Just over one week as a retiree and I am already staring at a blank screen, not knowing what today's entry will be. We had a great day yesterday with our visit with Vicki and tons of food. I have to be thankful that each day has been filled with things to occupy my mind and has kept me physically moving. Just this week, I have organized the bags of school stuff, made three BBQ dinners for friends, completed a painting, and helped Joyce build shelves. Doing so much has made the transition from working a full job to not working a full job easier. And, it does not feel like I am not working a full job. I am just as exhausted come nightfall.
Every Sunday morning, I fill my weekly vitamin container with pills and potions. There is no real medicine in there, thank goodness. I have reached the age of 61 without blood pressure meds or cholesterol meds, heart meds or diabetes meds. And I want to attribute that to my health-promoting diet. I am convinced that the genes I was dealt would have otherwise led to a lousy and way too early death. Some folks can abuse their bodies and live to 100. Not me. My journey to a gluten-free and then a vegan diet disturbs everyone to no end, but it has given my family a much healthier mom. I feel so much better now with the way I look and the way I feel. So in the vitamin container just goes some vitamins.
Each day I take notice of the pills spilling into my pink bowl and watch the week fade away. I cross off the days of my life with an empty container. By Thursday, there are four empties and I always wonder where the week went. With school in session, it was so easy to get to Thursday in the blink of an eye. Yes, there was a six-day rotation in school making each day different, but really, A day, B day, C day, or any other day was no different in retrospect. They all blurred into a mess of long days with some rewarding moments and many frustrating, tiring ones. The days were flying by and disappearing like the vitamins I swallowed to ensure better health. My crazy, wishful goal was always to slow this down. I have now left a job that created an endless stream of fading days. I have given myself the opportunity to build a very different kind of life, one filled with memorable moments to plunge into and enjoy.
So here goes my checklist for a full and worthy vitamin week.
- Do something creative every day and that does not have to be a framed canvas. It could be dreaming up dinner in the kitchen.
- Do at least one satisfying, Instagram worthy, excited to start again the next day, creative project that makes my week memorable.
- Write each day. (Thank you, Penzu)
- Paint or quilt or do whatever creative hobby that lures me in. Keep those hands going each day.
- Get exercise each day.
- Keep my home a place I love to be in.
- Spend time with Norman. I have no desire to play tennis or play poker or take a deck nap. He is not jumping with excitement over my hobbies any more than he is willing to eat beans for dinner. What will our new routine look like? So far it means going to Masa for dinner. That's a start.
- Keep up my own social life. Do I have friends? I often forget I do.
- Find a way to earn money.
- Earn money.
- Spend time with my kids. At least hear their voices every day.
- Call or visit Daddy each week.
- Help someone else. That is a big one. I felt helpful to others at school with no expectations for payback. I like helping others, it fills me with happiness. How do I do that here? Volunteer somewhere?
- I am now staring at this last blank bullet point like I did at the blank screen at the beginning of the Day 11 entry. This exercise made me realize that my goals should not end here, nor should I know what else I should write. This is a living and breathing weekly goal for life. Today is Monday, the start of a new week, and so it begins.
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