Well, well. I have now been
retired for one year. Ok, it was a year yesterday but today is still
early. How's it been going, you ask? Let me tell you...
Home front: mostly good! I
made a giant list a year ago and I have diligently chipped away at it. It
is about 3/4 completed. Of course, some of the list items can never be
crossed off, like weeding the yard. And, some have now come round again,
like powerwashing the deck. But, I knocked some big tasks off that I
don't have to do again and that is satisfying.
- The stairs - pulled up the ancient and disgusting carpet, sanded
and painted, added a handrail
- The plastic greenhouse - dismantled and recycled
- The catio - dismantled and repurposed or recycled most of the
materials
- Painted the eaves of the sun porch
There are more
projects. Some are partially complete so they don't get to be crossed off
yet. But, I'm making progress on lots of things and that feels really
good!
One of my
projects that will be ongoing for quite some time is the basement clean
up. I have stuck to my plan of getting a minimum of one box dealt with
every two weeks. The two week time frame is the trash pick up
schedule. Every time the trash is collected there has been stuff from the
basement in it. Every time! Progress is slow but steady and I can
see the difference. Sometimes there were multiple boxes or bags dealt
with, one day I got rid of five boxes! Still loads of crap to go through,
but it's happening.
Friend front:
mostly good! I have remained friends with T, and I'm glad about
that. I got to meet two of my blog friends, super good! I have seen
my two besties a couple of times during this year and that has been
great. I'm going down to So Cal in a week to spend some quality time with
one of them. The rancher continues to be a concern. Not as a
friend, of course, but as an obligation. Her situation isn't good and
there's only so much I can do for her. I can't fix her life, that's up to
her. I have to keep reminding myself of that.
In case you were
wondering, I found a new (better) housesitter. She's a friend from my
martial art training days. She has stayed twice and not adopted a puppy
either time! Big points there! Lol. Pierre
Other, less
tangible things from this year of retirement: my stress level is way
down. I didn't have a particularly stressful job, but just getting there,
being there, doing the work, having deadlines, being away from home all day...
these things take their toll. Now, there are times when I check my phone
to be certain which day of the week it is. That's a huge improvement in
quality of life!
Another thing is
the increased ability to say Yes or No. To requests, to people, to
situations, to suggestions. Saying Yes
because I have time, and saying No because I don’t want to. I like it.
****
Well, that was
written on July 1 and not posted. Today
is July 31 and by golly it will be posted!
Since then, I
have been to Long Beach (CA) for a week and a half. Did some projects with/for Lisa. We had a good time, as we always do when we
get together. On the final couple of
days of my trip, our other buddy, KA, joined us. It was a somewhat impromptu get
together. She was in SoCal for a family
birthday and came to Lisa’s afterward, and spent the night. We had a lovely grilled salmon and sat up
talking until late. Very enjoyable.
Tomorrow I am
giving a presentation in a self defense class.
I haven’t taught the class all summer as I have been out of town so
much. I’m trying to ease out of that
work because it is so draining. It’s
important work. I want the youngsters to
step up and teach more of it though. Of
the frequent teachers over half of us are retirement age.
Also tomorrow my
best neighbors are going to NYC to visit their son. That means that I get to have their dog for a
few days. Yay! I love Angus, he’s a great little dog. I also have chicken duty and garden watering
to take care of. Those fresh eggs are
delicious.
Speaking of
delicious, a couple of days ago I put a pair of fried eggs on top of a pair of
tamales. Wow! Why have I never done that before?!? If you are a tamale fan, give it a try. It was good!
Ok, I’d better
wind this up. I have stuff to do and I
don’t want to get distracted for another month.
Thanks for
reading, friends!
