The Present

Do you have any hobbies or special interests? – As I said last time, I love reading, and web-cruising. I think I may have already mentioned, too, that I love knitting. I’ve discovered yarn that makes striped socks, and I always have a pair on the needles.

That’s what I do to occupy my hands while I watch TV in the evenings and so I don’t snack.

          I always use the same basic pattern that I have memorized, so I don’t even have to count stitches any more except when I’m turning the heel. I’ve done these since mid-winter, and I’ve already given away 4 or 5 pairs through PW at the church. I figure there’s always some teenage girl who would like a pair of funky socks.

Do you enjoy any particular sports? – I love to watch football – my favorite teams are the Oregon Ducks, TCU Horned Frogs, the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New Orleans Saints, and I root for anybody who plays against the University of Texas, Oklahoma University, Ohio State University, any of the southeast conference except University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University, the Minnesota Vikings, the Indianapolis Colts, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, or the Washington Redskins. I like going to live baseball and live soccer games, but televised games don’t hold much interest to me. I DESPISE!!! basketball! I love to watch diving, track and field, ice skating, and gymnastics on TV. I never was much of an athlete myself. Taking a walk for exercise is about as much as I care to do, myself (mostly because I HATE to be hot and sweaty!)

What’s your typical day like now? – I get up between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning and fix myself a cup of tea (Bill has gotten me hooked on Teavana), I take my pills for the day, and have a breakfast granola bar with my tea. Then I read my e-mail, check in on Twitter, check in on Facebook, and by that time it’s usually 10:00 or 10:30. I take my shower and get dressed. If I need to go to the bank or the grocery store, I do that before lunch. Big Al and I have lunch between 12:30 and 1:30. Then I spend the afternoon reading, messing around on the computer, etc. I have a game going on Facebook, I’m one of the organizers of Presbyterian Women Interest Group on Facebook, I’m doing some genealogical research on Ancestry.com, and I write my blog for the day. Al goes out to watch the news at 5:30 and I usually join him when I finish my blog. If we went out for lunch we each fend for ourselves for supper, or if we ate in I usually fix something. We eat supper between 7:30 and 8:30 while watching TV. I almost always go to bed between 11:00 and 11:30 after checking my e-mail one last time. About the only variation to this schedule is Wednesdays, when we play bridge in the afternoon – I play in a foursome that meets at Barnes and Nobles, and Al plays with a group of four or five men who play at the church. The other variation is Sunday when we spend the morning going to church and then go out to dinner and get home about 1:00 or 1:30. I used to go to Toastmasters every Friday morning at 6:45, but I’ve recently dropped out. It’s too hard to get up that early since I’m not used to it any more. We’ve got doctor and dentist appointments fairly regularly, so that also breaks up the boredom of the weeks.

How is it different from your daily routines in the past? – Since we moved to Dallas, I usually worked – 7:30 to 4:30 or 8:00 to 5:00. After I started my own practice I had clients that I visited several days a week. I also attended lots of networking meetings – breakfasts, lunches or happy hours – to try to get additional clients. Being a CPA meant I had to keep up with a lot of professional reading and training, and when I had an IT employee, I had to keep up with his training. For the last couple of years though, I’ve been gradually decreasing my book of business in anticipation of retirement.