... it's to cold to work out in the garage, so I'll settle for working on inside chores again today.
After I get S off to work in the morning I generally finish my breakfast, catch a YouTube video, and doze for a bit. That mid-morning or late morning nap is a luxury of the retired life I've come to appreciate greatly. And that was my pattern today.
Still before Noon I ordered S a Christmas gift and a birthday gift online. The merchant promised a delivery before December 24 and I do hope it arrives on time. And I babysat an Operating System upgrade to my big laptop. That upgrade from Linux Mint 18.3 to 19.3 was pretty automatic, but I still had to watch it happen and follow a few special directions as the process moved along.
This afternoon will find me sorting through paperwork in my home office, throwing out the unnecessary stuff that has accumulated and looking especially for a work order from my doctor that I'll need to take to the lab for some blood work to be done soon. And I'll be spending some time on the stepper exercise machine.
Last night's 3-hour sleep by itself doesn't give me enough rest to make it through this long day confidently.
Watching old Westerns on TV early in the morning was calming, mid-morning yardwork was relaxing, and sewing a button on the black suit coat I intend to wear this evening gave me a boost in confidence. And this short nap I was able to squeeze in between the afternoon basketball and football games may be all I need to make it through lectoring at this evening's 5:00 Mass and the Council Christmas party immediately afterward. Hope so.
Yesterday's drizzly rains have ended, but it's going to be cold outside: cold by San Antonio standards. So I will focus on inside chores.
There will be correspondence to attend to; more research related to next year's big vacation/move; and sorting of my stuff, deciding what I want to move with, and what to throw away. Happy chores that I can move through at a comfortable pace.
I'm very much a creature of habit. As long as events follow a regular schedule, moving through them is easy. But lately, for the past few months actually, my schedule has had to adjust to many changes. And it looks like that will continue through mid-January. One-time events like holiday parties, special ceremonies with the Knights of Columbus, doctor's appointments which have been cancelled then rescheduled, unscheduled business meetings which have happened and are bound to continue happening with little advance warning, etc. Ah, life...
If I could sleep better at night, keeping my act together would probably be easier. With the goal helping my sleep I've cut back on the strength and amount of coffee I drink. Instead of the usual two scoops I'm now putting only one scoop of ground coffee into the machine, and I'm brewing half a pot rather than the full pot every morning as has been my custom forever. I'm only two days into this regimen and I'm hoping to see some improvement in my nightly sleeps soon.
A new habit I've picked up should help with those always rocky sleeps, and with my general health. To help S with her mandated weight loss, her doctor has told her to drop at least 15 pounds by exercising to save her liver, So I bought us a stepper exercise machine and set it up in the front room. To the best of my knowledge she's not using it at all, but I spend time on it almost every day. And I've started losing weight. Ha!
So I'm cutting way back on the coffee, working out regularly, and even eating much more moderately these days. Hopefully these lifestyle changes will help me move through the next several busy weeks calmly and with a steady stride. We'll see.
I do have some brand new phones but I'm still making payments on them and most likely still will be when I arrive in the Philippines next summer. Therefore I won't be able to unlock them and pop new SIM cards in. What I'm doing now is unlocking these already paid for older devices so they'll be ready to accept the overseas SIM cards.
Many years (decades) ago I was a very busy man. Working a job which kept me on the clock for often ten hours or more per day, I was also active in a local bicycling club, participating in club rides many weekends and training on the bike by bike-commuting the 5-mile trip to work most days. My common joke during that time was that I actually had three jobs: the day job, the time on the bike, and doing laundry at a local laundry-mat to keep all my work uniforms and bike gear clean.
Those days are long behind me but once again I'm finding time management to be so important. Juggling the chores of the busy “retirement” lifestyle I've built for myself (responsibilities at Church, as an officer in both the Knights of Columbus Council and the Knights of Columbus Assembly to which I belong, keeping up with my ongoing correspondence chess games, keeping up a regimen of physical workouts, and those frequent doctors appointments that a 71 year old man finds necessary, helping my wife monitor the health conditions she has to deal with, etc.) I'm also dealing with the logistics of our big vacation / move next summer. We'll be at least a month in the Philippines, and while there we may just decide to stay permanently. Preparing for that move from South Central Texas is proving to be quite a chore.
There being only so many hours in a day when I can be reliably productive, it's important to use those hours wisely. Time management. Yes siree!
My attachment to this present situation is becoming looser. Internally, I've already said goodbye to San Antonio.
The happiest part of my Thanksgiving Day was when Sylvia and I video chatted with family in Indiana. We both enjoyed that SO much! Northern Indiana will be part of our future.
A major event of our 2020 will be the late summer vacation to the Philippines where I will get to meet members of Sylvia's family for the first time, and she will get to reconnect with family and friends she hasn't seen in over 20 years. It is very possible that we may like it so much there that we'll decide to stay. Cebu City is very much part of our future.
I can see a future in which we've settled in Cebu and take frequent visits to Northern Indana. We may even set up a second Hoosier residence and shuttle back and forth between the two.
Working out the logistics to make our happy future a reality is taking both time and effort. And it's making our present situation seem less significant daily.
My day started quietly, and I hope to God it continues that way.
For those who may not know, my habit on the major holidays is to stay at home, safe and sober. Plans for this Thanksgiving Day include watching one of the big parades on TV, following football games (go Bears, go Cowboys!), and video chatting with my daughter and her extended family.
Hope you all can enjoy this holiday in safety and happiness.
Today finds me doing “catch up” on those Sunday chores that I let slide. Yesterday was just too busy. Busy with good, happy things, but too busy to keep up with the record keeping and weekly planning I usually take care of on Sundays.
And today finds me doing prep work for those special Thanksgiving Week things that both S and I have been roped into. Her special things are work related while mine are KofC and Church related.
Hopefully life around here will resume its regular pace after Thursday.