My blogging friend, Trish, (Love, Laughter & a Touch of Insanity) is hosting this 2nd annual blogging event. Last year, I so enjoyed reading about people’s lives, but didn’t post about my own. This year, I’m sharing a day in my own life, and will once again enjoy reading about yours!
Two and a half years ago, I retired after teaching for 27 years, and my husband and I moved to a small town in Oregon. The following is my account of a pretty typical day in this retired teacher’s new life.
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016
5:00am: I wake up at this time no matter what. Inner clocks are incredibly difficult to reset, and even though I’m retired and could sleep-in as long as I want, this is the time my body says to get moving, so I get moving!
5:00-5:45am: Wake, make a big pot of tea, and read (currently reading my first book by Ann Cleeves, A Bird in the Hand).
5:45-6:15am: Work on my Bullet Journal. One of the joys of retirement is getting up each morning and being able to set my own agenda! Our first year of retirement was pretty unscheduled — footloose and fancy free! Recently, I decided that I needed a little more structure to my day, so I set up my bullet journal and spend time each morning and each evening planning my day and then reflecting on each day. I love this! I’m much more efficient with my time, so I’m getting more reading done, more knitting, taking more long walks, remembering to send birthday cards on time, etc. I’m still setting my own agenda and enjoying my days even more! Delightful!
6:15-7:00am: This is time usually spent on the computer reading, answering, and sending emails, and catching up on social media. I do a lot on Facebook, which is a nice way to communicate with my Mom and family, and friends and relatives that live near and far.
7:00-9:00am: I ate breakfast and then got ready for my morning exercise activity. On Mon/Wed/Fri, I go to exercise class at the gym 3 blocks from my house. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I meet a very special exercise buddy. My new friend, Gloria, is an 81-year-old runner! I meet her twice a week to walk/run on the hills near her home. I walk, she runs! Because my legs are long and I have a long walking stride, I can keep up with her (most of the time) while she runs. She’s been running for 40 years, and she has become my mentor as I learn to challenge myself and my body more and more. With her encouragement, I have signed up for a summer’s worth of 5k challenges. Portland Parks and Recreation sponsors 6 summer 5k walk/run events, each one at a different local park. My first ever 5k walk will be on May 15th. Gloria will run and I will walk. What fun! Can’t wait!
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- My walking shoes…
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- My mentor, Gloria…
9:00am: Back home, shower, get ready for the rest of the day!
9:15-10:30am: Housecleaning, laundry, menu-planning. It’s been so rainy recently that I haven’t been out in the yard doing some of those morning tasks, but that will change very soon. Today, I swept the front porch to get ready to put out some potted plants soon.
10:30-11:30am: I signed up for a Craftsy class on “Designing Edible Gardens,” so this morning I spent an hour working on that class. I take notes in my Bullet Journal, where I keep track of all the planning I’m doing for our 2016 vegetable garden.
11:30-Noon: Prepare lunch. Today’s lunch was a “rice bowl”… brown rice, stir fry veggies (no oil!), cubed tofu, mandarin orange slices, some slivered raw almonds, and 1/4 cup orange sauce. (Warmed it all up in the microwave.) A simple, but very healthy and satisfying lunch. Two years ago I was overweight, pre-diabetic, and taking 2 blood pressure medications as well as a cholesterol-lowering medication. My new doctor referred me to the Healthy Living department at Kaiser Permanente where I met with a doctor and his nurse who have changed my life! They gave me the information and support needed to change the way I eat. I have worked hard to change old bad habits and establish a new and healthier lifestyle by eating a completely plant-based diet. The health benefits for me have been enormous. I’ve lost 25 pounds and Kaiser no longer classifies me as obese or pre-diabetic. I no longer take blood pressure medications or cholesterol-lowering medication. “Food is my medicine.” And along with losing weight, I have become much more physically active. I go to exercise class three mornings a week, and meet with my running friend twice a week, so I have a good 1-hour/5 days a week exercise routine. I also go for long walks with my hubby, and ride my bicycle and go hiking when the weather permits. Simply put, I am feeling better than I have felt in years!
AFTERNOON:
12:30-2:00pm: Running errands. Fred Meyer, car wash, JoAnn’s for some crafting supplies, and Best Buy to pick up a new exercise tracker to help me do some serious training for my summer of 5k races!
2:15-3:00pm: Home again. I sat in the recliner, put my feet up, and called my Mom on the phone. I talk with my 96-1/2 year old Mom every day. She lives 800 miles away, but we bridge the distance by having long conversations about health, happenings at her retirement home, and about what we are currently reading. We never get tired of talking about books!
3:00-3:45pm: Stayed sitting in that recliner and worked on my current knitting project while listening to my current audiobook, In the Wet, by Nevil Shute.
