A Day In My Life - 2021

 It's probably not much different from yours, considering what's happening to and in our world, but since I have nothing else of any great importance going on that I can bitch about - humorously or otherwise - I will try to let you in on "A Day In My Life"

8:30 am - Awaken quietly - usually, my wife Dondra is still asleep. She and I are very light sleepers, so sleep eludes us much of the night - and take my meds.

9:00 am - Off to the bathroom to perform the morning rituals including hygiene. Luckily the hygiene portion is "ingrained" - otherwise, I would need a list on the mirror.

9:45 am - By now, Dondra is awake and I turn into the "Icewater/Ice-Coffee Getter" and I bring them to her bedside. It's part of OUR daily ritual, and I'd miss doing it if I didn't get to. If there are news or health issues to discuss, we do it then with me sitting at her bedside.

This is also the time for the daily "neuro-check": One of us says "Love you, *ding*" and the proper response is "Love you, *ding-ding*". If the "ding-ding" isn't answered or answered incorrectly, it is repeated. If it is still incorrect, the originating partner knows there's something amiss.

We do this because 3 years ago, Dondra suffered a mild stroke which affects her neurologically in that she gets dizzy sometimes and is apt to fall. A simple neuro-check lets me know that at least she's okay in the brain department. The "falling possibility" puts me in "Watch Her Like A Hawk" - mode all day, which I do not mind since it also keeps my cognitive senses sharpened.

10:30am - 12:00 noon - My daily chores and this is when I turn into "Garbage Monster". I go from room to room dragging a big black garbage bag and empty whatever trash there is into it. The trip to the dumpster is usually done every other day.

I usually have my brunch at 11. It is called "Crack An Egg" and is easily fixed in the microwave. I try to limit my snacking to one (count it - 1) waffle 3 times a day. These are the toaster kind and I am hooked on them.

1:00 pm  - If there are groceries to be picked up, we usually do that in the afternoon or if need be at about 11:00. Because of Covid, we avoid going into the grocery store and have them brought out to us. We have to pick them up on the store's schedule, depending on what time of day we order.

1:00-5:00 pm - We usually do our own things. She watches her afternoon talk programs, I'm either surfing the net doing research or online playing "World Of Warcraft". This is a multi-player game I began playing in 2008 and have enjoyed ever since. It's not only fun to play, but it also helps my cognitive memory. There are certain "spells" one has to cast in order to survive combat and getting killed. That's the game in a nutshell, but it is more than that to me. I enjoy playing my character, Jonas - a mage - and am a student of The Middle Ages, so the game is "right up my alley".

I also use this time to work on paying bills, writing my journal, and looking at my guitars. I used the word "looking" for a reason: My dementia-psyche is such that if I have an idea to do something I usually enjoy, by the time, I start doing it, the desire has left me.

I know I'm supposed to practice my musical scales on my acoustic, but I hardly ever even get close to beginning them. So my guitars sit there gathering dust. I know I'm supposed to "work through" that feeling, but sometimes I just don't.

For those of you who know I'm primarily a drummer, those are packed away. I have a rubber practice mat and a pair of sticks which I am allowed to play with.

So yeah, the Journal. THIS Journal. Writing gives me a lot of pleasure, so when my muse is here, I sometimes write entries for 3-4 days hence. I never know what will hit me to write about, so I watch a lot of CNN, and I get many of my ideas from medical articles to which I subscribe.

Sometimes my friends give me their ideas for subject matter, and if you are so inclined, write me a note in the comments section.

I'm always on the lookout for good documentaries, so I spend a lot of time looking for them on YouTube. These I save and watch later in the evening. Subject matter: Ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe are my favorites, but I am open to almost anything which sounds interesting.

So.... I believe that about covers the afternoon. Once a week I am domesticated enough to vacuum, but only because ....well, just because, okay? 😏

We rarely entertain, since our siblings have either passed or live too far away, but we enjoy being with each other and have actually been living a "Lockdown" kind of life all along. It's good that we enjoy each other's company, huh?

5:00pm and After - Dondra watches her game shows after dinner (Wheel and Jeopardy) which I don't dare interrupt unless it's a dire emergency. 😇

Back playing "WoW" (Warcraft) for me until around 9:00 pm when it's close to bedtime and at which time I'm the "Ice-Water Getter" for the night. We usually discuss the day's news, upcoming appointments and other plans for the following days.

After that, a kiss good-night ("Love You *DING!") and off to bed where the both of us watch our TVs until we fall asleep.

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So that's it. Pretty boring, huh? I left out a few things, like walking (been too hot lately) and indoor exercise, but those are done only three times a week or so. I no longer ride my bicycle because of deteriorating discs in my back, so I miss my Trek 2000 which hangs in the closet.

The Trek is the bicycle I rode cross-country twice and she will never be sold.

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That is what a 71-year-old demented guy does with his day. Did I reveal too much? Does it matter? Not to me. No secrets from me and if there's something you want to know which I didn't include, ask. if it's too risque, I'll answer in an e-mail.

Thank you for reading and have a great week coming up.💗

Bill

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