Later Life

If you have had a full, busy life for all your adult years, what happens when you're older, maybe lose your partner, the kids grow up and do their own thing .....  then what?

Yes, this is about my mom (again!)  She's beginning to feel a little better. But her body isnt keeping up with her mind.  She spends time home, watches a lot of TV, tries to keep herself busy.  

By the time I got here today, she started talking and didn't stop for 45 minutes!  Her mind is full of ideas!  She wanted to get Dad's walker out so she could tromp up and down the street.  I told her no.  Then she talked about watering her trees, but she's still shaky walking on the loose rock in her yard.  No.  She worried about her grandson, her great granddaughter, and on and on.   Its great that she has these ideas ... aren't I the lucky one?  Ha.Ha.

But it made me think about how my life will be when I'm 87.  I'm ok with my own thoughts, have never felt the need to express every thought to others.  I have always been comfortable with the internet, and looking up the latest info on whatever topic springs to mind.  

I'm happy reading books of all kinds. Or doing my crafts, taking care of my home, taking walks and photography.  Will I become ... overly anxious?  I decided when I was a teen that I would never be like my mom.  That still holds true today.  So I'm making choices now so that doesn't happen to me as I grow old.

Do you ever consider those kinds of things?

Counting the Days

Commitment.  That is my word for this year.  But lately I think maybe I should be committed! Its no secret that my mother drives me nuts.  The hardest part about that is she's mom and needs to be taken care of.  But its time to work on a better balance.

There's a lot of talk about work/life balance, and it wasn't very good when I worked.  But I'm not even into a year of my retirement and already having balance issues between caring for mom and caring for me. 

So I have to work on that.  I need to draw a few lines and keep my time as my time.  As a matter of habit, I would head for mom's, having an hour before I needed to pick up MrZ.  I am going to begin decreasing that to 30 minutes, or less. Emphasis on less.  

There's only 22 days until school let's out.  That should leave more time for me! So I am counting the days!