Dear God there's no time!

I've heard people say that when you retire you have no time, and I've always snickered to myself: "Ha!" I say, "What do they know about no time? They're not working. They've got all day for goodness sake!".

Well, this morning I started my day at 6 a.m. with an hour's paddle in Lake Ontario. Wonderful. Beautiful morning. Swans, loons, lake a saphire blue. A quick breakfast with my fellow paddlers, then home to sort out the painter and make him some coffee ( I arrived exactly one minute before he did). Quickly check my email; put a load in the washing machine; hop in the shower (Good. I don't have to wash my hair -- I'm getting it done later). Then to work. I'm only working three hours today, but I don't even seem to be able to do that. First the painter wants to talk to me about the master bedroom. Are we sure about the colour? (No, I'm not sure at all -- every colour I've put on the walls in this house has been a surprise. Sometimes a very bad one.)

Sit down again. The phone rings. It's my friend calling from Calgary to talk to me about a job she's applying for. Can she use me as a reference? Of course she can! And then on to the house she's buying, the new boyfriend. All good news, and wonderful to talk to her. But.... there's that spreadsheet I started yesterday and wanted to finish today.....

OK. I'm back at it. Oooops! I forgot to fill out my leave form for today. Might as well fill one out for Wednesday morning too.

Now. The spreadsheet. Hmmmm. OK. Why is Zephyr barking? Oh. Ian's home and wants to tell me about his schedule for the day. Can he pick up anything? No. That's fine. Quick kiss. "Have a good time!" Zephyr and Ian disappear.

I need a cup of coffee. Damn! It's almost time for me to leave for my hair appointment. I give up.

It's a beautiful half-hour drive, except I'm behind schedule and I can't seem to rid myself of people in front of me driving 10 km below the speed limit. Ten minutes late. I'm never late. Oh well.

Hair's done and I'm pleased. Off to the bread store. The most fabulous wood-fired-oven bread. A chive and onion scone for lunch -- eaten in the car. A stop at the market for fresh local berries; a stop at the grocery store for pizza fixings and lotto tickets (I live in hope), and then home.

Put everything away. Sort the wash I put on this morning into things that don't have to be ironed and things that do. Everything does except a pair of socks. Note to self: call someone to come and fix the dryer.

It's 3 o'clock. Do I:

1. Call my mother to tell her her birthday card arrived (one day late but she was so uspset that it didn't arrive on my birthday)
2. Iron all those clothes
3. Check my email
4. Walk Zephyr (early, but a great stress reliever)
5. Write in my blog


I chose 1. then 5. As you can see. And now I'm going to go for a walk in the woods with my dog, and add to my already remarkable number of mosquito bites.

I have lots of things to write about. When am I going to find the time??? I must be retired.