Life Keeps Me Moving

Honey, at 76 years young and retired, waking up in the morning is a blessing and gives me the boost I need to start with a mental playlist of things to accomplish for the day. My first goal is to start my stretch routine while still in the bed. Press my belly button in and hold it for a count of ten for ten times and then stretch legs and arms to make sure I can still move, and sit up. Arms up, I take a deep breath through the nose and out through the mouth, which reminds me to get up and brush my teeth (which I am blessed to still have). I smile in the mirror to make sure I have not had a stroke during the night and then all is good to go. I turn on my cell-phone in case I have any calls from family or friends, but spam calls seem to rule which is very annoying. I shower and get dressed for my morning 2 mile walk with my sister on our Yellow River trail. I have my breakfast bar with a bottle of water to wash the vitamins down and my blood pressure medicine. Then I head out.

Yellow River Park has beautiful outdoor trails that meander through groves of trees, sunshine, fresh air and wildlife which is so inspiring and keeps me wanting to do this Monday through Friday. Lately here in Georgia, it has been very humid and I must remember to spray myself to keep those mosquitos away. It is a challenge to wear my face mask when I am trying to suck as much air in when climbing those hills, but I manage to stick with it. I tend to have a type “A” personality in general that keeps me moving and when walking I do push hard with the goal to lose weight and get my blood pressure under control. I must admit there are days I am dragging and don’t want to go on that walk but I just have to look in the mirror and remind myself that I have a goal to meet and it’s not there yet! So I must stick with it.

With the walk behind me and feeling energized, I check my email for information and news or results of my marketing efforts and handle correspondence. Then I work on a painting for upcoming art exhibitions or work on my marketing with my art business until lunch time. Lunch is usually a salad using veggies from my garden or a smoothie and then back to the painting. I like watching a movie for background sound and it keeps me company while I work. One thing about being retired is that if I want a nap at this time, then I can have at it. The rest of my day will be working on art exhibit applications, paintings or designs for marketing or licensing which can be very exciting as new ideas are sparked by colors and influence. Lately I have included applying for grants for artists and small businesses affected by COVID-19 that need help which is very involved. More times than ever, I can lose track of time and then…what’s for dinner?!

I have the best husband any artist could ever ask for in that he is so understanding and patient and the wind beneath my wings. If dinner is late, it’s OK or I can declare “every man for himself” night and a sandwich with soup is good enough. Since he does not cook he will go out and bring dinner home, which is fine with me. We still don’t trust that delivery of food since we heard horror stories of delivery people sometimes eating out of your order. Ewwww! Nasty thought!

After dinner is our time to catch up on things together, make plans for things that need to be done for the next day or week, catch up with family and then settle down to enjoy a good movie or program that we both enjoy before turning in for the night. I say my prayers before I drift off to sleep and look forward to waking up to another full day energized and ready to accomplish more, experience more and enjoy more. Yeah, that type “A” personality just won’t stop and I love it!