No Routine

Being "retired" comes with a major life change that operates without a routine. For my entire life, having a routine has been essential to my overblown need to be in control. What do I do now?!?!

Actually... I'm developing a routine! What else???

I have exercise classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings that occupy me until about 10AM (AND get me out of bed relatively early). On Tuesdays, I plan to paint. Wednesday will be my blog and website day. On Thursdays, when M is on call, I plan to do whatever work needs to be done on documents and policies for TCFP. I haven't figured out weekends (including Fridays after exercise class) yet...

I know that painting will involve most of its prescribed day. Now that I've spent more than a whole day organizing my "art stuff," I can actually get into the swing of actually painting something. Today is Wednesday, so I'm blogging, and would like to add a post on a weekly basis. In addition, M has been encouraging me to work on "that cookbook," which I will ultimately develop out of items I've posted on the website in "Kitchens 'n' Such." Of course, the galleries need to be updated, and at some point I need to promote the website beyond the few friends I've shared it with. With regard to Thursdays, I'm only being paid for the equivalent of three hours each week through June of next year to develop needed items for TCFP (not that I stick to that limit -- the rest is unofficial volunteer work).

I suspect some weekend time will be devoted to a special project. My kids gave me the gift of creating a coffee table book of any or all of the works I've painted throughout the years. This presents somewhat of a challenge, because many of them have been professionally framed at considerable cost and I never scanned nor photographed them. M and I are collaborating (i.e., trying to figure out without arguing) on using his new camera and the new tripod he's going to buy to photograph my paintings through the glass of the frames using filters and drapes to eliminate glare and reflection.

M and I also need to collaborate on training Tuckerman. We want him to be a happy, well-behaved dog who can join us on many of our adventures. So far, he's doing OK, but he's a 9-month-old big teenage-ish puppy who needs lots of attention. Another blog post to work on...

And then there's traveling, although I think this will also be a topic for another blog post.

I'll be away for seven days this month and 17 days next month. No exercise and no

painting during those time frames, although I can do computer work.

BUT... I'll get to spend lots of time with my kids and their families, which is one of my two greatest joys. The other greatest joy is

this crazy retirement non-sense M (the great love of my life) and I are engaged in, which so far has not caused too much angst.

Here's to ROUTINE !!!