Eventually there was marriage, housekeeping, children
and a career. Scheduling became more and more complicated. My husband was on
the road for weeks at a time so the bulk of responsibility for keeping with
‘the program’ fell to me.
As my daughters Sara and Emily
entered their teenage years, with school, extracurricular activities and part
time jobs I had to juggle my time to meet their needs. When my daughter Sara
received her drivers’ license most of my scheduling issues disappeared. I got
her an old car, mechanically sound, serviceable and quite ugly. Sara had to
agree to transport Emily to her after school activities since I worked two
evenings per week. It was a beautiful arrangement.
I found myself looking forward to
not having to plan for every day. As it turned out, with moving to South Carolina I had much to do and slogged from one day to another.
After a few weeks, all moving tasks were completed, boxes emptied, contents in
their new locations and final trips to Goodwill accomplished.
Reality set in. What in the world
was I going to do without a schedule?
I became the human version of a
slug. I didn’t write and I didn’t exercise. I did the bare minimum to keep the
household running, watched a lot of television and wondered what I was going to
do for the rest of my life. Fortunately this human imposed misery didn’t last
long.
I became a member of a local
advisory committee, spent time visiting my children and grandchildren, started
golfing, or shall I say, oh, never mind. Suffice it to say I am a terrible
golfer, even after lessons.
I do fairly well on the driving
range. I don’t know what happens on the golf course. It’s like I forget
everything I have ever learned. The ball has a mind of its’ own, traveling in
every imaginable direction but the one where I was aiming. Sometimes I actually
miss the ball altogether.
I found my writers’ group in
October, 2014. While I continue to procrastinate I am energized when I leave
the meetings.
I learned I need to have a daily
plan. My life prior to retirement would look like chaos to many people. I
thrived on deadlines and crises. The lesson I learned: schedule my days,
incorporate time for writing, exercise and multiple household chores. Once in
awhile I even get a crisis to deal with.
