piper, the snuggliest (and snoring) cat. We chat, watch TV, and Rick sometimes reads me hilarious posts from Next Door, the neighborhood forum. I also play a few more rounds of Words With Friends until I have to be off screens (Dr.'s orders) by 9 PM.
Before we go to bed, I pack Rick's lunch.
This is my Average Day. I retired so that I could have these slow, easy, Almost Nothing days. Before the pandemic, I went a few more places and did a few more things. If it were warmer weather, I'd be outside doing some gardening, or maybe I'd be telling you about an average day at the lake. But aside from a few different things here and there, this really is my quiet little life right now. And I'm happy with it.
How different is your life from mine? What's your Average Day like?
I was so glad to read this! Your average day is similar to my average day (without the husband and pets). Reading about your average day convinced me that I don't have to feel guilty about my average day! I am retired too and often get the feeling I should be more productive but your post assures me that I deserve to slow things down and have a relaxed pace to my day. THANKS SO MUCH! Really! It is so good for me to hear this. Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteEllen D--You know, when I first retired at age 52, everyone asked me "What are you going to do now?" I was hugely frustrated. I WAS RETIRED. I DIDN'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. I WAS DONE. I was also irritated by AARP magazine which kept harping at me about second careers and all that. I taught for 30 years. I had my career. I didn't want another one. I wanted to enjoy my retirement.
DeleteWhat is it with Baby Boomers always feeling the need to be overachievers? I'm not rejoining the rat race. I had my kids, I had my career, and did them both at the same time. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my life at my pace and enjoy my own time now.
I'm glad this helps you to validate your own desire to do the same. And I'm so glad you like reading me. I'm happy to have you here.
This is so good to read. I retired this summer at age 55, after 31 years of teaching, and I’ve been feeling a little guilty, and very lost. And of course retiring during a pandemic seriously limits your options. But I am going to stop immediately. I like your point-of-view and I am going to embrace it!
DeleteDiabetes...Family--I had the same feeling at first, once the summer was over, in my first season of retirement. I halfheartedly looked for freelance writing/editing jobs, but with the recession, most places were doing that stuff in-house. I picked up a few things, but not for any real cash. I soon saw that I wasn't having a second career, and more importantly, that I didn't really want one. I thought about volunteering, but then I'd be on a schedule again, and I really chafed at that. I did NOT want to be on anyone's schedule but my own after 30+ years of even having to pee on a schedule. I finally came to the realization that what I wanted was within my grasp all along, and I was merely fighting it for no reason. I had retired in order to have this life, and here I was, for some reason, NOT HAVING IT. Why?
DeleteNow I do have it, and I'm so happy that I stopped feeling bad about it. I hope you can find Joy in it as well. It's a rare gift that so many would love to enjoy.
I don't have the cat or a husband but other than that our daily timelines is quite similar.
ReplyDeleteAre your doctor's orders about stopping screen time at 9:00 for better quality sleep and do you think it actually helps?
Jean--Yes, my neurologist has me wearing sunglasses starting at 7 or 8 pm, and I am off computer and phone screens by 9 pm. It has helped my sleep immeasurably.
DeleteNot that different. We crawl out of bed, any time between 7:00 am and 8:30 am, shower and dress. Up until this year, JG then went and lit a fire in the furnace, but we switched to a propane fired furnace this year, and so al he has to do is turn up the thermostat. (Should mention that we have electric heat in the bathroom for a quick shot of heat.) I stagger down the laneway to get the papers. Breakfast, with Sudoku. We read papers and emails. Unless it is laundry day or swimming day, I do general housework. JG does chores or a project (fix the water filter) if there is one. Lunch. Nap. Whatever did not get done in the morning. I cook supper and JG will cook the meat if we are bbqing. (is that legit?) I clean the kitchen for the third time. I read and JG watches TV. From time to time I may be out on our screen porch listening to the coyotes howl and smoking a sinful cigarette. Bed, usually for me about half past 11:00 when the TV goes off.
