What do you do all day?

People often ask me what I do all day these days since I don’t report into a daily job. It’s understandable. I tend to ask people the same question. What you do for your job tends to tell something about who you are and where you’re headed.

Dane and I smile at the question because honestly, our days are full of life…but when you go to tell someone what we do all day long it’s hard to explain or put into words adequately. He likes to joke that we sit around watching soap operas and eating bonbons…not true by the way :). Although occasionally we’ve been known to get into a good Netflix series (right now Hell on Wheels).

So here it is…for those of you who might be curious about what it is that a person does all day when they’re not going to a job outside there home. (at least for us…)

1. I still wake up fairly early. Ok maybe not as early as I would if I was going to school. I believe I used to get up around 5:30am and I no longer do that. Closer to 7am.

2. I lay in bed for a bit with my husband and we just enjoy the beauty and silence, the awakening of the day together for a few moments. That time is worth far more than expensive jewelry or flowers to me. It’s sweet conversation. Talk of the latest crazy dream I’ve had or an idea for us to try. Dane is quiet in crowds…but with me in these moments…we talk freely about anything and everything. And honestly, we just hold each other for awhile. Might be more than you want to know, but I think in most marriages there could be far more ‘holding onto’ one another than usually occurs. When I had a job to run to…there wasn’t time.

3. We get up after a bit and go to the gym. Since January we have worked out with weights or swam 5-6 days a week consistently. As in, I’ve probably never been more consistent. 3 mornings a week I swim a mile. I’m not saying it’s fast. It isn’t. I side stroke and back stroke my way to a mile…but I do it and that’s what’s important. And I keep upping my weight and reps when we do weights little by little. I feel healthy. I am strong and taking good care of myself. And I’ll be honest…my husband is 67 years old so I have huge motivation to go work out every day with him. I want he and I to stay healthy and active for a LONG time. Working out together is life to me. Life to us.

4. Two days a week Dane goes and picks up his grand daughter Lexie in Troy and she comes back to our house to homeschool with Lydia. I do exciting things while he’s gone like empty the dishwasher, make soap, write, and drink a cup of coffee :). (Lydia homeschools every day, Lauren goes to college 3 days a week)

5. By the time he gets back we usually have some area of the house we are working on going through stuff, decluttering and making small changes to. We are getting closer all the time to the finish line on this. For example, today we are taking on the basement shelves. We regularly cart stuff off to goodwill or easier yet just put it out to the curb and it’s gone almost as soon as we put it out. The reality of me moving to a new house in September and then moving Dane’s house to our house this fall has been a seriously big job. Imagine going through your parent’s house and all of their accumulations and then multiply that by 2. That’s what we’ve been dealing with. I’m happy to say that we are easily almost done. Mainly the basement and garage/yard to finish once the weather breaks. We work at making a home daily. At combining two lives and families into one.

6. I make lunch 🙂

7. And then we might take a break or do more work if we feel like it.

8. And then I have lessons on two afternoons a week. I’m up to 12 and a half lessons that I teach weekly at this point.

9. We also are involved with our church, The Alton Mission and part of a Restore group.

10. We also go around to the two shops where I sell products, take inventory and restock shelves.

11. We also play games.

12. And take naps.

13. And make dinner.

14. And watch netflix.

15. And play trivia crack together 🙂

16. And when the weather is good…oh what great times we have playing tennis, taking bike rides, walking in our neighborhood, etc. We love to be outside. We also love to have campfires in our side yard. We have so much wood in a pile at this point I think we could have one every night all summer long :).

And of course there are always errands to run, groceries to buy and meals to make, house cleaning to be done and cars to maintain…all of the stuff that everybody has to deal with.

The main thing these days is…Dane and I do life together for the most part. We work together. We play together. We rest together. We stop and hold each other. We often dance in our kitchen for no reason except that we felt like it in that moment.

We are starting to go to a swing dance class tomorrow night and for all of March. Four lessons in all…that’s our new adventure. A valentine’s gift to each other.

We just enjoy each other. It’s a very unique season in my life. I’m not bored. Life is full, but it’s full of stuff that breathes life back into my soul. I go to bed at night tired, sleep well and rise ready for the most part to face each new day. I don’t count down or dread certain days of the week.

Money is less. But it’s alright. For me in this season…time is the greatest thing that matters to me. I’m soaking in every day fully.

I guess that’s about it…maybe not much, but plenty at the same time. We also try to connect with Dane’s kids as much as we can when their kids have special things they are involved in, sports…dance…music programs…etc.

We are forging together two families…two homes…two lives into one and that involves 5 kids, 3 in law kids, and 9 grand kids…loving them well keeps us active and happy.

So there it is…the life of the retired and self employed…in a nutshell, at least here on 6th st.

Too good to keep to myself

Yesterday I made the decision. I turned in my official letter to resign from a pretty secure position in my local school district’s music program. A music program that is great by the way.

I turned down some major things…like a steady pay check, health insurance and a retirement plan.

But…I said yes to loving my life. I said yes to living it in different ways than most might. I said yes to being in tune with myself and my family. I said yes to not knowing exactly how things will all turn out but trusting that they will.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been praying that God would make it completely clear. This decision. I knew what I wanted to do. But I wanted to be really clear that I was making the ‘best’ decision for all concerned and not just a selfish decision on my part. I wanted to be sure about what God would want me to do.

Don’t get me wrong. I think He would be fine with me going in either direction as far as that goes. But I wanted to have His input since He knows me better than I know myself and can see farther down the road than I.

It’s always a little tricky trying to know clearly where and how God is leading. Rarely is it absolutely crystal clear. So I tend to throw out a fleece or two.

I can tell you…purchasing a new home this summer was absolutely crystal clear. I still can’t believe how clear it was. And marrying Dane…couldn’t have been clearer. Not going back to teaching after one year out…crystal clear. So I figured that this decision would be nice if it was that clear as well.

Dane and I have both of our old houses on the market to sell. I put mine on in December. Not a great time to sell a house…but it was finally ready so I put it out there. We just put Dane’s house on the market about a week ago.

It was unrealistic…but I told God that if one of our houses sold by the end of February I would be more clear on the decision I was to make about teaching. In some ways the two issues aren’t connected and in others…well yes, they are, financially speaking. I just felt that it would be a fleece.

Yesterday I turned in my resignation letter about 1pm. No house had sold yet. But I knew it was time and I decided to go for it. By the afternoon about 3pm I got a text from Dane telling me he had an offer on his house. A house that was only on the market for 1 week!

Granted…it could still fall through. The closing date isn’t until March 19. But it sure looks promising…all of the right ducks are lined up and in order.

I had a few shivers…I had stepped out in faith and resigned…and literally at the same time offers were going back and forth on Dane’s house without me realizing it.

There are moments when I think I’m just one person in a million, just a cog in a big wheel and then there are other moments when I realize how loved and noticed I really am by the God of the Universe. Not so much because the circumstances turned out how I would like, although that’s nice :), but just because I feel His presence clearly. He seems to be aware and not only aware, but interested in my little life. He knows the details. He knows the concerns I have. He knows my desire to follow Him. He knows my faith, my trust in walking forward and gives me a sure place to put my foot almost before I even realize I need it.

I don’t want to encourage the idea that God is a person who gives you everything you want. He doesn’t. But I do want to encourage the fact that God’s presence is astounding, amazing, overwhelming, and available to every person on the face of the planet no matter what your life circumstances are.

For me that just meant selling a house on the same day I resigned from teaching in a pretty large step of faith.

Praise be to God. I am grateful and at peace.