My regular readers, all 11 of them, have asked me what I think of my trip so far. My little sister and my wife keep asking me if its been worth it. I don't think I sacrificed so much to do this, so I really don't have an earth shattering answer.
Overall, it's been a fun, relaxing time here in Portland, it's such a great place that its made it very easy to be content here. For some reason, I'm sleeping a lot more, waking up at 630-730 am. With the time change according to daylight savings time, it gets light way later, and I think its messing with my sleeping.
My schedule is way more relaxed: My wife and I have coffee every morning, like always, but now its a little less rushed. We don't need to run out the door to get the kids to school, because school is in the next room. Still, that hasn't deterred my wife from imposing at least some semblance of order in our house. I don't know if its muscle memory or not, but my wife continually barks motivational orders to get the kids going. Sometimes I wonder that the hurry is, but I'm mostly grateful for her regimen, because I don't have to worry about it. I'm extremely laid back with the kids and every other part of my life except work. If I was a single parent, we'd have lots of money, but my kids would be badly behaved, have bad teeth, bad grades but really good video game skills.
Regardless, the kids start school around 845 and then I go to work in the living room. I work hard and focused until about lunchtime and then I decide what to do for the day....3-4 days a week we go out to lunch as a family, and I really enjoy that. Sometimes its an all afternoon outing downtown, or sometimes it's just lunch. Lots of times I do minor errands and generally relax. I take lots of walks in this cool weather, it helps still my mind and I enjoy the scenery. I meet a lot of friends for wine or beer around 4pm, usually within a mile or two of my house. It's a great lifestyle for me, it fits me very well!
I really enjoy the house, its a great size for us: 3 bedrooms with a big backyard for the dogs. The only problem is that it only has one bathroom...I didn't think about this when we booked it, but its definitely an issue for me. It seems like everyone needs to use it all the time, either to use the toilet, take a shower or get ready for something. Compounding this issue is an problem that I have going to the bathroom in front of anyone. I can barely pee at a public urinal, so using the toilet when my wife does her hair or kids taking a shower is impossible. Every time I try to poop, the kids come in or my wife needs to shower or do something way more important, it's messing with my head!
Anyway, what's changed since I have been here? I don't sit in front of the computer by default anymore, it's only when I need to work. I'm exercising a lot more, watching a LOT more television and of course eating too much. I think my wife has given up on my physique: She's stopped sending me motivational weight loss articles and now has bought me larger sweaters to wear. Is that what people do when they stop working so much, they become lazy and fat? Or is this part of a pendulum reaction to my formerly crazy lifestyle? I guess time will tell, but for now, I'm enjoying it!