3:45pm: Stood in the kitchen looking out the greenhouse window at the flock of little birds, the Scrub Jays, and the Acorn Woodpeckers that frequent our bird feeders. I could never get bored looking out that window. There’s a lot of bird (and squirrel and cat) drama to enjoy!
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- Kitchen window…
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- Scrub Jay…
4:00-5:00pm: The Grandboy and his daddy arrived. I was honored with an invitation to join his Minecraft world for awhile!
5:00-6:00pm: I set the table while hubby cooked dinner tonight. He cooked a totally whole foods, plant-based meal for us — Cuban Black Beans. No, he hasn’t given up his meat or cheese (or pastries), but he has been very supportive of my plant-based needs. He likes to cook and bake, so he usually fixes 2 or 3 meals a week (yes, I’m spoiled!). Today, he fixed this one, which is one of our favorites!
6:00-6:30pm: Dinner.
7:00-8:30pm: We cleaned the kitchen, and then sat down to watch some TV. We chose a new Nature episode with David Attenborough. Love, love, love David Attenborough!
8:30-9:00pm: Planning and reflection time with my Bullet Journal.
9:00-10:00pm (or so): Reading in bed until too tired to read anymore. I love this!
Goodnight!
Notes:
** My “retired” days are busy and I love that. Although this has been a day where I mostly described my solo activities, my husband and I do many things together. When we retired, we started a wonderful tradition of going “exploring” on Wednesdays. We call it our “Wandering Wednesday,” and it started as a way to get to know this new area we moved to. We visit historical sites, botanical gardens, libraries and bookstores, wetlands and forests. We post photos on Facebook for our family and friends to enjoy, and it’s become a delightful highlight of our week.
** I love my new focus on physical activity and healthy living. It just feels so darn good! A number of years ago I read Reeve Lindbergh’s book, Forward From Here: Leaving Middle Age — and Other Unexpected Adventures. In that book, she said that 60 is the “youth of old age.” I am closer to 70 now than to 60, but I feel more youthful today than I did when I turned 60. Although I haven’t always been good about this, I know how important it is, at any age, to take good care of yourself. My mother is a wonderful role model for aging gracefully and healthfully, and I hope I can do as good a job of moving into my elder years as my mother!
** This is a new stage of life for me that comes with many, many changes, but the one thing that has remained constant is my passion for reading! With retirement, comes much more time to enjoy my books. What a luxury to be able to sit down and read on the front porch or in my favorite indoor spot at any time I want!
My favorite reading spot…
Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read about “my day in the life.” Although I don’t post or comment as often as I used to, I still love the blogging community and enjoy visiting your blogs. I love to hear about what you are reading and what is happening in your lives.
Thank you, Trish, for hosting this annual event!
A Fondness For Reading 
It sounds like you have a great running partner. I’m plant based too. I haven’t lost that much weight though. Good job.
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Thanks, Heather. Yes, Gloria is amazing…a wonderful role model for me! More and more people are changing to plant based eating and I think that’s great! So many benefits, and one of them is that there are more options now in restaurants for us. For me, it just feels so good and the health benefits were immediate! I’m really fortunate that I have a lot of support, encouragement, and sharing of recipes/ideas through my Healthy Lifestyle group at Kaiser.
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Robin, I am so, so pleased that you shared your day. Loved hearing about your new way of eating and exercising. Last year was my ‘wake up’ and since late May of 2015, I’ve changed how I do several things. I still have to talk myself into exercising each and every day, but I manage it most days. I do feel better and the 30 pounds I’ve lost has helped with lots of test results. I still need to lose a lot more, but I have so much more energy. I always love hearing about your mother – she’s a wonder – truly. And your exercise partner as well. Your front porch is lovely and I can just picture you there. Thanks for sharing!!
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I love that your mom is 96 1/2, and that you talk to her everyday! I’m looking for someone to walk with 3-4 times a week but I live in the country so it’s not going so good.
My son and his family are vegans and they’re always asking me to dinner, trying to get me to eat healthier.
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My mom is a retired teacher too–well, semi-retired. She couldn’t completely stay away and so substitutes for a couple of her teacher friends now and then. Gloria sounds amazing. Eighty-one and running! It’s wonderful that you talk to your mom every day. I’m so bad about that. I hate talking on the phone. My mom and I write or text just about every day and then talk on the phone about once a week.
Thank you for sharing your day. I really enjoyed reading about it!
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I’m intrigued by the Craftsy class. My youngest is going to start school full time in August and I’ll have more free time and I’d love to incorporate some kind of class or something into it. That’s fantastic about the exercise! I’m not so good about keeping it in my daily routine but I always feel so much better when I do. I love the picture of the Scrub Jay. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one but it’s so beautiful. What a fun post!
