July 2018

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 has been well cared for and the garden has been watered so... yes, Sara is the one.

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.

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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!

Two Weeks Later

Two weeks later and it still feels like a vacation.  I'm still waking up ridiculously early (4:48 am today).  Sometimes I manage to get back to sleep, but not often enough.  Sometimes I resort to an over-the-counter sleep aid to keep me in bed longer.  Actually, it's kind of funny.  I react strongly to most medications so I always use my pill chopper for these.  They break in half easily with just one's fingers, but then I use the chopper to quarter them.  A quarter dose of an OTC sleep aid.  Talk about light weight!  (Of course, I mean my drug metabolism... not my corporeal weight.  Obvs.)

I made a list of big projects that need doing and hung it on the wall in the dining room (where I am sitting right now.)  So far I have crossed one thing off: Remove carpet from stairs.  Now I have to sand the stairs, replace two treads, and paint.  It's interesting to see signs of previous owners in old houses.  I note that someone else loved the color green.  The stairs were green at one point!  But, when I bought the house, the edges of the stairs had been painted a light-sucking dark brown and a dark brown carpet was nailed up the middle.  And, wow, did they use a lot of nails!  Still, it's all pulled up and it went out with the weekly garbage collection.  (Dusts off hands with satisfaction!)

Weeding the yard is on the list, and it is one that will never be crossed off.  I'm pacing myself on that one.  I'm trying to keep up with the front yard first, since I don't want my neighbors to be too unhappy with me.  But, the back yard needs attention too.  Sometimes I don't even want to go outside because it all feels so overwhelming.  Like I said, I'm pacing myself and trying to just keep at it.  This may sound like an excuse, but some of the 'weeds' are native wildflowers and I intentionally let those go longer because the bees and other pollinators need them.  This in not bullshit!  I am trying to tread that line between flowering and seeding -- I pull them when they are getting close.  At least, that is my goal.  The results is... scruffy looking.  I will never have a manicured yard and I don't want one. That's not my style.  I like a more wild looking garden, one that looks like it might hold a secret or two.  But, I live in the city.  People expect the front yard to be presentable.

Last Friday was my first payday without a paycheck.  That was disconcerting.  It took me about half the day to figure out what was bugging me.  My pension checks have not stated coming yet so I have been more frugal than usual.  My final check was bigger than usual since it included my vacation cash out, but it's a reality check to look at the bank balance and miss out on that every two week payday.  On the plus side, I have taught two self defense classes since I retired and I do get paid for that.

One great thing about being retired is the ability to say Yes.  Being free of the constraints of the M-F day shift allows for all kinds of different activities.  I've had lunch out with friends a couple of times, and impromptu get togethers with some of my neighbors who are teachers.  So freeing!  And, just sitting on my front porch watching the rhythm of the neighborhood is extremely pleasant.  (Just fyi, I've always been moderately good at saying No.)

I haven't created a schedule or structure for myself yet.  I had thought that it would be healthy and productive to do so, but so far I'm just... unwinding, I guess.  It feels strange to be without a schedule.  But, I will adapt!  I'm thinking that the morning might contain some aerobic exercise, like a brisk walk.  Coffee and toast, newspaper, blog reading and then a walk.  After that, the project list.  Maybe.  We'll see what happens.

I've got loads more to say about other subjects (family, T, friends, etc) but I think this is enough for one post.  Pretty soon I'll be boring you all to tears with the excruciating minutia of my pedestrian life.  Looking forward to that?   :-)

Thanks for reading, women!