ReplyDeletePretty restricted. Pre Covid and pre bad back, there would be a lot more outside activities.
Mary--Your smoking is sinful and dangerous. End of lecture forever.
DeleteOh, how I miss reading an actual tactile newspaper! Ours has been digital now for years, and I am dreadfully unhappy about it.
I would love listening to woodland coyotes as a regular evening activity. We've had a few rogue ones at home and and the lake, but they were sadly located and a danger more than anything else.
I know. I know. In a Canadian winter, being a smoker is a real trial, too, when you are an outdoors smoker only.
DeleteI refuse to switch to digital news entirely. Reading the morning paper is a rite. And a right, I guess. What will we do when they all go bankrupt?
I’m surprised at how much I enjoy reading these, yours and the other comments. Why is it nice to hear about other people’s days? I don’t know, but it is. Your days sound pretty darned good.
ReplyDeleteMy average day I wake up around 6, come downstairs and start the teakettle. I let Mulder out to go pee, then I feed him. I have a cup of tea, then another cup of tea and fritter away a bit of time looking at emails and facebook and maybe playing Wordscapes on my phone. Around 7, Mulder and I go for our walk. We try to be back by 8, where I plop myself down in front of the computer for my work day. I work for a few hours, and then shower and get dressed. On my lunch break, I sometimes go to the grocery store, and sometimes I relax on my bed and play two dots on my iPad, or read the paper. Our paper, sadly, is digital these days, which I find means I don’t read as much of it as I did when it was a physical paper. After work, I come downstairs and make dinner. Ted is reporting traffic from our kitchen table, so I have to consider chopping or frying noise or whatever, and do such things in between his recording his breaks. Maya comes home from work at about 5:30 or so. We eat dinner on the sofa watching TV (because Ted is at the kitchen table). She gets ready for bed pretty early, and I eventually go to bed at around 10.
J--I like reading these as well. It's nice to imagine everyone going about their gentle lives, isn't it?
DeleteI love the irony of Ted reporting traffic from your kitchen. Be careful of those tie-ups around the fridge and stove!
The Plain Dealer has been digital for years as well, only producing actual paper editions a few days a week now to satisfy the Olds, so I said forget it, and switched my subscription to all online. That made it easier in summer, too, since we are often at the lake for weekends.
I love Wordscapes, too. I play it here and there pretty much every day. I used to play Two Dots. I forgot why I quit. But Wordscapes is my go-to when I'm bored and need a few minutes filled, like when I'm waiting on my mother at doctor appointments.
My days are very similar to yours including the morning wake up routine. My Nugget will put his claws out and then very gently tap me right on the nose or bite my elbow lol. He's a weird one. Unfortunately I don't get to have lunch with my youngest son, but I do get daily phone calls from both of my boys on their way home from work. Oh and I have an Instagram book shop. In the afternoons I spend some time selecting books for my next sale, clean, inspect, photograph, and price them. I also usually do any prep for dinner that can be done in the afternoon so dinner is quick and easy to throw together. That's about it, just nice slow, easy days.
ReplyDeleteMartha--It's so nice that you get a check-in from your boys. Jared will call once in a while on his way home, as well. Usually he video calls us on the weekend, or we see him at Sam's on Football Sunday, which is what he calls his weekly visits to Sam's house to watch the NFL games.
DeleteYou have a nice home business! Good for you.
I really enjoyed your daily routine. It sounds awesome! Such a comforting easy-going day. A most perfect day in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteMy day (also retired) begins with "Good morning" to Isaiah our cat & then Bud (if he's awake before I am. Then, blog comments/visits. While I eat my breakfast I play one game of scrabble on my cellphone. Then, it's off to drive to a park or beach for 3-4 hours of walking and birding. Home, we eat lunch while watching jeopardy. I then maybe make a blog post or work on bird photos off my camera for my bird blog. Some days our son calls and we chat as he is driving home from the campus where he teaches. 3:30 pm it's snack time. Later around 6 pm I prepare dinner, we eat on TV trays while watching a movie/tv program. Around 9/10 pm, it's reading my book time. Then, lights out.
