#1 Saturday: November 7, 2020 "A Regular Day"

Where:  Near Huntsville, Alabama 

I have become a 'Nomad' with my husband Darrell of 37 years.  I like doing life with him, and he likes doing life with me too.  This is the story of our life together today.  Our life is not glamorous.  We have a nice life.  Just weeks ago, we completely down-sized our household goods.  We sold $8K on Facebook marketplace.  We gave away more than that amount to family, friends and thrift store donations.  We sold our house that we lived in for 11 years as we saw our 4 sons into adulthood with college graduations and marriages.

I am satisfied.  I am cared for and I create my plans and live my life in love, kindness and truth.  We believe in Jesus and study scripture and history and meet with others to share our faith and grow toward eternity with Christ.

We have learned in our relationship to focus on the joys and agreements that we share.  We don't agree on everything, and that's okay.  We respect our differences and show up for those discussions too.  We are friends.  We share exercise.  We walk together daily as possible for the weather and our schedules.  We eat together.  We sleep together on a similar schedule, although I tend to fall asleep earlier.  We plan trips and vacations together.  I do travel on my own for work and pleasure as well.  The 2020 pandemic left Darrell in a full-time telework situation from March onward.  

In May 2020, a friend and work colleague of mine passed away around the age of 50.  I was changed, and decided to retire at the end of 2021.  For the previous 18 months, Darrell and I have been discussing our retirement possibilities and what we could create in this life experience.  In August I began selling household items with the intention of doing this downsizing for the next year.  The first buyer who came to get his furniture purchase was a real estate agent who offered a walk-through and quick price on our house.  We said yes, and within 2 weeks, our house was listed as "coming soon."  By mid-September, we had our house sold and liquidated down to items that fit into our truck and our car.  We moved into our first Airbnb.

So here is my #1 Saturday.  I'm pondering what 500 Saturdays is.  Divide 500 Saturdays by 52 per year, and it is 9.6 years.  I am currently 56 years old.  In about 50 Saturdays, I will be 57.  In 500 Saturdays, it will be June 2030.  I will be in my 66th year on this planet.  What will I make and become and live through in my next 500 Saturdays?  Here is my journey, my discovery of writing my life story, of finding good and seeing God's love in every situation. Here is my diary to celebrate my Saturdays for the joy and goodness that exists in my life today.  

Today, like most days, began early for us.  We didn't set the alarm and allowed ourselves to sleep as late as possible.  We woke up about 6 a.m.  We are living in an airbnb 1 bedroom apartment in a big house.  We linger in bed with attention to greeting each other with gratitude for this day and for each other.

6:30 a.m. Start the coffeepot; begin our predetermined yoga routine. Yoga today is DDP Yoga "Strength Builder" routine, about 40 minutes and fairly intense.  Darrell recorded our DDP Yoga routines onto his tablet, and ques one up from a small selection.  We do a DDP routine 2 days on and 1 day off.  Today is a day on.  We began this exercise regimine many years ago, about 2012.

Weather report for today:  high of 75 degrees, beautiful and sunny, trees are turning a full variety of fall colors.

Breakfast pre-planned, shopped, cooking together:  sourdough french toast, blueberries, strawberries, banana, black walnuts, maple syrup, sausage patties, dark coffee.

8 a.m. Darrell calls his 87 year old mother for their weekly phone visit.  We sit outside with coffee while visiting and catching up with her on speaker phone.

10 a.m. we leave for an hour long walk.  It is so warm, we don't need sweaters.  

11 - noon Lunchtime:  salads, cottage cheese, homemade Italian salad dressing (recipe included), cheese and crackers, hot tea

Afternoon:  decaf coffee, Tate's cookies for me, mini dark Hershey bar for Darrell; computer time for each of us.  Darrell renews Sirius Radio for another year.  I write this, my #1 Saturday of 500 Saturdays.

4 p.m. took the neighborhood loop of a scant mile for a walk.  It rained lightly on us, and we walked faster. lol.  

Dinner: Darrell fixes his: tacos with left-over steak.  I fix mine: rewarmed tomatillo chicken soup I made a couple of days ago, added greek yogurt as a sour cream substitute.  Made a bowl of air-popped popcorn topped with olive oil and sea salt.

5 p.m. it is so dark outside by this time in the evening, it looks like it is late at night.  

Evening:  Reading; tv; showers and bed by 9 p.m.

I love my #1 Saturday Life!