Retirement Update

I'm not a fan of not working and that has been my greatest fear about not having a job. I knew that it wasn't working in a lab that I'd miss but working in general. Because of that I have this drive to be as productive as possible around the house. And I have to say that there are some advantages to being home during the day......

I am now able to deal with the dishes on a regular basis - no more piles in the sink and no more overstuffed dishwasher.

Gone are the weekends of 5 loads of laundry - instead I find myself doing a modest-sized load about every other day. And I find myself folding and ironing immediately instead of having to spend 2 hours folding every bit of clothing that we own. We've stopped taking S's shirts to the cleaners just so that they can be starched - I have time to do that now too.

My roses and petunias aren't dying of thirst anymore. I can go outside every day and water them and remove the dead buds. I can also spray the weeds, anthills and water the lawn regularly and not decide to skip it because I'm so tired. Large portions of the weekend don't have to be devoted to the lawn because I can mow it in the middle of the week. It's also convenient to be home in the middle of the day in the middle of the week when the pull cord to start the lawn mower breaks off and I need to get to the repair shop. This happened just this morning which is why I have the time to blog rather than being outside mowing like I had planned. Oops.

I can devote an entire day to "spring" cleaning a room - so far I've done my entire first floor. And by spring cleaning I mean I'm removing everything from every drawer, closet and cabinet to clean. I'm also washing the walls and all the light fixtures.

In addition to all the ridiculous cleaning and organizing I'm now compelled to do I still have time to sit with my coffee and oatmeal in the mornings. I've read about 6 books so far too, sent e-mails and called my mother about 60 times. I have avoided watching the TV too much and I'm exercising still - although I no longer have to be up at 6 AM to do it.

Luckily my to do list extends beyond just spring cleaning the house. Once that's done I will be venturing out into the real of do-it-yourself projects (like painting the back deck and staining some of the doors in the house) so that will be interesting for all involved including my unsuspecting father who will be receiving about 10 "how do I do this or that" calls a day.

Now I just have to hope that my optimism about this situation and all the things I can accomplish at home lasts longer than the week and a half that I've been at it so far........