Days go by

How does the time get filled?  I was waiting for things to settle down so I could write about at typical day, but it seems that what is typical is that each day has one element that makes it different.  It might be a field trip with my class or needing to pick up a package at the post office, but most days seem to have a little something.  Maybe I look for something and add it into the day?

One amazing difference has been the way each day starts.  At home my alarm goes off about 5am in order to get ready and to cycle to the pool for swim practice.  The other days it goes off in order to run and get back before the kids leave for school.  I do not use an alarm clock here and most days I get out of bed after D. for the first time in our 20+ years of marriage.  The bizarre thing is that even though I am sleeping many more hours each night I do not wake up as energetically as when the alarm goes off (although I am less tired later in the day).  I do still swim or run before breakfast but I leave after A. goes to school instead of returning before he leaves.

Without a car I tend to go to the grocery store more often.  At first I was puzzled why the flour was sold in 500gm bags.  Don't people bake much?  Then I saw a 5kg bag of flour and realized I had no desire to carry it home!  The same goes for most food, which means I go to the store often.

Time also gets filled with food preparation.  We do not eat out here so we can save money for eating out when we are traveling.  And I do not buy prepared or partially-prepared food like I would find at the local grocery store in the US.  I thought I always cooked from scratch, but I am reminded that now I am really cooking every meal from scratch.

Time also gets filled with language issues.  I go to class, I come home and try to figure out the bits I didn't understand, I do three languages (Spanish, Danish, Hungarian) on Duolingo, and I spend time typing into Google Translate.  Every interaction takes more time than in English and I still have not learned to ask people to write things down.  I have two language partners, one is someone who wants to improve his English and one is a neighbor who helps me by patiently speaking Spanish with some English tossed in.

I don't know if I actually wash more clothing, but do laundry more often.  You may remember that A. was issued one set of gym clothes, two school shirts, and one pair of pants.  D. rides to work and has only two pairs of cycling shorts.  It means some evenings are spent doing laundry, although sometimes I do it during the day so I can hang out on the upstairs balcony to catch a bit of sun.

Writing the blog takes time because it means gathering pictures, sorting pictures, doing some research, and pulling it together.  After our we returned from Denmark I had the blog printed into a book, which I keep with photo albums and enjoy going back to read.  I refer to the electronic version occasionally, too.

I listen to the news and in the last few weeks I have started listening to more podcasts and even an audiobook, which is good when I cooking, cleaning, or doing a jigsaw puzzle.  I read headlines, some articles, and the comics.  I also read clippings and magazines my parents send along with books from the library.

Some time is spent keeping in touch with people, some on Facebook, some by email, some by paper, some by phone.  I always seem to be behind.

I tend to waste time imagining trips we could take.  We looked into a trip to Canary Islands, which was lots of fun.  It is always a balance to find a location with things to do that we would enjoy and the prices we can afford.  To look is free!

And there is always more to do - I could be using more of the health club, doing more shoulder-strengthening exercises, using the Spanish cd that came with the book, read more books, write more letters, cycle to different grocery stores, clean more thoroughly, invite more people over, more, more, more.  Should I be using the time to more?  Or should I be frittering away even more time because when will I have the chance again?

I am lucky to have so many choices about my days and so little structure. I am trying to soak it up!