A day in the life

Many people probably think that since I quit my job and we now live in a vineyard that I spend my days goofing off. They think that I know longer “work” so I must be living a life of leisure. I have had friends make comments about my days being easy since I don’t have a job. In those instances, I have explained that although I am not being paid that I do indeed have a job. That job is my blog. I’ve explained before that I approach this blog as a job. It takes discipline to write every day. Some days it is very easy and the words just flow. Other days I can sit in front of the computer and feel like I have nothing to write about it. I don’t give up or make any excuses. Some days I can be done with my blog quickly but for the most part it takes a few hours to write and get the photos processed for the blog. Writing has been a dream and I love being able to do it.

Our life here is not all walks on the beach or wandering through the vineyard. Bob has lots of work and even though he doesn’t have to work every hour of every day he has clients that need things from him. Sometimes he has days where he has little to accomplish. Then there are days/weeks like now where he has clients that need track drawings, revised designs and expert witness work that requires both reading long depositions and discussing with lawyers and also plowing through tons of evidence so that he can provide a lawyer with a report.

We still  have all of the regular ‘adulting’ stuff to do. No one delivers our groceries or does our laundry. 😉 And no one balances our checkbooks or files away our business paperwork. If anyone knows how we can change this please let me know! LOL.

So, today has been a hunker down and get things done day. We did not have any appointments or errands that needed to be done. Bob had a long to do list and besides making us lunch has done nothing else but work. Me? Well, I have been balancing our check register for our Spanish bank account. We still have bank accounts in the U.S. but those are pretty easy to keep up with these days. Our account here has been something that has been haunting me every day. I have had a pile of receipts on the corner of my desk that I needed to reconcile. Accessing our account online here is very easy – as it is in the States. The struggle is that the page does not translate. The first page will translate but once I get past that it is all in Catalan. Have I mentioned that I am still learning both Catalan and Spanish? Honestly I have a very long way to go as I’m sure our neighbors will tell you. 🙂 Today I was determined to tackle this. With Google Translate open I went through any messages and was able to decipher the gist of each one. WOOHOO! Then I figured out how to download/export our transactions. YIPPEE! By this time I am feeling pretty accomplished. Ah, but then I actually had to reconcile the receipts against it. I have never been this far behind in reconciling receipts so it was pretty daunting but except for taking a break to eat the lunch that Bob made, I have persevered and finished reconciling this mess.

As a reward while I get my desk cleaned up and type my blog I am drinking my second glass of wine. After all I deserve it.

I also have Sugarland’s “Something More” blasting.  The lyrics are perfect for reminding us to take that chance to live a different life. An excerpt below…

“Five years and there’s no doubt
That I’m burnt out, I’ve had enough
So now boss man, here’s my two weeks
I’ll make it short and sweet, so listen up
I could work my life away, but why?
I got things to do before I die

There’s gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I’m gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I’m looking for
There’s gotta be something more

Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate
I believe that happiness is something we create
You best believe that I’m not gonna wait
‘Cause there’s gotta be something more”

Now you have had a glimpse into our new life in the vineyard in Spain. You see, being an adult and running a business doesn’t change even in the idyllic setting we live in now. Well, except that it really is an amazing place to live.