Retired

I am now officially retired!

It's a little difficult to gauge how I am feeling as it is a Friday. It may take me until Tuesday, when we were to return to work, to understand that I no longer have an office and a job. During goodbyes today, my former staff were teasing me that they would not be surprised if I showed up to work on Tuesday. They joked (they were joking, right??) that I would get bored and would forget I was retired (obviously senility is setting in if I forget I'm retired). Mostly they thought I'd show up out of habit.

Habits are tough to break. I am committed though to giving it my absolute best shot. I have already started my post-retirement life this week by incorporating three self-care  I want to accomplish daily. One does not have to ease into retirement. I am doing this next phase with the same fervor and commitment I have put into my work over the past 50+ years. This retiree has plans!

My most immediate plans are to finish packing up most of our household, lots of self-care like daily hypnotherapy, my normal morning meditation, and moving my body (don't call it exercise!). I will also begin planning out our upcoming trip around the United States to see friends, family, and interesting sites. 

After talking with a friend in Crescent City, California, today it looks like we will head up to Northern California and then into Ashland and Bend Oregon on March 1st. Then it will be back to Woodland to  finish the rest of the packing for our BIG trip. We plan to leave for the Arizona area on March 29th (two days after the movers pick up our stuff) with our first stop being the Grand Canyon (unless I sneak in another destination on the trip). Our goal is to be in Gilbert, Arizona on April 1st to spend time in the area with our friends Elizabeth (Beth) Boyle-Roden and Dave Roden.

We also plan to see other friends in Arizona, including Susan Johnston who winters in Arizona (her other home is in Alaska) and Dee Dee Hoerner. I met Susan in an online weight management support program over 14 years ago. I can hardly wait to meet her face-to-face. Dee Dee and I were sister Mary Kay consultants in the Sacramento area. I am not sure when I first met her as I started my Mary Kay business in 2004 and I met her in the same year or within a few years of 2004.

I started looking for photos of Beth and Dave's backyard in Gilbert to add to this blog and I realized that in addition to removing my Hygieia email address from my phone this afternoon, I can now remove all the texts and photos about COVID-19 tests that I've accumulated over the past three years. Wow! That should be cleansing for the spirit. I like tidiness in all my workspaces as clutter tires me out.

Anyway, 

April 2019 Gilbert, AZ: looking out from the back patio at the Roden home.