How do I spend my time?

Naming my blog was easy. Often when people learn that we live full time in a foreign country, they ask “What do you do all day?”. It seems like most people have this concept of retirement as a boring existence without the stimulus that work provides. Maybe these people have jobs that they loved, getting up every morning excited and eager looking forward to their day. While I have seldom had jobs that I hated, I don’t remember being eager to head off to work.

Having had craft businesses, I decided that I’d rather work  to provide money to fund my hobbies. I have too many interests and hobbies to want to just do one thing forever. That way I could dabble, makes hats , crochet or sew for awhile then do something new. My list of hobbies is legion, it’s easier to say “I don’t tat” than to list what I do.

However, much of my daily life in Mexico is taken up by ordinary things. Housework (though I have La Muchacha, who comes twice a week), gardening ( the gardener shows up sporadically to help with the pruning and planting), household maintenance (we hire out the painting and patching). I admit that I have help, something that I couldn’t afford on a regular basis NOB. It sounds opportunistic but affordable labor was a big factor in our moving. Husband isn’t physically able and I am not really good at those things. However, my training is in management, I have no problem directing employees.

Cooking, however is something that I do myself. We eat out on occasion, I have Big Chicken on speed dial. Having La Muchacha keeping the house under control gives me time to cook. Without the pressure of producing meals after a long day at the office, my culinary skills have blossomed. Since we’ve been eating more primal type meals, my cooking style has changed. I make simpler meals, more salads and vegetables. While avocados were cheap, we often had avocado and tomato salad, shrimp stuffed avocados for lunch or just half an avocado with a sprinkling of salt for a snack. One morning when we were out of eggs I made spinach and bacon salad for breakfast, normally it’s omelets or scrambled eggs with spinach and bacon. Our grocery bill seems to have gone down, I have no hard data to confirm my suspicions. I do know my weight and waistline have gone down even if the grocery bill hasn’t.

Lately blogging has taken a back seat to the IWC and helping with the murder mystery costumes. My goal is to have all the costume parts that I am responsible for done by next week. If something comes up unexpectedly I will have the time and energy to deal with it. Being treasurer for the IWC is taking up a bit of time right now, but that is because member dues are being paid. That will change and I anticipate it’s demands to slow. Also, I am on a couple of committees for short term projects.

What do I do with my time? I live my life like I would have if I had stayed NOB but in a fuller richer manner. I have people to help me with the mundane aspects of life when I want or need it which frees me up to do other more creative things. I belong to an interesting and vibrant community of people which gives me the opportunity to try new things.