January 1, 2022

 Happy First Day of 2022!.  Today has been just as I planned — a quiet, laid back sort of day that I could begin my new routine.  

I have been doing a lot of thinking over the last couple of weeks and decided to make some changes in my routine.  I know it sounds silly to think that changing the time of day you do things could make a difference but it truly does.

The first thing I have done is change up the time of the day I do all my self care.  I am finding that I am too bushed at night to indulge in too much primping so I have decided to do it early in the morning.  Go to bed with makeup on, you say?  No, I just simply don’t wear makeup if I am home so I don’t have to take it all off which I really don’t like doing.  I did get some lovely microfiber facial clothes that remove makeup with just water and, of course, I make good use of my Bioderma micellar water.  See, while I love the idea of self indulgence I am just too lazy. I have learned that if I shower at night it wakes me up — wide awake — but, a warm shower in the morning and all the potions and lotions just make the day start out good.  It also feels sort of good to put myself first in the day instead of last.

I have also made an attempt to conquer laundry and I think I have won that battle.  I worked like a Trojan to get all the laundry done a few days ago — nothing hiding anywhere — all done.  So now, when I get up in the morning I grab up what we have dirtied the day before and wash it, dry it, fold it and viola! Done!  Two loads at the most.  I am lucky to have a very flexible washer with very small load levels so I don’t feel like I am draining the ocean or anything.  I have also been using a soap called “Clean People”.  It is detergent infused papers that dissolve when wet so you put your clothes in the machine, you lay one on top and fill the washer and again — done.  I ran out of these little papers so I bought a bag of Charlies soap and I am sorry to say I ruined a t-shirt with it.  It appears that I put the soap on top of the clothes and it sat and didn’t wash off and basically it looked like I had spilled bleach on the shirt.  I washed it again but to no avail — the shirt was ruined.  So, I am going back to the Clean People papers.

Another new habit I am trying to form is unloading the dishwasher immediately upon entering the kitchen in the morning.  I get up, take the dog out, bring the dog in, take the dog out, bring the dog in and then after I feed her and make her happy I wash blueberries for breakfast.  We eat oatmeal and blueberries every.single.morning. So, my job is to wash the blueberries.  Then I  usually go in and hop on my ipad or my Nintendo switch but  for the last couple of weeks, I have been taking the five or so minutes it takes to unload the dishwasher.  It is just us two so there are never a lot of dishes because that would only happen if I cooked and again …. Lazy.  So I unload the DW and by the time I am done, Hubs has completed the oatmeal — real team effort here — we eat and load the DW back up again.  They say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks and yet, here I am at 71, learning that life is easier if you clean as you go.  Who knew!

Oh, and another thing I am disciplining myself to do and you are going to be shaking your head wondering how I got as old as I have without making this a habit. Well, I don’t know.  I guess it was just never a priority for me.  It was for my mother but not for me — however — I am now making my bed every morning.  The dog just has to wait for her in/out/in/out ritual.  

Then, after doing all these little chores that hang over me but really take no time at all I can enjoy some time with the fun stuff.  My mother raised me to believe I could only “play” once all the chores are done.  Well, that worked when SHE was doing all the chores but it doesn’t work for me because I am the one doing the chores.  If I wait until everything is done I would never do anything.  But, I am also trying to plan my time to be able to do all of it — maybe not all at one time, but all of it a little at a time.

I mean, I might not be able to cross stitch for hours but I can for a half hour, same for reading.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Oh my gosh— how old and cliche!

My daughter has decided to read the Bible this year.  I decided to read along with her.  I am a believer and a church goer but I have never been a good Bible reader.  So I am using a women’s devotional Bible — ESV version — that is a guided study.  I have two copies of the same thing, different version, but I realized that the print was sort of a light gray and these old eyes were straining so I put a new version on my Kindle and that is what I intend to use.  

So, while I don’t make resolutions, I am trying to do some things to streamline my life — and I will say it has been a lot easier since I have been off the medicine which just totally sapped my energy and left me with no desire to do anything.  I am getting a big kick seeing how quickly and efficiently I can get things done early in the day so I have time for the fun stuff later.  I mean, honestly, there were days when making the bed was a day long endevour when, in reality, it takes five minutes.  I didn’t realize how much strength and energy I had lost but it is coming back in spades and I am taking advantage of it for sure.

So, that is how my new year is starting out.  I hope you have had a wonderful day and are looking at the new year with anticipation.