The Visible Woman...August 10, 2003

You may think the concept of a day off ceases to have meaning for the ranks of the retired. But you would be wrong. There are only a few days, and mighty few I might add, where there is no scheduled obligation. You haven't agreed to be anywhere at any particular time. You haven't invited anyone over. You and your spouse haven't even settled on what activities the day holds. You haven't even agreed, really, to do anything together.

The first thing you do is sleep late which, in our house, means you sleep until eight o'clock. It is raining. This is nice sleep. I dream I'm in a tent eating a gourmet meal and it's pouring outside.

Then you get coffee, sort the newspapers into sections, toss the ads and mess around with the computer. You fix up the journal entry for yesterday, you shop on Amazon, you write a note to another journal writer who has received devastating news.

You go work out, untroubled by a schedule and, because it is Sunday, not much troubled by anyone else using the facility. You eat, clean up after eating and you attack cleaning your office (which entails reviewing old newspapers and recycling them because it is necessary to get the floor clean first or so it would seem). You do this without worrrying about the clock. You watch part of Some Like it Hot on cable.

You fold laundry, do dishes, put away dishers, wander the bookstore, read, watch TV. You watch part of The Apartment on cable. You watch Sex in the City and The Wire. You never really understand what is going on that show.

Late at night, you download Windows and virus updates to machines and check on backups.

It feels lazy and unproductive but OK, too. Like tomorrow will be all that more productive!

Sunday, August 10, 2003

A Journal from Austin, Texas. A Project of LBFFP Stealth Publishing.
food	reading	writing	time	exercise	health and mood

a friend crosses a bridge at the mouth of the Storms River in South Africa, 1997	a day off What does a day off mean when you are retired? And what would you do with it? You may think the concept of a day off ceases to have meaning for the ranks of the retired. But you would be wrong. There are only a few days, and mighty few I might add, where there is no scheduled obligation. You haven't agreed to be anywhere at any particular time. You haven't invited anyone over. You and your spouse haven't even settled on what activities the day holds. You haven't even agreed, really, to do anything together. The first thing you do is sleep late which, in our house, means you sleep until eight o'clock. It is raining. This is nice sleep. I dream I'm in a tent eating a gourmet meal and it's pouring outside. Then you get coffee, sort the newspapers into sections, toss the ads and mess around with the computer. You fix up the journal entry for yesterday, you shop on Amazon, you write a note to another journal writer who has received devastating news. You go work out, untroubled by a schedule and, because it is Sunday, not much troubled by anyone else using the facility. You eat, clean up after eating and you attack cleaning your office (which entails reviewing old newspapers and recycling them because it is necessary to get the floor clean first or so it would seem). You do this without worrrying about the clock. You watch part of Some Like it Hot on cable. You fold laundry, do dishes, put away dishers, wander the bookstore, read, watch TV. You watch part of The Apartment on cable. You watch Sex in the City and The Wire. You never really understand what is going on that show. Late at night, you download Windows and virus updates to machines and check on backups. It feels lazy and unproductive but OK, too. Like tomorrow will be all that more productive!
JUST TYPING LB's day off. Ordinary things. No pressure. Life winds out its own way. We weave through its time. Focused or adrift.
		Food Diary. salad with spinach, zuchinni, yellow squash, garlic chips, cheddar cheese and a salad dressing salmon in Sister Sass dressing, capers, lemon, olive oil, lemon pepper Four little 'half' sandwiches of cheese, turkey, pimento cheese. A bunch of chips and French Onion dip. [Potato chips and French onion dip is a craving I occasionally have but rarely give in to. Glazed donuts sometimes call to me, too. I don't usually answer.] A bunch is a lot. Some Pinot Noir. I don't always track my caffeine consumption but I will say that today I had a craving for chilled caffeine while at Barnes and Noble. I bought an iced coffee rather than a frappacreamywhatever and it satisfied quite well. No sugar, of course.
		Time flies.... I tried not to pay attention to the clock...just to my tasks. I spent time at the club. [It's amazing that even when we have a completely free day, FFP and I are so much on our 'own schedule' that we can't drive to the club together or eat together. Although I did eat what he prepared.] I went to the bookstore with Forrest although I really wanted to clean up my office. I can almost see the floor now. It's amazing. Long way to go yet, however.

		Reading. From the Journals of M.F.K. Fisher got read on the bike. Many newspaper sections were scanned. Afew crossword puzzles worked. I've about decided that the Statesman crosswords aren't worthy of my attention although I did cut some out and save them in a folder for trips.
		Instead...I read.
		Exercise fifteen minutes on recumbent bike lower body weights arm weights abs and back exercises seventeen minutes on recombent bike
		116/74 75 Feel strong today.