Our weekends are full of explorations, but it's the weekdays that prove to be a bit of a challenge.
In a good way.
I wake up with Mike's alarm as he hits the snooze button repeatedly in the morning. The sun has already greeted the day hours before and is peeking through the sides of the curtains; Michael returns to the room after showering and lets light into our dark space (which provokes slight groaning and rolling around the covers from me, to snuggle in deeper and fight if only for a few moments longer.) I secretly savor his morning routines and how handsome he looks in a suit, feeling a sense of purpose when he asks if his ties match and can I please fix his collar/button the sleeves/can you take this to the cleaners for me?
Once he's gone, I'm up and in the kitchen, preparing coffee and breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and toast on most days, but this morning brought avocado mixed with lime and feta, spread on fresh ciabatta. I'll thencheck Facebook for any updates with my 'community,' because within my soul there's an inherent need to stay connected for fear of isolation. (I'm working on that--- last week I was a bit stir crazy and compulsive with the FB and Instagram, which honestly didn't fulfill the loneliness.. more on that later.)
Anyways, coffee in hand, it's to the porch for some quiet time with Jesus.
It took me four weeks of being here to realize that I need to establish some sort of routine to this brief period of time without structure, or else the boredom and loneliness start to creep in and settle in the empty places. Last week I realized, I'll never have this time again (hopefully come August, when I'll start working and serving with YouthCompass,) so why not use it for good? To grow?
So I spend time each morning on a devotional, unbridled by obligation and time constraints. It was tough at first... I was bored, didn't know what to pray for, but now I look forward to starting my day with quiet time.
The rest of the afternoon I plan trips, I run 'an errand' (I spread out my things to do so that I have a reason to leave the house,) I wander, I exercise (there's no reason not to, yet still it's a mental challenge to get myself going each day.) I go to the grocery store constantly for lack of fridge space, desire for fresh food and really, for something to do. I've made a few lovely friends who I meet up with for lunch. I call home when my parentals are waking up, again when Annie's waking up (my 5pm.) I make lists of things to do, just so I can check them off later. And while 'errand-running,' I let myself get side-tracked by whatever presents itself.... the English-bookstore, an open door entering an old church, German women line-dancing at the American festival, a new coffee shop, watching swans down by the river, the home section at Ikea... the list goes on and on.
Michael comes home, dinner is prepared (maybe while I'm here I'll actually learn to love cooking?) and then we have a good amount of time to fill before we can go to sleep, because it doesn't get dark until 10:30. We don't have TV to fill the dead time, and only one person can be on the internet at a time, so we go for walks through the park, we watch Mad Men, I read. I played myself in Bananagrams the other night, and I won. Wednesdays are now the new 'family dinner' night where we go out with another couple. Maybe it will grow and the Florida tradition will continue, a la German style. It's a quiet, geriatric lifestyle, our weekdays. It's nice.
Like I said, it's just a strange place to be. Almost like a sabbatical or retreat, in which I'm forced to simplify, cleanse myself of the American mentality to have each hour of the day filled, and rely on the Lord to fill my days. I have to work to keep boredom at bay, to not waste the day on the internet and to really make this time meaningful, for never in my life will I have these two months to myself ever again.
August will come, as will a job and a schedule, my seester, followed by Mike's parents, then my own (yipee to all three!!)
For now, I will 'rest' and figure out what the heck God has planned for me here.
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my 'one-errand-a-day' weekly findings:
Stumbled into a quiet, simple church founded in the 1300s,
whose walls somehow survived WWII bombings. Perfect setting for a creepy game of Sardines!
Found this gem-- been here twice already. FABULOUS coffee. You walk in and are greeted by the most glorious smells ever. Plus, they have "Eiskaffe" which is not 'iced coffee,' but rather, coffee with ice cream. Mmmmmm.
And being a housewife equals an attempt at desserts. Don't be deceived by their appearance-- they were quite good! Mike ate this whole plate for dinner.
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