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Wow! I’m jealous of so many things in your day. First, that you get to speak to you mother every single day. I’m only 37 (almost 38) and my mom passed away nearly 3 years ago. She was 78. I miss her very much.
I’m also jealous of your retirement. I know you worked for a long time so you deserve the retirement, but I feel like I need to retire already, lol.
And, I’m jealous of your time to read. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
Thanks for sharing your day! It was fun to read. And, thanks for stopping by my post.
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Thanks for sharing your day with us! I’m envious that your husband cooks! And he’s so supportive of your plant-based needs. How fantastic!
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It sounds like you are having a wonderful retirement! Kaiser also helped my dad through that same program and he got off of all the meds and dropped the scary diagnoses. That’s what healthcare should be, right?! Thanks for sharing your day and your adorable grandboy. He’s grown up so much!
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We are just beginning to explore retirement and I want to make you my role model! We are having a wonderful time trying it out in FL this winter, but I have a feeling we will need a little more structure to make it work full time. Wandering Wednesdays sound wonderful. My main exercise these days is walking or biking, but I do need to be more active and have thought about joining the local rec center (or Y at home) for regular exercise classes. Just love that your new running buddy is 81. Congratulations on the dietary changes and weight loss, too. Your porch looks so inviting… a perfect reading spot.
I’m going to share your post with my husband… sounds like you have mastered retirement 🙂
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Such a lovely day, Robin! And I love that you’ve taken such a healthy approach to life–I see that Kay commented above–I know that she’s been going through many of the same steps. I worry about my husband who works too much and isn’t active enough outside of chasing our little girls around the house. It’s definitely something we should work on now to enjoy later. 🙂
And love your bullet journal! I just recently started one and am really enjoying the process. Thanks for sharing your day Robin!
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I love your porch! It looks so inviting. I hope I’m still running at 81 like Gloria is. I’m going to try anyway!
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I love these “bowls” that are so trendy and lovely, and want to start making more meals like that myself. I can’t wait to start getting fresh veggies that are actually fresh again, especially from the garden. Your life of active retirement sounds wonderful, and I enjoyed reading about your day. Very inspirational!
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Thanks for sharing your day with me! Congrats on your healthier lifestyle and enjoying retirement life. I love watching the birds on our feeders too! Looks like you have some neat ones that come to your feeder!
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Thank you, Kay! I appreciate your kind words about my Mom. She really is amazing! You are inspiring me with your 30 pound weight loss! I also struggled for a long time to convince myself to walk or exercise every day. So I finally joined a ‘senior stretch and tone’ exercise class at the gym down the street. It’s been really nice for me because I’ve made some nice new friends (Gloria is one!), so that has been an added benefit besides the consistent exercise.
Thanks for reading my post, Vicki! I hope you find a walking partner! I am loving the consistent walking and I know that I am very fortunate to have found Gloria. It’s easier to get myself out there (rain or shine) when someone is waiting for me! It is harder on my own, but I am starting to walk more during the day on my own, too. My husband bicycles a lot, so when he goes out on his bike, I go for a walk around our neighborhood. It all adds up to feeling so much better. How fun that your son and his family invite you over for their vegan meals! Have you enjoyed the dishes they made?
Wendy, thanks for reading about my day! How many years did your mom teach? When I retired, we moved out of state, so I don’t substitute here, but if I was still living near my old school, I would have loved to be a substitute there! My mom and I live almost 800 miles apart, so our phone calls help to bridge that distance. When I was working, we talked 3-4 times a week, but now that I’m retired I am able to touch base with her every day. These conversations are very special for me and I know they make a difference in her day, also.
Katherine, thanks for stopping by and reading my post. I do love the many birds that frequent our feeders! We are surrounded by very tall (and very old) oak trees, so we get a lot of different kinds of birds. We’ve even seen a Cooper’s Hawk out there, even though we live in them middle of town! I am enjoying this Craftsy class and have signed up for 2 knitting classes. They’re nicely done, the lessons are not too long, and I enjoy them a lot. They certainly offer a lot of them, and they have frequent sales so they’re not too pricey!
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Jennielyse, I’m sorry you lost your Mom so young. I have been so very fortunate to have my mom, (my friend, my guide, my mentor!) for so long. It’s hard to think of time ahead without her. As for retirement, we never thought we’d be able to afford to do that since we both started our careers later in life. However, it actually happened, and we live a simple but happy life. The reading time is wonderful, although I think I read more books on average while I was still working. A weird fact, but I am doing so many other things I enjoy, too…like walking and knitting and spending time with the Grandboy. I do love being retired, though. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Olduvai! Yes, my hubby is a keeper!
