I realize that there are two sides-one side is for those who are retired, and the other side is for those who are not. I'm most familiar with the side that works, but, here is my report from my first week on the retirement side-it was more active than I expected!
On my first day, I tackled cleaning the basement--I think Ron thought this would absorb my entire retirement days, but, on Monday, I managed to complete it in one day! Thinking that I should put in an eight hour "work" day, I did.
On day 2, I tackled errands, even offering to run some for Paulette! Banking, groceries, gas, dog supplies, paying bills,and so on dominated the day.
I even had time to take Paulie to lunch and then repair a clock that I found while cleaning the basement! It had been repaired, but, somehow ended up in the basement, languishing in a box. It took an hour to get it working again-the kind of time that is the luxury of retirement. It's music makes me happy and I'm glad to have it back in our kitchen.
Speaking of kitchens, next on the list, I contacted the KitchenAid service center to order the blender repair kit-the cord melted on our stove over a year ago. On a roll, I also called Sears repair service to schedule an over door repair- "What day works for you," asked the lady from Georgia. "It doesn't matter," I replied. "Just pick a day for me, my calendar is open." Another retirement bonus!
On Wednesday, I decorated the house with fall collections. It was fun to spend time puttering with displays!
I started setting up a home office and selecting our living room as the perfect place to spend a morning at "work". The window faces the busy street and I can watch cars and joggers pass by all day. In the evening, instead of racing from work, I arrived early for the monthly dinner with my knitting group and enjoyed a relaxing evening with friends.
On Thursday I started cleaning out the garden beds, raking leaves, changing window boxes to fall flowers and planting tulip bulbs for next spring. With the luxury of time, it didn't seem so daunting.
The week also included time to write almost 50 thank you notes to friends and business associates for their cards, gifts, and caring actions in honor of my retirement.
AllieCat seems to like having me around during the day. Of course, so do the dogs. Speaking of which, on Friday, of the first week, I took Kate to the vet for her annual visit. It was then that the words any owner dreads to hear were spoken....."Um, miss, your dog has fleas!" Yikes, sure, enough, so did Marilyn, Jack, and AllieCat.
Ron and I spent all day Saturday vacuuming the house and upholstered furniture, removed bedding, etc. It took eight hours of grueling work and included preparing to "bomb" the house with a vapor that kills fleas. So, on Sunday, the plumber came over to shut off gas valves (the treatment is highly flammable) and scooped up all pets for the 4 hour treatment. Ron attempted to give AllieCat her first bath and I took the pups to the camper for the night, heading for the groomer the following morning.
Thus ended my first week of retirement! I'm exhausted and will have to learn to pace myself better.
I did manage to take two long walks, however, and plan to increase that part of my routine. I'm busy planning the road trip with Janet for next week-we're flying to Charleston, S.C. and then driving back to Ohio via the Blue Ridge Parkway. So, I'm adjusting to the retirement side better than I expected and while I'm not ready to recommend it to anyone yet, at least, I've postponed looking for another job for awhile! After all, when in the world would I find the time to do all of things on my list!
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