A new take on Monday mornings

Mondays.

For 29 school years, it was - for the most part - a day I dreaded.  Coming off a busy weekend, it was going back to work.  Some weeks I was prepared, some - not.  It signaled to me the starting line of another race to Friday, full of hustle and bustle until I would again be given a chance to be at home with my family and relax.

What a difference retirement makes!

Here I am, at my computer, blogging.  In my robe.  After catching up on the Spurs activites of the weekend on Sports Center and NBA Gametime.  The house is quiet, the pace is slow.

Most Monday mornings, now, I wake up in time to tell Andy "bye" as he leaves to  begin his week at the office.  He will tell you that he is not ready to be retired, that he still enjoys his job.  I'm glad for him.  But I am not a morning person, and I do not get up with him - he has his routine, and my getting up with him is not "fun".  So,  in my own time, I get up and begin my own Monday.

At home.

Alone.

My mom was such a hermit.  She loved her time alone in her house.  She told me that she would have been just fine living in a hut off somewhere where she could be creative and come into town if there was something she needed.  I never got that.  Now, in this place in my life, I do.

I feed my birds.  I write notes and cards.  I water my plants. I check email and Facebook.  I read. Sometimes, I do errands, like I will later this morning.  But not right away. 

After raising the girls to be the strong women that they are, this is "my time."  That's something else I never got when women would say that.  But the freedom to spend my Mondays as I like is one of my favorite things.

Our weekends are full of things I love.  My time with Andy when he is away from his work is something I would never trade.  And someday, he'll be retired at home with me.  I'm not sure what that will be like, but I'm sure it will be something we enjoy together.

But, for now, I am relishing in the fact that after all those years of being the best mom and teacher that I  could, I have come to a place in my life where a lot of the pressure is off.  I have no one to answer to as far as my time other than God and what Andy needs me to do.  Having never considered that, I find it is at times its own best reward.  My spirit is at peace, my body calm.  I am flexible in that I  can do things as I am called on to do without working about a schedule.  And it is glorious.

I'm loving my life right now!