Anni--I love your commitment to walking and birding. And Jeopardy! I used to watch it at lunch when I was a schoolgirl, home for lunch.
DeleteI don't know how you keep up with two blogs the way you do, and so regularly. It's incredible.
Oh man - I feel like an outsider here as (apparently) the only one who works outside the home. My average work day starts between 6 & 6:30 am. I get up & shower, get dressed, put my face on, do my hair. Then I go make breakfast (unless I made it the night before). That's usually steel cut oats, two fried eggs, & parm (& mushrooms or whatever else I have or am in the mood for). While that's cooking I put my lunch in my lunch bag. I read my comics & play a game on my iPad while I'm eating my breakfast. Then I head to work around 7:45 (I like to get there a bit early - it takes about 20 minutes & I have to be there at 8:30). I usually eat my lunch at my desk around noon while I'm working. I take my lunch break at 1:00 & often spend the time either crocheting or catching up on Instagram. Sometimes I go run an errand, and sometimes I play on my phone in my car. I leave work at 5:00 and get home by 5:30 most days. While I'm changing clothes, I check in with Alexa to see what the news is & what the weather will be to help me decide what I'm going to wear to work the next day. Then I TRY to treadmill before dinner (this only works when Mike makes dinner). Then I spend most of the evening playing on my iPad, reading, or crocheting. I just can't be bothered to do housework during the week. Around 8:00 I pack my lunch for the next day. I try to start thinking about going to bed around 9:00, but if I've opened my jigsaw app it's not going to happen. Most days I'm in bed by 10:00 or 10:30. I play a couple of games on my phone to calm my brain down & then go to sleep. I wish I could read before bed, but it really wakes my brain up & then it takes extra time to wind down.
ReplyDeleteBug--I wonder if you are the only one who works outside the home among my usual commenters. If so, you have a big responsibility to KEEP US GROUNDED. LOL.
DeleteI find it interesting that you don't eat lunch at lunch, but eat it while working so that you don't have to eat it during your lunch break, when you do other things. Do you get hungry earlier? Do you feel like you're cheating the system? Do you just want some unbroken time to do whatever you want?
I retired at 52, a luxury afforded me by starting my career in education at 22. If I were in another profession, I'd likely still be working at age 61, too. Do you wish you were working from home?
Regarding my lunch - all of the above! We stagger our lunch hours so there is always a "senior" person there, but I get hungry around noon usually. It is nice to not have to spend my lunch hour eating - and an extra bonus is that since I come back from lunch at 2:00, the afternoon flies by.
DeleteI DO miss working from home! I loved it & it suited my personality very well. That's not ever going to happen with this job - we're considered essential personnel and are still in about 1980, technology-wise. You think I jest, but in actual fact the main software program that we use IS from the 1980s. The City Manager is comfortable with it, so as long as we have him, we have it.
Wow! Nance. This is so important. Ordinary living is what MOST of do. I always think about this, (not being Macabre) at funerals. Almost every funeral I have been to , was for someone who made someone else lunch everyday with thought, was for someone who had to deny his wife was dying, so he gave her a dust buster . That seemed really skewed at the time, but now, 25 years later it makes sense. I gave her a photo of her son and her grandson making sandcastles. Because I was nurse and I could see she was not going to make it past Christmas if even that. I finally get the dust buster gift. When we live ordinary lives, we are at our best. Maybe feeding the birds IS the gift you give that day. Or I do. It was freezing when I went out there this morning and filled the bird bath. somedays Im not even out of my pjs, and I throw and Down jacket on , because the BlueJays are ........waiting...and the chickadees too. Thanks Nance. Great post
ReplyDeletekathy b--I appreciate your thoughts here. I used to wonder if I was supposed to be doing so much more, but I already lived that life. I earned this one. And I'm always available if anyone needs me. It's wonderful to be able to say yes when they ask.
