waking up | Stephen Nielsen

Since I have a lot more time off now, I find that it’s helpful to have a daily routine—so I don’t end up wasting my time, and spending too much time on the couch. First of all, I’ll give you the morning routine; its so important to get a good start on the day. The first thing I do after waking up and getting my feet on the floor is to take my meds: eye drops for glaucoma and my little pill for my thyroid condition. Then I turn on the set to the news. I just mainly catch the weather, the news highlights, and to see the friendly faces. And if it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday I will do my floor exercises, mainly just a few leg lifts, which I do to keep my hips in shape, since I had surgery on one, and the other I hope to avoid surgery on. Then I wander into my study with a cup of tea I just made and have my quiet time: reading the bible and prayer. I’m set for the day. If I’m working that day, I will have a quick breakfast and go off to work. If I’m not working, I will usually plan on going out to eat while I also read the morning newspaper and work on my next blog post—like I’m doing right now.

Okay, since my work days are just work, work, work, I’ll give you the routine for my days off. After my breakfast time, along with the writing I do, I will always sit down and make a to do list for the day. But before I start on it, as a way of procrastination, I will check on a few things on my computer: 1) my blog sites, to see if I am getting any likes or comments; comments are especially encouraging to me. 2) I check Fox News clips to see what’s going on in the world. 3) I also check President Trump’s tweets. Most of them are very encouraging to me, and I root for him every day! 4) Bill O’Reilly has a daily news clip I like to listen to. He’s my kind of guy. Okay, I’m ready to start on my list.

Here’s the things I normally have on my list for the day, and I don’t usually spend more than 45 minutes on each item.

Dishes. There’s always dishes to do.

Writing. Writing means writing my book. I spend at least a half an hour on writing every day.

Typing blog. Most of my blog writing is in the morning with my coffee and breakfast. So, this is when I type it out.

Read. I like to read lying down on the couch, propped up by a big pillow. Right now, I’m reading The Presidents Fact Book. It sounds boring but it’s not. It gives you all the highlights on all the presidents and their wives.

Laundry. It seems like every 2 or 3 days there’s laundry.

Trash and recycling. Gotta do it, take it out.

Vacuum and cleaning. Not daily, just whenever I see the dust and crumbs getting too thick.

Books. Books means figuring my income, tax deductions, giving, making money transfers, paying bills, I like to do this once a week usually on Saturdays.

Walk. I like to go for walks a couple times a week on nice days. And I always take my camera and try to get nature pictures. I may also use the time for prayer.

*A muskrat comes out of hiding and looks up at me. Should he face the world or go back under?*

Today is one of those days. Really blah. A low energy day. A day of transition. A day of testing. I don’t even know how to start this blog. Let’s see. What to write about? I woke up this morning in a fog. I didn’t want to get going. I sat on the edge of my bed for the longest time—trying to decide: should I start getting dressed, or maybe just flop back into bed? I had very low energy, even to think things through. Eventually, the battle was won over the bed. I got up. I did my regular things: eye drops, meds, some TV news, my quiet time, then off to breakfast where I am now—at Perkins. I have an omelet, hash browns, fruit and coffee. I glanced through the paper. Nothing worth reading. Usually the comic strips give me a pick-up. Not so much today. They reflect sort of how I feel. Dustin was rejected by a couple gals in a bar; Garfield was told by his cat girlfriend, “I am cute, and you…well, you’re you.” Suddenly I thought of myself. I think I use to be cute, but no more. Oh well. I’ll just be me.

Besides being a day of blah and low energy, it also happens to be a day of change and transition. I just finished reading the bible through, and today I started again in Genesis; and I will also be reading the Psalms. I look forward to it. Hey, looking up! I sort of finished writing on all of my blog categories at least once—except a couple that I’m waiting on. I still need to send something out about my books. I hate trying to sell myself, but I have to do it. I mean, I think some people will benefit from them, so I really should do some promotion.

I also will be telling my story—sort of my autobiography, in many continuous blogs. I’ve never even though much of doing that, but I think maybe it would be a benefit, both for myself and others. There is so much in my life that is blank—no memories. I hope that some things will come back to me. I hope and pray also that somehow I could be a benefit to others.

Well, I’ve eaten my breakfast, the coffee’s cold, and I need to get going—do something. My energy is slowly coming back. I feel somewhat revived! Thank you, Lord.