Relaxing vacation photos . . . just sharing

There are not many things that can beat the relaxation of a vacation: 

The Cliffs of Moher - Ireland

Blubell Cottage Air BnB - Ireland

Galway - Ireland

Leed's Castle - England

Cliffs of Dover - England

Bath - England

Pompeii - Italy

Paris - France

 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures - no narrative, just visual stimulation!

The anticipation & angst of retirement

 Retirement . . . what a beautiful word! Or is it? It seems like many of us look forward to retirement and then when it is just around the corner, we start to wonder what our lives are going to be like when we don't have to report to work and punch a clock on a regular basis.

I am going through this phase of transition right now. A few months ago, I trained in the person who replaced me. Now, I need to start figuring out what to do with myself every day. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of things to keep busy, however, I am used to a daily workweek routine. After I retire, I am not going to have my schedule laid out for me and I will need to structure my days so one doesn't bleed into the next.  and then before I know it I have not left the house or accomplished any of the tasks I was hoping to. Some people wake up in the morning, and they can have their whole day planned out in their head within the first 5 minutes . . . this is not me. I go to my calendar for a peek at what my day will be like. I need to begin to build my list that will define what goes into my retirement calendar.

So, what is my calendar going to look like? What tasks do I need to accomplish every day. Do I even need to accomplish something every day? Are there hobbies I am going to restart and if so, should I put them into the calendar, so I do them? Are they even a hobby if I have to schedule them or are they now a new "job". What if I wake up and don't want to follow my agenda for the day? Do I just delete tasks from my calendar without rescheduling them? If I do that, will the tasks ever get done? So many questions!

I don't really want to have such a rigid calendar that I don't enjoy life day to day. I know that I want to travel and there are many family and friends who have extended invitations of hospitality if I want to go visit. I also know that I want to seriously focus on my personal health. I want to start an exercise routine, but I just need to figure out what that is going to be. I know from prior experience that I don't do well keeping up with exercise routines. I know it will need to be simple and short in duration or I won't do it. Cooking is another task/hobby (I love to cook) that has fallen by the wayside. There are too many calories lurking in the cabinets in my house and they need to be evicted. Chaos and clutter have also taken up residence without a lease and neither one of them contribute to a smooth-running household - they too must be evicted. 

My sewing machine, over-lock machine, knitting needles and crochet hooks all need to come out of the dark closet, get brushed off and polished up again. These were the very items that used to help me keep sane when my children were younger . . . it is time they rise up and take a stand with me. I might even start doing projects on my Cricut. Who knows?

Retirement: The stage of life where one becomes independent again. Only this time I am not leaving home to start a new life . . . I am coming home to start a new life. Wish me luck!