So, How's Retirement?

I’ve run out of fingers and toes counting the number of times I’ve been asked that question during the past 6 weeks.

The answer is always the same: I don’t know how retirement is because, so far, it’s just taking a rare summer off, a summer that I don’t work. I planned to work, but the class I was scheduled to teach was canceled the week before summer session began. My fall classes begin with an in-service August 10, for which I am paid just to show up and sit through the agenda, and my commitment every Tuesday for 18 weeks leaves me lots of days to do whatever.

I do know that I’m not doing a darned thing because it’s too hot. Mia and I go for our walk early in the morning, long before 8 am, because after the sun is well and truly up in the sky, I stay inside. If I go outside during the actual day, little reddish blue spots appear on my exposed body parts, an indication that my exposed body parts are not happy to see the sun.

At this point in the process, I’m decompressing from a couple of intense years just completed, years that included working 3 jobs simultaneously, as well as completing my master’s degree. I had no time that was not already scheduled for that which had to be done, so having time now with nothing to do is precious. I’m exploring possibilities, including a visit to the local library, which has a story time for children, and the local senior center, which offers lots of fun activities with age-appropriate peers. I’m still interested in cake decorating classes and, if nothing else, I’m going to order the Betty Crocker 100-piece cake decorating set off the TV. I’m taking a trip to the coast to visit a special friend, and will stay a couple of days so I can walk my soul along the shore. My lawn is dying off because I’m determined to install desert-friendly landscaping, but I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to remove what’s there in 100+ degree weather when I can only work before/after the sun leaves the sky.

I just haven’t done those things yet.

I am reading, including some meaty books that I don’t read during the school year, which is when I read for fun. Two books that I’ve enjoyed are The Widow of the South, by Robert Hicks, and Jodi Picoult’s Perfect Match. I love the Roxanne St. Claire Bullet Catcher series, most anything written by Mariah Stewart, Lee Childs, Lisa Scottoline, Lindsay McKennon, Robt. Craix, Catherine Coulter, Janet Evanovich, Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb, and Harlan Coben. I have ordered a couple more John Sandford books after reading one. My one reading regret is that when she turned 50, my all-time favorite contemporary author, LaVyrle Spencer, stopped writing, so I’ve reread some of my favorite stories from my collection.

I’ve been renting films at the local video store so I can knit/crochet and think about whatever needs thinking about. The tally is 19 knit and 14 crocheted washcloths in a rainbow of color because I like making washcloths! When I tried to explain that to my b’fast friends, they suggested I make baby blankets and donate them to the local hospital, but I don’t like making baby blankets: I like making wash cloths! No, I don’t know what I’m going to do with them, but I use my own wash cloths in both the kitchen and the bathroom because they last forever, unlike the flimsy squares that are bundled and sold in the stores. One ball of all-cotton yarn ($1.67) makes one cloth, plus a little left over, and for every 3 balls I buy, I get a 4th cloth out of the left-overs from the 3 balls. What a deal.

Nope, haven’t begun the office project because I need help. I haven’t finished refinishing the dresser I use as a buffet because it’s too hot to finish the sanding in the garage—but it’ll cool off some in September, and it’ll only take me one weekend to complete that project. I did clean up dog poop in the backyard and tossed some big rocks into Mia’s nest by the fence because it looked like she may be tunneling her way to freedom. I’ve had my friend’s dog for 2 consecutive weeks, but feel housebound myself because I can’t leave Mia for the week I’d like to be gone because my dog sitter is out of state right now. I installed a shelving unit in my kitchen, in an unused corner, so now all the little things I’ve been setting here and there are all in one place and look as if they belong where I put them. I have an estimate on the security door installation, as well as the security lights on the sides of the house, but it’s too hot for anyone to climb in the attic to find the wires and complete the process. I have been to the fencing place and am thinking about getting that done, but don’t know if I should do it before I replace the lawn with desert landscaping or wait. Looks like September is going to be a busy month.

The other question, what am I going to do now that I’m retired, has a simple answer: I don’t know. I’ve never been retired before, so I’ll probably have to try a few things and see what fits. I love to cook, but don’t have anyone to cook for; otherwise, I might enjoy a cooking workshop. I’d like to go to Wyoming and Montana, as I’ve never been to either state, and I’d like to visit the dinosaur museum at 4 corners, where the states come together and the dinosaurs used to roam. I’d also like to stop at the Caverns in New Mexico. I drove past the exit for them a couple of times and thought about stopping, but I was on my way elsewhere, so didn’t make the turn. I’m not sure about the trip to Italy and Greece as I just can’t get comfortable with all that flying!

I won’t be relocating to Tyler as both of my dearest friends there are gone. Camille died a year ago, and Barbara passed away 6 mnths later, my two reasons for returning to a place I loved. If I do uproot myself and relocate, it’ll be to live closer to my children, not to go back to a town where now I know 2 fewer people in the already small circle of people I met while I was there.

So, that’s how retirement is at this point in my life. Once it cools off, retirement has great potential for becoming much more interesting as I’ll feel more comfortable about getting out and about. Until the temps come back into even the 90s, I’m just going to read more books, watch more videos, and up the count on washcloths.