End of Q4 Retirement Report
It has been a whole quarter since my last day of work! I can confidently say I wasn’t expecting time to go this fast!
Over the decade of being a two-income family, we had to consistently lower the bar on the upkeep of the house. When we couldn’t keep up, we hired help. We outsourced. We ordered in. We used Amazon Now. The first thing that I did when I retired was to find all the things that fell between where the bar was, and where the bar should have been. From simple things like getting that car an overdue wash (damn, its overdue again), to getting myself to an overdue medical checkup, there were a million things that had fallen through the cracks. The trouble with being an employed mother is that you put yourself last. Family first, house second, mom last. That’s how it goes, and this was finally my chance to use the time available to make sure that “last” still got done (it never stops being last though…).
In the first two months, I barely had time to sit down. My pedometer was off the charts. If I wasn’t actively doing something, then I was walking from room to room, picking up things, cleaning up where I could, and restoring order to items that had migrated several feet and multiple shelves away from their designated space. Then, one day, I sat down and read a book.
Nothing says “I have time” like finally being able to read. I read Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things. Then I read Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom. Then I read the “Space Case” series of children’s books which Ro was heavily into. Then I picked up a couple of cooking books, a nonfiction title, and a book my husband bought me on enjoying retirement.
In this short & busy period, we got a puppy. I’ve spent huge chunks of time training Nunchuk & raising him to be the best dog he can be. Of course, I’ve failed in that lofty goal, but he’s a pretty darn good dog, if not the best he can be. I train him 2-3 times a day, and he’s already mastered a good amount of basic obedience at less than 5 months of age. I love this little baby. I’ve started taking him out to shopping centers and Farmer’s Markets to expose him to crowds, noise, people, and other dogs, and he’s been taking it all in stride. The force is strong in this one.
I spend every weekday morning at the gym, working out for an hour in order to stay fit, have a routine, and be in the presence (if not the company) of other grown ups. Having this one place to go to each morning has made a huge impact as a motivator to get out of bed every day.
After all of this, I feel caught up.
I’ve started spending time on slow-burner hobby – cooking a lot, documenting all I’ve cooked, and finding a way to share it with my friends. Check out Meera Flips Burgers – named by Ro since he loves my home-made burgers.
Ginger Cod
It is time to see what other adventures await me. It isn’t often that you get an opportunity to stay home and have 8 hours of the day to yourself.