DeleteThis sounds pretty perfect to me.
ReplyDeleteBridget--Thanks. I wish the same for you as soon as possible.
DeleteDee--I think so.
ReplyDeleteSo true, there's a lot of ordinary in between the highs of life. I'm sorry to say that I wake early, usually by 6AM. Coffee time in bed while reading the current book on-the-go or blogs on the computer. The only thing that would make that morning coffee better is if the "houseboy" would bring it to me in bed. I enjoy listening to the radio. The morning radio personalities on a local station are entertaining. There's CBC "Daybreak" on Sunday morning; CKUA "Wide Cut Country" & "Dirty Windshield" on Saturday mornings. That's when I usually do some housework or food prep while listening. Like you, Nance, I worked for 35 yrs and I'm still not over these slow mornings. When the coffee is done, it's time to get out of the pj's. There's exercises, Tai Chi Chih and/or sound therapy (for the BPPV that sometimes plagues me). Each day, I aim to do something that needs doing and something that wants doing. Current list of "needs" is holiday preparations, wash the china, clean the basement, bake bread/cinnamon rolls, paint the porch, donations to Next to New store, etc. "Wants" include writing, lengthy phone calls with friends/family, on-line Scrabble, reading. The afternoon is for something physical - 1-2 mile walk, fill the wood box, snow removal. There's always a list of things left undone. If I think there's nothing to do, I can always go for a walk or read.
ReplyDeleteMona--I just yelled "Coffee!" out loud. It's a favourite joke of mine, wishing that a nonexistent butler would appear and bring me a refill. When Rick is home, he yells, "Tea!" Neither of us allows the other to bring it; we are picky about how we fix our own beverage.
DeleteI'm sorry about your vertigo--that's no joke. I've had a few brief spells myself--a rare, momentary thing--and it's scary.
I wish we lived closer to one another and I could benefit from your bread- and cinnamon roll-baking. It sounds heavenly.
Do you enjoy snow shovelling? I like to do it, and do all the shovelling when we get our snow. I find it such good exercise, and the one time I like the cold air.
Your last sentence is so true and comforting. I'm rarely bored. I can always walk, read, or write.
(I'm so glad to have another Commenter from Canada! It's one of my favourite places in the world.)
I have a very similar schedule and I'm completely fine with it as well, Nance. I will admit that because my normal days are so laid back, when I am required to add in more activities--ones that aren't my choice--I find it harder to get going and feel more drained at the end of the day. If the activities are things I really want to do though, I have plenty of energy. I'm invigorated even. Now that I've written that of course, it doesn't seem all that surprising.
ReplyDeleteThe dogs are the biggest driver for most of my normal activities. Plus, Bo and Justine now. It's all good. Although I really do look forward to resuming those additional activities that I normally enjoy after the pandemic eases.
Shirley--Oh, I know exactly what you mean! On days that I have to do something else that disrupts my routine, I am actually a little annoyed. Sometimes, however, it does get me energized and I immediately add a few other things in so as to take advantage of the way I'm feeling.
DeleteLike you, I do look forward to resuming normal life after this pandemic. Pandemic Fatigue is quite real. Some days, I actually feel trapped and angry.
Spring, Nance. It's looking like we'll have to wait until spring. We can do it! We sometimes segue into little fantasies here about meeting up with friends and family and going to a favorite restaurant again and what we'd order. Then we have a drink and fix our own food and enjoy both and stay the course.
DeleteShirley--I hope you're right and that we can actually enjoy a normal Spring. I can do Spring.
DeleteI'm basing the Spring estimate on what Fauci said after learning about the success of the trials with the first vaccine. And now the news is even better with the Moderna vaccine info of course.
DeleteI love your average day; you've certainly earned your retirement and leisure. How wonderful to visit with your son as much as you do? That is a gift!
ReplyDeleteSuz--I cherish these afternoon visits with Sam. I know how lucky I am.
Delete