Thanks for reading my post, Kristen! How interesting that your dad is with Kaiser’s Healthy Living Program, too. Does he live in Oregon? I’m very grateful to Kaiser for putting together this training and support. It’s made such a difference in my life, and it sounds like it’s made a big difference for your dad, too. Yes, it IS the way healthcare should be!
Thanks, JoAnn! I’m honored that you would think of me as a role model for retirement. You would definitely enjoy the Wandering Wednesday idea. It keeps us busy on Wednesdays, and we love learning about our area this way. We lived in the Seattle area for many years, and there are so many things we did not take advantage of or explore. So this has been a lot of fun. I do love reading on our porch. Unfortunately, the neighborhood cats love the chairs, too, so I have to clean them often since we are allergic to cat fur!
Thanks for reading my post, Trish! And thanks for hosting this event–it’s so much fun to read all the posts. I’m slowly going through the list! It’s difficult during the raising-family-working-years to find time for self-care, but every little bit helps! I do love reading your blog and watching your beautiful family growing and changing. Your joys and struggles remind me of our life when our children were young.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris! Me, too…I want to be just like Gloria when I’m 81, still challenging myself and living life fiercely!
Thanks, Laurie! I do love my different bowl lunches. They are so easy, so tasty, and so healthy! I have a variety of combinations I fix — different veggies and flavors. Some I make with rice, some I make with quinoa. My daughter finally convinced me that I needed to fix them for family dinners, too. She loves the one I make with peanut sauce!
Thanks for reading my post, Stacie! I do love watching the birds. They are so entertaining, and we do get an amazing variety of birds here. Two years ago, we were able to watch the life cycle of some house sparrows in our bird house on the oak tree. 3 little hungry birds grew up there. And last year, we watched a scrub jay family grow up. We couldn’t see the nest, but we loved watching the chubby little fledglings learning how to fly, forage, and bury treasures in our yard!
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I loved your day! You have really learned how to fill it up well! I love the idea of a bullet journal, too.
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I loved reading this! Everyone is so organized. I spent 3 hours this morning trying to read the last 100 pages in a book because the dog kept wanting something… lol
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Thank you, Patty, for reading my post! The days do seem to get filled up! But it’s so nice to not have so much pressure/stress in each day like when I was working! There’s a different kind of stress now. 🙂
Thanks, Kelly! These posts are fun to read. I’m traveling this weekend, so I’m slow at commenting on these day-in-the-life posts, but I’m enjoying reading them. And I love that your dog(s) are helping you finish your book this morning! 😉
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Isn’t this a wonderful event that Trish has shared with all us?! I love hearing about everyone’s day, learning a little bit more about my blogging friends!
Ah, getting up at 5:00 even though you’re retired? I’m hoping I can at least sleep to 6 or 7 once my hubby and I retire. Might happen for most of the days, although today I was wide awake at 5:15. I had really wanted to sleep in. Oh, well.
I like a schedule, so I’m going to look into Bullet Journaling for retirement. Seems to be quite popular right now. And good for you for being so active. That’s another thing I’m looking forward to when we’re retired. More time to walk and bike (and maybe do some weight training at the gym). Good luck and have fun with your races!
I mentioned your weight loss and healthy way of eating to my husband. He said he might be able to do that with me, so I’m going to do some research. We both could stand to lose some weight, but he especially needs to in order to ease his back pain. That rice bowl lunch looks delicious and I know he’d enjoy having that for lunch or dinner. I have that Reeve Lindbergh book and hope to read it sometime soon. It’s been on my shelf for several years now!
Thanks for sharing your day with me! I loved each and every part of this post. 🙂
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I think this is my favourite post so far. So many unexpected things in a fairly ordinary day, beautifulky described. I look forward to retirement and more time to read – 28 years to go. 🙂
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Thanks, Les! Yes, I am loving reading everyone’s posts for Trish’s event. It’s fun and I’m impressed by each one I read! I’m glad that both you and Rod are interested in plant-based eating. It’s made such a major difference in my health, so I do recommend it highly. I suggest starting simple — add a vegetarian (for me that means no meat, no dairy, no oil!) meal to the week’s dinner menus and perhaps 2-3 lunches a week — and then keep on adding more plant-based meals to your routine. We are having fun trying out new recipes, and I know you already enjoy doing that! Because I was under doctor’s care, I dove right in at close to 100%. The effects were amazingly quick. I dropped the weight in the first 6 months, was off all my medications within 3 months! Check out the link in my post, and here’s another link that might help for learning more about how to make changes in that direction:
Click to access 16c207baa24203d98811.pdf
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Aww, thanks for reading my post and for your kind words, Lauratfrey! You will love retirement, and those 28 years will go by amazingly fast, so enjoy them, as well! I’m still reading these posts and just love learning what people’s days are like. Isn’t it a terrific idea? I’m so glad Trish does this each year!
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