Day One: More freedom than I've ever had

Just over six months ago my wife died from cancer.  Today is the first day of my layoff.  With the severance package, I have a freedom, at least for a while, that I have never had since I was fairly young.  Of course, I did not appreciate it then.

While I'm spending time sorting out what I want to do with the rest of my life, I have decided that I will do something for each day for myself, for my house, and for my wife.  Life maintenance, chores, doesn't count.  Most of these things will not be major or dramatic.  Certainly the chores aren't.  But each will be progress.

The things I do for me will be exercise, eating right, entertainment, visiting family, travel, ...

The things I do for the house will be repairs, unpacking and clearing (I have 33 boxes in my bedroom from a storage unit I shut down, so this is no small thing.  I also have a garage full and not with cars.), ...

The things I do for my wife will be writing (I want her grandchildren as yet unborn to know of her.), encouraging people to donate to her living memorial, which may be one and the same activity,  ...

On this day one, I woke at my usual time, even without my alarm clock.  While laying in bed I figured it out:  the furnace had come on.  So my first chore of the day was to reprogram my thermostat to come on later.  (If there are ever any readers of this blog, I live close the coast in California.  It is frequently low 50's or high 40's outside that early in the morning, even in the summer.)

Before I could eat breakfast I had to do another chore, wash the dishes.  My wife would be proud of me, I am actually using the dishwasher, obviously not for the items I needed to use for breakfast.

Then for me I rode my bike at least three miles.  I don't have an odometer on it so don't know for sure.  I was sweating riding back up the hill to my house.  As a measure of how out of shape I've become, I had to use the easiest gear at times coming back.  Going downhill was easy and I found myself using the hardest gear to get any actually pedaling done.  (If the lottery tickets I bought hit, the bike ride will be for more than just me.)

I also went to a movie, a matinee by myself.  Going to a movie alone was a first for me.  The movie, "Wanted," was okay, but then, I don't have all that high of standards having seen very few movies in recent years.  My wife wouldn't have wanted to see it, even before she became ill.

For the house, I partially repaired a dryer vent.  Basically I just stuck a vent cover on it.  I need to figure out how to put screws into stucco before I can finish the job.

This blog is part of what I am doing for my wife today.  It will be my practice area so I can write a blog for her.  I also have studied more of my Beginning HTML book.  Obviously I have a lot to learn so I can put all the flourishes on this and then my blog about her.

I also have a couple more chores to do, including watering her plants.  I must admit I've already let a couple die for lack of water.  One that I was sure was dead from freezing over the winter has come back.  I'll take that as an omen:  There is Life after Layoff!