Just over 1 year ago, on February 24th, 2011, I retired. I wanted to post on my first anniversary about what it's like, and it's kind of fitting that I'm a few days late.
Because one of the gifts of being retired is that I lose track of time and don't care what day it is. So I forgot that last Friday was my anniversary. Retirement rocks. Every day is Saturday. We have gotten into trouble because we promised to do something on a particular day, and didn't know what day it was, so missed it. Karen missed yoga. I missed a days SnowHosting. We actually need to have meetings to plan the week now so we don't miss things. I thought I would remember my last day because it's the same date as my daughter's birthday. I forgot her birthday, too (sort of -- she and I agreed on a deferred present, and I forgot to get a card).
Being in control of your day to day destiny is awesome. Do it, don't do it, and you have no one to answer to but yourself. After retiring last year, I got in 36 days of skiing. Today was day 46 of this season. I lost track of how much hiking we've done. We spent a month in Amsterdam and a month in Maui. We sold our house and moved, partially renovated our new house, and even moved out of our condo. We accomplished lots, but my stress level is somewhere in negative territory.
We love waking up in the morning knowing we can roll over and go back to sleep if we feel like it, or get up and do stuff if we feel motivated. Our energy levels are higher than they have ever been. We are never, ever bored. We have so much to do we sometimes have trouble choosing. Aside from skiing and hiking, there are books to read, trips to plan, music to make, sewing to do, walks to take, animals to watch, little projects to do, big projects to do, photos to take, wine to drink, and all of it -- ALL of it -- under our timeline.
Retirement has been hard on my liver. Wine with dinner? Every day's Saturday, so why not? Cocktails? If you feel like it. More wine with an after dinner movie? Sure, if you feel like it.
I liked working. I like this more. A lot more.
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