Two days in a nunnery

This is the second day of the rest of my life, and I do feel like I've had two days in a nunnery--although the routine hasn't been quite that rigorous. I've had good food, a bit of wine, naps, and of course I slept late. But still I've stayed home alone, no makeup, working. Today no phone calls, though Lewis Bundock came by because I had a small list of little things that were broken around the house--like the screen door to the guest apartment, the commode in my office bathroom, etc. Our puzzle for the day--I found a piece of oak that looked to me like it had come off the round oak table in the family room--and I found it under that table. Lewis examed it thoroughly and announced everything that was supposed to be on the table was there. We cannot for the life of us figure out what piece of furniture it came from, but he warned me to keep it. My "junk" drawer is full to overflowing.
Tonight I added a bit of excitement to the day by setting off my alarm. I heard my new neighbor take garbage carts down. Several days ago he gave me a book he's written, signed to me, and I told him I'd give him one of my cookbooks, Cooking My Way Through Life with Kids and Books, in return. Tonight when I went out to give it to him and stood and chatted a bit, I forgot that I'd already set the alarm. When I came in, it was going full blast. I called, assured the service I was okay, and asked them to cancel the police call. A few minutes later I heard a pounding on the door and thought, "Oh, gosh, it's the police, and there comes another $50 fine for a false alarm." It was Jay. He was out in his driveway, heard the alarm, called and I didn't answer (of course not, I was out on the porch), then called both Jordan and Christian, neither of whom answered. So armed with his cell phone, he came charging over. I truly appreciate the concern. But while we were talking at the door, the blasted alarm went off again, because I'd reset it. With some embarrassment, I called the service again.
Otherwise it was a satisfying day of work. I spent a lot of it with the manuscript I'm reading for a friend, did some reading in a novel, and then worked on my own novel. I keep rewriting those first 10,000 words and now have them up to 12,500--but it's time to move the story forward. I have some notes and some general ideas, but I'm not one to outline in detail. I write as it occurs to me. So that will be my challenge tomorrow.
When I first retired, one of my panicky thoughts was of waking up in the morning and thinking, "Omigosh, what will I do today." A day without companionship of some kind loomed long and lonely before me. But I think I've mellowed into it. I knew what I was going to do today and did it.
One more day at home, but with dinner with Betty tomorrow night; then a meeting and a lunch Thursday, grocery shopping and lunch Friday. Usually I have more lunch plans than this week, so it's been sort of an aberration. But I'm doing well--and enjoying my tuna fish sandwiches. I think moving away from TCU Press is a positive step in the long run.

A delicious day

Every morning in the world I get up, brush my teeth, and wash my hair in the kitchen sink--my dad would spin in his grave at the violation of hygiene, but I don't like to wash it in the shower and get the soap in my eyes. This morning I didn't shampoo, shower, or put on makeup--okay, I did brush my teeth. I didn't change clothes either--just fed the animals, fixed my coffee, and went to my desk wearing the T-shirt I slept in. I've been there most of the day, except for a nap. It was the first day of my retirement, I think, that I stayed home all day with little contact with the outside world, and it was great. Jacob was supposed to come tonight for a couple of hours, and that would have been my contact, but his mom is sick and stayed home.

I'm editing a manuscript from Texas Tech Press, Hotter 'n Pecos, and loving both reading and editing it. I'll finish tonight probably and have it ready to send off Thursday. I love getting absorbed in a project, like I was in this one the last couple of days. Then today I got word that the magazine, Parker County Today, wants to try a monthly cooking column, beginning with their December issue--oh, oh, another October 1 deadline. But I can do it. I'll start going through recipes tonight looking for a Christmas hook that isn't trite and tried.

After a weekend of Mexican food and too much of everything, I ate my healthy Weight Watchers meals today--smoked salmon, hearts of palm, and grape tomatoes for lunch, with 1 oz. of chocolate; chopped sirloin and asparagus and raspberries for supper. I'll ruin it all tomorrow by going to the Swiss Pastry Shop and eating a bratwurst and potato salad for lunch!

It's finally stopped raining and the sun actually came out this afternoon. We prayed for rain--and we got it. It's probably still not enough to break the drought, especially in Central Texas, but still, it's a big help and now it's nice to have a break, with temperatures still in the 80s. September often isn't this cool in Texas, and today was a lovely day. My only regret about my stay-at-home day is that I didn't get out and enjoy the weather and a definite top-down day!