How I spend time alone...

I would say that until recently the majority of my life was spent alone. And now that I live with Tina and Benny, and even though it feels as though my days are filled with their presence, I still have a lot of time to myself. Actually I'd still say the majority. I have a long commute and work in an office alone. Given that Tina and I only get about 2-3 hours each evening I'm not really wanting to go off and be by myself. And on the weekends, since we have so little time during the week, we tend to spend that together too. So my alone time is going to consist of my daily routine minus the boring hours at work...

I get up in the morning about an hour before Tina and Benny. I usually start my day by picking up the toys he gets out of his toy box to play with at night.

Then I generally pick up around the living room getting everything to the kitchen that needs to be cleaned. Tina cooks every night so we generally load the dishwasher, rinse what we can I wash everything in the morning. I've been doing this a while now and just read something recently that stated this but I feel like if I can start off with that little accomplishment of getting the house in order before going to work my day starts off better. I at least got that done if nothing else - ha!

Then I about 2-3 days a week I make smoothies...

Then I leave for my long commute...

Sometimes I take pictures of old people. Old people in New York are fascinating. Some of the hardest people on the planet. When I notice a pain in my knee or my ankle gets tweaked I pray that it doesn't debilitate me to the point where I can't walk. Tina has had an ankle issue since April. It's finally getting better. I just don't see how older people cope but they do and I admire them for it.

As soon as I get out of the apartment the earphones go in and I listen to podcasts. These are some of my favorite from what I listen to most to least in order. The top one is of a radio guy in Atlanta. That keeps me connected to home but he also has a guy on who lives in New York. So I get both the Atlanta and New York aspect of what they talk about, generally pop culture, politics, and a little sports.

Once I get on my subway I cut the earphones off and do a daily devotional from Jesus Calling then pray and meditate. This takes about 10-15 minutes but again really starts my long day off right.

I've figured out that if I get on the 8:10 train it's a newer double decker train that is a smooth enough ride that I can draw comfortably. If I get on the earlier trains they're too shaky and I mostly get frustrated. Because of this commute I'm drawing more regularly than I ever have even though it's in shorter increments. I feel like the regularity has helped me improve more. I get to draw twice a day about 30 minutes each and this is literally the fastest part of my commute. Seems like I get to my stop as soon as I sit down to draw...

 

On the subway home I've started watching some Netflix and I read occasionally.

And last but not least sometimes I spend alone time with Benny. Not sure that counts but I'm putting it here anyway.