February 26, 2021 was my last day at work.
When people heard that I was retiring, after comments of congratulations or dismay I was often asked... Now what are you going to do? Do you have plans?
So this is what March looked like...
That's what I wanted.
This is what March used to look like...
My husband traveled for work.
My daughter, who didn't have a driver's license at the time, danced 6-7 days a week in Carmel (which is an hour from my house) so on the days I didn't work I spent every evening in Carmel. I also drove her to Kansas City for a ballet scholarship competition and she danced for Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre and they had a show that last weekend in March, right before Easter.
I split working my ED shifts between Bloomington and Morgan.
I spent every Tuesday evening I wasn't working training with my PBT running team in Broad Ripple while my daughter danced, then spent every other night running on my own while she danced.
Oh, and I ran a marathon.
So this was MY schedule, never mind what the rest of my family's schedule looked like!
I paid someone to drive my daughter to Carmel on the days I worked.
I wanted white space.
No bedtime.
No morning alarms.
I can stay up as long as I want, go to sleep when I'm tired and wake because it's light out.
It's been wonderful.
I made the decision to retire at the end of February last January, before Covid. Initially I chose this date so I would be free to travel on Spring Break with my kids. My older daughter graduates from college in May and my younger daughter graduates from high school in June so it would be their "last" respective Spring Breaks. Well, Covid changed all that. My older daughter did not get a Spring Break. My younger daughter moved back home then decided she wanted to go back to Philadelphia by herself on her Spring Break to see her friends that had stayed, so no big travel plans for me. Maybe we will travel more in a couple months...
I played around with the idea of baking more and having a stand at a Farmer's Market this year. I then decided that I didn't want to commit to giving up my Saturday mornings all summer so I'm passing on that.
I thought about working on a website for my crochet and handmade craft business, however, I've got more than enough word-of-mouth orders at the time to keep me busy so that's on hold too. I have really enjoyed having uninterrupted crafting time. I don't want to spend too much time making stuff for other people as it may rob the joy if it becomes too much like work!
I hadn't run seriously in a loooong time, mainly because I was tired of hurting all the time. I am terribly out of shape but don't hurt anymore. So... I signed up to run the Boston Marathon, virtually, in October. This is NOT "The" Boston Marathon, but rather the virtual version that does not have a qualifying time, but I still have to run 26.2 miles continuously and turn in a time, so I've started running again. Baby steps this time.
I did book a spa vacation for myself and my girls this summer as our "girl's trip." Oh, and I signed up for an aerial silks class on this trip. I know. What the hell was I thinking?!! That prompted me to sign up for yoga classes this week so as to not make an ass of myself while on vacation.
I've spent probably more time than is productive playing on Facebook, but heck, I don't need to be productive anymore!! I have become more active in my local "Buy Nothing" group and I love it. There are "Buy Nothing" groups all over the country. They are hyper-local groups where people give away stuff they don't need and/or ask for what they do need. I'm decluttering my house this way and feels so much better to give stuff away to people that want it rather than dumping it off at a donation site. I've also picked up a number of useful items and fun items along the way too.
I'm working on my garden. I am going to have a garden this year!!! Always before I missed the window to plant things because I was too busy. Now I'm anxiously checking the weather everyday trying to figure out when it's going to be warm enough to plant things safely.
I got to go mushroom hunting this week. Found a few morels. Not a lot but some is always better than none!
And yes, I've picked up the blog again. Writing is what makes me accountable. I realized a couple weeks ago that I could just stay in bed everyday and order Door Dash for the rest of my life but what kind of life is that? Stay tuned and stay in touch!
