Friday September 18 2015  TOMORROW REALLY IS SATURDAY

 

EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY

By Kathleen Martens

September 18, 2015

 

Remember, when you are retired every day is Saturday.

The only day that is different during the week is Sunday.

Saturday skips Sunday and then it’s Saturday Monday.

Oh how wonderful when every day is Fun day.

 

All the days seem to run together

Faster and faster as each week goes by.

How do I slow the rapid pace

When each hour seems to fly?

 

I wake each morning with all my plans

Of everything I intend to get done.

Then the day gets gobbled up

When I’m on the run.

 

And even when I am no longer running

It seems I go in circles.

What I really seem to need

Is a few great big miracles.

 

I would like to own a magic wand

That would cook and clean on demand,

So I could have everything accomplished,

All that is on the list I planned.

 

All the “stuff” I need to do

Constantly stares me in the face.

Actually, the only thing that needs to be done

Is to have everything in its place.

 

But that is where the problem lies

For there are no more places to fill.

And besides when it is Saturday

Work is not what I will.

 

And Sunday Sabbath is a day of rest,

A time that I spend with my Lord.

I just wish these Saturdays’

Would quit trying my time to hoard.

 

Then I would have Monday to do the wash,

And Tuesday to work even more.

And Wednesday I could dust the house,

And Thursday scrub the floor.

 

And Friday I would do all else,

So Saturday I have would have nothing to do.

But since every day is always Saturday

My work never seems to be through.

 

Oh my goodness!  I guess I am telling on myself.  To be serious, it is a bit difficult at times to remember which day it is, but it seems regardless the day I am always busy, always on the go, always with one more thing to accomplish.  How was I gone for four months and not do all this “stuff”?  Well, for the most part, it just didn’t get done.  I am digging out from three years of chaos in the house.  About three years ago we had a water valve break and water leaked between our top floor walls and floor area to the ceilings below.  Oh, what a mess when that was discovered.  We had to move everything out of five rooms of our house.  The rooms we moved out of consisted of our master bedroom, my photography office (a major undertaking), two bathrooms upstairs and one downstairs bathroom.

Within two days following the discovery of the damage you could stand in our lower level, look up through the ceiling of the office, through the master bedroom floor area that no longer existed, through the walls of the bathrooms, through the bathroom ceiling to the attic and see the roof rafters.  Almost every room in the house was impacted.  The spare bedroom had to be emptied to accept our master bedroom furniture. My prop room next to the laundry room had to be rearranged to accept two tables of computers and printers and photography equipment and orders and so on and so on.  The only room that was sacrosanct was the photography studio.  I still had clients coming for photos.  After a few days we realized we couldn’t live in our house while it was under reconstruction.  We had no working bath or shower.  The only other bathroom upstairs was far away from the bedrooms and only had a toilet and sink.  We moved into a local temporary hotel suite designed for short term living with the bare necessities in the kitchen. 

Every day I drove from the hotel to my studio and worked in my temporary office with all the electronic equipment cords taped to floors and walls, down hallways, around corners and into the room where my makeshift office was set up.  This happened in March.  Our house was not finished until February the following year.  We lived out of boxes and things became quite disordered.  And…there are rooms that are still in disorder.  Even more so now.  I have since retired and dismantled my studio so I could truthfully tell clients that I no longer had a studio to work in.  I took off for an odyssey and had an amazing four months.  Now I am back and reality is rearing its head.

My initial homecoming was not quite what I thought it would be.  I thought I would come home, unpack, get my house back in order, finish my orders from last year and buckle down to finish editing the books I am working on.  Well, that didn’t happen.  If you just joined the blog family, go back to the beginning of July and read what has happened since I arrived home.  I won’t repeat it here.  Needless to say, I have not accomplished diddly squat. Since I am confessing all, please be informed that I have not hand-washed all the clothes I had on my trip that must be hand washed.  Summer is almost over so I guess I just won’t get to wear them again this season.  Nor have I sorted through all the keepsakes I brought home or the gifts I bought to give others.  Everything is piled on the coffee table in my former studio just waiting to go to their rightful homes.  Nor have I gone through the many piles of books I purchased on my travels.  And this is my most favorite thing to do.

I say all the above to say this.  Things will need to change and change soon.  I have my friend from Albuquerque arriving next week and the week after she leaves Dave and I are leaving for a trip.  We will need to cut our trip shorter than we planned because Dave is scheduled to have surgery the week we will arrive  home.  The doctor said he will have a 6 week recovery period when his activity will be very limited.  He will not be able to lift, exercise, or do anything strenuous.  Well, nature doesn’t wait for a man to recover.  When it’s time to drop leaves the leaves will drop.  We only have a few hundred trees to clean up afterward.  Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit but we have many, many, many, BIG, BIG, BIG, trees to clean up after.  And these trees have BIG leaves.  I guess this is the year we’ll hire someone with a tractor to come in and do the yard work.  When you have the kind of yard we have you absolutely cannot leave the piles of leaves on the lawns or the lawns would be damaged beyond repair next spring after the snow melt.  We also have many flower beds that must have piles of leaves raked on them in order to insulate the gardens.  So, this is not a good time for surgery!  But, what must be will be. I may have to hog tie Dave to keep him from getting out there and working and I will if I must.  I just want him to get well.

Even though I have not accomplished what I thought I would accomplish when I arrived home I have been able to succeed in keeping life and limb together.  I have recuperated well from my surgery in July, I am back to exercising, I am doing my best to keep up the living area of the house (somewhat) and I’m working diligently to help Dave with his necessary diabetic nutrition.  He has now lost about 42 pounds.  I am so proud of his commitment to himself. 

Even though I still have much to do I have enjoyed every hour I have been home (perhaps not when I was dizzy) and look forward to the future to see what I can accomplish.  I am learning to slow down a bit, thus the reason I am not accomplishing my “to do list”.  But that is okay.  I will not beat myself up over it.  I have decided it is time to really enjoy life.  And to enjoy it without rushing!  I do not like to rush. (INSERT:  Dave’s comment, “Boy, isn’t that the truth.”)

I am so thankful for these later years in my life because it has been the most intimate of times with my God.  I think God gives us old age so we can get to know Him better.  There is a scripture in Proverbs that says: “White hair is a crowning glory and you’ll find it most among the godly.”  I don’t know the reference right now but will look it up later and let you know at some later date.  I haven’t made it quite to a full white head of hair yet but someday I hope too.

Enjoy every day because so soon they are past.  And remember, only what’s done for Christ will last.

P.S.  Dave found the reference: Proverbs 16:31  which reads in the NIV translation: “Grey hair is the crown of splendor, it is attained in the way of righteousness.”

There are several different versions.  I can’t remember which version my quote came from.

 

Good night and God bless you.