What is your typical day like?
A typical weekday includes working, either at home or at the office from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. I am a lawyer and work involves mainly being on my computer and attending meetings. When working at home, I cook lunch and breakfast for my kids and husband, since almost everyone is at home because of COVID measures. When I go to the office, I have to cook in advance and I eat alone because of COVID restrictions.
After work, I go to field hockey training three times a week. I also take care of things at home, such as buying groceries (always online), laundry, cleaning and cooking. At night, when I don’t go field hockey training, I have dinner with my family. After dinner, I watch the news, read a book or watch tv. Sometimes, I also do some knitting while watching TV. Sometimes, I go out to dinner or drinks with my husband and other times with friends.
Weekends are for spare time, which always includes cooking. I go out to buy some things that I may need, such as clothes or other items for the house. Most of the times I do some sports, such as riding the indoor bike and sometimes outdoor cycling or walking. Some weekends we go to our flat at the beach, and there I try to read, sleep and walk. My husband is a vineyard manager, and we like drinking good.
How do you stay mentally and socially active?
I try to read as much as I can, mostly novels, but sometimes history too. I have different groups of friends from school, university, the office, sports teams, and common friends with my husband. We regularly meet for drinks, dinner, dancing, and sometimes we travel together, with and without kids.
What do you find most challenging about growing older?
Growing older is challenging because of health problems. Your body doesn’t always act according to your mental age. I’ve had surgery in one of my hips and will probably have to go through a new surgery in the coming years. You don’t have as much energy as before and that’s frustrating.