Learning on the journey

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tsunami-waveIt was a tsunami. It was building under the surface but I couldn’t see it coming.

It will be five years since I retired. I love the calm and peaceful way of life. No rushing to go anywhere. Do what you feel like. Don’t do it if you don’t want to.

It all changed two weeks ago.

In an odd twist of bizarre scheduling and Mother Nature’s reluctance to release spring from bondage, I ended up with a locked down, air tight schedule fit for a 20 something track star practicing for the Olympics.

I thought that were a thing of the past. Racing around from one place to another. Wondering what I forgot to do. Wondering if I’m having a good time. (I am having a good time, aren’t I?)

(Queue in the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland – I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.)

It’s not good. A few annual appointments collided with taking and giving a class. The weather broke and the pond HAD to be cleaned before the promiscuous sea life deposited eggs and babies all over the algae and remnants of dead plants.

The last time I cleaned the pond was late summer in 2014. There were blooming flowers and lots of water babies to work around and it took so much longer. I vowed never to do that again. (My motto is no tadpole left behind!)

What to do. I should have moved the damn medical appointments but I didn’t. The physical labor of pool work canceled out any need for the gym. That’s the best I could do.

When I worked I could do it all and laugh about it. Now I do it all and go to bed early. Really early.

The pond is clean (there was at least 10 gallons of fish poop muck!) so the amorous frolicking can go on without fear of any eggs getting displaced or babies squished. Half of the appointments are done and most of the “taken” classes.

If I can hump out another week, it will be back to “retirement time.” It’s a lot like “island time” when you have happy hour on the patio and a peaceful night at home with nowhere to be.

Oh retirement I miss you!

Note on retirement: After five years I am still amazed that I don’t have enough time for everything I want to do. I will never be bored!

 

45 thoughts on “Learning on the journey”

  2. My rushing-around days wouldn’t be considered busy at all by my daughters, or even me not that many years ago. But now, after a rushing-around day, I’m always grateful for a quiet day.

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  3. Isn’t it just the pits when all this busy-ness gets in the way of “retired-ness?” Wait…what do you mean I don’t have time for quilting this week?! I actually went to work (an all day meeting) yesterday, where I had to get up, dressed and out the door before 7:15. Uuuuuuckkkkk…..we are going to hope that THAT doesn’t happen too often! I feel your pain, Kate!

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  5. I love “Island Time” and like Nancy mentioned, one day of rushing around is too much for me. We have just spent a few days like that and they blew my circuits! I am looking forward to a day trip today where we do what we want to do with no time constraints. A Chinese lunch is on the flexible schedule. Hope you are getting your energy back and keep your eye on the finish line!

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  7. Cleaning out that pond would b enough for me for a week! Husband and I are spoiled to the retirement life and resent it when we have an occasional commitment to mess up our routine. I want enough be keep me busy but without pressure. I hope the frogs appreciate your efforts! Take it easy…the weekend is coming!

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  10. I read your post earlier today as I sat in my doctor’s waiting room. I had been just thinking “why in the heck did I make such an early appointment?” which required me to actually set my alarm. I know that it seemed like a good idea at the time (get an early appointment before he gets too far behind in his day) but this ole retired soul isn’t used to moving too early in the day. Now, with that out of the way, I’m back on island time.

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    • I always worked to get the first appointment of the day. Doctor wasn’t yet running late and I wouldn’t lose too much work time. Now I don’t like anything earlier than late morning. I like my morning routine with the gym first thing and than an easy slow coffee with the computer.

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    • We have gotten rid of most of the items from a major cleanout (the stuff was all over the house and I kept tripping over it). That was huge. Most of the physical stuff is done. Now it’s just mental fatigue (and perhaps some ‘tired arm’ from lifting that drink).

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  14. That old adage “if you want something done, ask a busy person” has never been truer. Working full time, running a household, keeping up with family and friends and happy hours and lunches and maintaining a large inventory of absolutely adorable shoes and the outfits that go with them…piece of cake. You just never stop moving. A time in my life, in the not-so-distant past that I worked 70+ hours a week and was the volunteer president of a charitable foundation? Seriously? Now my week plan is “well, Friday I have a doctor’s appointment, so I can’t possibly pick up the dry cleaning that day.” For me, not having any obligations leads to me not wanting to make any commitments. Hmmm.

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    • OMG! You’re right. I don’t like to “double-book” (that only means schedule 2 things in a 24 hour span). When I worked double-booking meant being in two places at the same time and somehow I managed that. I do like island time though. Cheers! It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.

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  15. Doesn’t it make you sort of want to go back and give your younger self a big ole hug? How did we get it all done? We were downright amazing, and that’s no joke. Sings the promiscuous children in the pond can’t say it, I’ll say it for them. Thank you for mucking around in the muck for them, especially when your schedule says “not right now”. The things we do for the creatures we love! Good luck scurrying through your next week. Island time is just around the corner. I can practically see it from here. Hang in there. 🙂

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  18. Sounds like a perfectly normal retirement to me. I just use a wall hanging calendar to “plot” my future in order to avoid the frustrations of overlapping events. Just between you and I (ssssssh)… if I commit to more than one thing a week, I get really awkward because my free time has been depleted and that is simply not “cricket”! 🙂

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    • You made me smile. I don’t like consecutive nights of events. Nor do I like having multiple commitments in a day. Sometimes it happens. It’s not so bad when it’s limited rather than three weeks of continuing stuff. When I was in my 40s my in-laws liked a very limited life. We invited them to do something on a Monday. They declined because my mother-in-law had a colonoscopy the following Friday. I didn’t understand it at all. Maybe I do now.

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