I'm on My Honeymoon!

One week of real retirement is done, and I hope I have a zillion more.

When I first started working in 1980, I didn’t have time to consider retirement. As my career continued and I saw colleagues put in their time, I wondered what real retirement would feel like. Let me tell you, it’s not just lying around and doing nothing. My friends have said that what they found about retirement is that they don’t see how they ever worked because their lives are so busy. After only a week, I’m believe them.

Psychologists determined that retirement is one of life’s major transitions, and like love and grief, has emotional phases that people go through. In 2000, professor and author Robert Atchley labeled the phases of retirement:

1.  Pre-retirement

2.  The Big Day

3.  Honeymoon Phase

4.  Disenchantment

5.  Reorientation

6.  Routine

I’ve passed through the planning and saving of stage 1 and really felt the love in stage 2.

Right now I’m in the honeymoon phase of bragging about not having to set an alarm clock to all of my former colleagues. Although I'm happy that I'm not having to make lesson plans or grade essays, to me the best part of being retired is not having to pick out clothes to wear to work. 

I’m carrying out many of the major plans I made during the last few years of work. These plans are mainly concerning my house and yard.

I know the yard work will never be completed, but I tackle a couple of yard projects each day and then usually jump into the pool to cool off. At times like these, my pool is worth every cent it costs. 

For a year, I have planned for some updates to the pool – new liner, salt filtration, steps, etc. Finding someone to do the work has been an ongoing problem. I talked with five different businesses last fall and only one gave me a bid. This week I called another pool repair business, and the man told me he was really busy but he would get with me next week. What the heck?

This week, I’ve had two contractors come to see about remodeling my kitchen. There’s nothing wrong with my kitchen except that it’s 35 years old. The way I see it, this is the last kitchen I’ll ever have so I’m going to spruce it up and make it something I’ll enjoy for my remaining stages of retirement.

 

The hard part is deciding what I want to change. I'm overwhelmed with all the ideas on Pinterest and Houzz. I’m afraid to make a decision about cabinets and counters because I don’t know how it will turn out. There are many trends in kitchens like glass backsplashes, can lights, granite countertops. 

My husband pointed out that everyone thinks he/she should have granite counters but that trend has been around for about ten years. He thinks now everyone will start tearing them out. The same with stainless appliances -- he and I have both lived through coppertone, avocado, and harvest-gold colored appliances, so he might be right in his theory. 

I’ll get cost estimates from the contractors next week. That’s when I’ll have to decide what trend I’ll go with.

The attic and garage are in line for proper cleanings when the weather cools. I have been keeping the attic door closed for the past few years. After I park my van, I walk through the garage with blinders on to avoid the accumulation of treasures. I always figured it wasn't so bad since I could still park my van in it.

I'm not sure when the disenchantment stage will hit me, but I'm confident that it will. 

During my short time of retirement, I've already figured out that retirement is fantastic if you have lots of money to spend. If I had piles of money, I'd always be in the honeymoon stage. Money may not buy love or happiness, but it can pay for lots and lots of happy experiences which can keep you happy, or at least in avoidance, for a long time.

Ok, I'm retired. Now what?

When I started this blog over a year ago, I stated that the purpose was to use my writing and your thoughts and comments to help me transition into retirement. Well, June 3, 2015 was my R-Day, the day I've been yearning for, the date I set on my phone’s countdown app, and the date to mark changes in my life. 

That date came and went, and not much has changed except that I will now earn less than half my regular paycheck. Maybe it's because I'm used to having summers off that it doesn't seem like retirement. June, July and half of August were always spent at home or traveling, so this summer feels the same as the others. I'll probably feel differently when my friends and granddaughter go back to school and Drew goes back to work at FSU. I'll let you know.

In order to not get bored, I have lined up some activities to do in the fall. I want to learn to play Bridge so I can keep my mind sharp. There’s a class starting in September that I’ll take. The class is in the middle of the day. Yes, the MIDDLE of the day, and I won’t have to take time off work.  It’s probably filled with retirees, too, so I’ll meet new people. That’s something to look forward to.

I also have home renovations planned, namely the kitchen and my pool. Those projects will take up a lot of time and money, but they must be done. I've always hated projects like these, but now I'll have time to make unhurried decisions. I might actually enjoy spending all that money!

I also have some volunteer work that I hope to do. I’ll get those all lined up in the fall. I hope that I can concentrate on my health now that I have no excuse for taking time for myself. Maybe I’ll lose that extra 50 pounds.

My retired friends say that when I get fully into the swing of retirement, I won't know how I ever worked an 8 hours job because I'll have so many activities to keep me busy. I hope not. For now, this summer, the summer I’ve dreamed and planned for the past year, I hope to spend in North Carolina doing nothing breathing deeply.

One thing I’m unsure of now is what the focus of this blog can be. I can’t very well have it about getting ready for retirement since that’s a done deal. Until I can decide on a focus, I will tell some of my “newly-retired-person” stories. Of course, I’ll write about other events, activities, world issues, etc., that are sure to bore you. I’d appreciate your suggestions of a direction/focus.