Week 36 - Done with Work

I would normally start with any week that starts with a holiday is great but when you're retired, even part way, a holiday is pretty much like any other day. I had my last work obligation on Thursday so full retirement is close.

Labor Day started with sleeping late and having a lazy morning but I redeemed myself with cutting weed trees and beggar's tick and taking them to the city burn pile. I noticed some wood debris there, which isn't allowed, and by the next day, the city closed the pile so it could be cleaned up. I got there just in time.

I had social commitments in Lincoln for the next 2 days. Tuesday was lunch at Helen's so I stopped at Menard's on the way there to buy a new handle for my slider. After a nice lunch, Helen and I chatted all afternoon, only stopping when Charlie got home from work. I went to Aldi when I left and picked up chicken fingers that I ate in the car. It was a nice day.

I was back in Lincoln for lunch with Layton and Steve on Wednesday. We went to Piedmont Bistro, which is my favorite Lincoln restaurant, and Layton said it was to celebrate my retirement (that was news to me) so they treated. I hit several thrifts before heading home and scored sock yarn at one of them, which is the best. 

I got home early enough to tackle replacing the sliding glass doorhandle so gathered tools and promptly tripped in my back room and went down hard. Damn! I got up and was determined to get it done. Well, turns out my door is thick so the screws weren't long enough. I attempted to use the old ones but they had a head that was bigger than the hole so wouldn't work. It was approaching 6:00 so my only option in town was Bomgaar's - the farm store. A kid helped me find the perfect screws in the many tiny drawers of screws. After paying 18 cents, he offered to help me carry out. Made me laugh. I installed the handle in minutes and was happy to have that done. Everything is harder than it should be.

After 2 weeks on antibiotics, Pixel was still a snotty mess (Tot was fine) so I took her back to the vet Thursday morning. He said to give it time because he'd injected her with long acting steroids and antibiotics 2 weeks before so there was nothing left to do. At 1:30, I logged onto zoom for the last training class with Dana and with that done, I was officially retired. Yay!

To celebrate my first full day of retirement, I got up Friday and made strawberry pancakes for breakfast. After running errands in Wahoo, I made my favorite lunch - a tuna melt with tater tots. I spent the afternoon going through all the yarn in the spare room, sorting some for Dottie, a bit for me and a huge Chewy box for Becky's Stuff for Strays sales. Just before bedtime, I signed up for the Walkfit app and despite it being 9:30, I put on my sneakers and did my first workout. Getting more exercise in retirement is on the list so I'll give this a try.

After spending a chunk of Saturday morning clearing out my gmail account, I decided to take advantage of the perfect weather to clean the garage. I spent all day in there, moving Corelle filled bookcases, reorganizing and throwing out bunches of stuff, filling my trash can. I ended the day feeling good about my progress and having bean dip, chips and a beer for Saturday snack supper.

After working so hard, I dialed it back on Sunday. I filled the kiddy pool from the garage and washed all the grimy recycling I'd found in the garage and filled my recycle bin too. I broke some sticks in the backyard for future firepit fires and was done, spending the rest of the afternoon reading on my bench and drinking tea.

So not a bad week with a nice mix of socializing, productivity and relaxing plus I'd kept up with my wakfit workouts. But the best part, of course, was being done with work. It doesn't mean I won't help as needed but I have nothing more scheduled. Yippee for my first few days of being fully retired! Now to settle into it and figure out how my retirement will work. Any ideas?

Week 35 - Not Quite Yet

It felt fabulous to have a whole week at home after getting back from Rhode Island in the middle of last week. But it wasn't 100% retirement yet because I was going into the office all day on Wednesday for my retirement food day and had to be on 2 zoom trainings because they were Dana's first time leading the training. That left me working for 3 days so full retirement would wait. Despite having to work a bit more, I attempted to get something done each day - sometimes social, sometimes productive.

On Monday, I took Lorri to lunch at The Branding Iron as a thank you for watering my plants while I was gone. I did some laundry and made a blueberry/peach pie to take to knitting, using up some of the fruit in the freezer. Just easing into retirement.

The weather was mostly hot so I spent a couple of mornings getting some yard work done early before it heated it. After deadheading my containers and digging my potatoes, I planted lettuce and peas in the newly empty spot. I cut some weed trees and took them to the burn pile. After watching a YouTube that said we still had time to plant zucchini, I went in search of seeds in Wahoo. I failed at Dollar General, the hardware store and the farm store before finding some on clearance at Family Dollar. I planted those around the remaining squash plants, which were hanging on after being ravaged by borers. Having never done much fall gardening, I was excited to be planting again. Not much to lose - the seeds only cost 38 cents.

I joined Dana's training zooms on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning. She did great on both considering it was her first time. Wednesday was my retirement food day so I went into work for the whole day, which clearly no one expected. I was the first one in and the office was already decorated with flowers and garlands of socks I'd made for Cindy and Lana. Mike bought a gorgeous (and delicious) cake. The food day was wonderful. I got to talk to lots of my co-workers and the speeches didn't make me blubber. It was exactly the send off I was looking for. I did do some actual work too after setting my computer up in Ben's old office because Dana's old cubie was full of crockpots. After taking the last bits from my old cubie, which Dana had boxed up when she moved in, I went to Anne's for pizza with her and Rene to celebrate my retirement just a bit more.

After Thursday morning's zoom, I went to the eye doctors and ordered my new glasses then drove to St. John's in Weston for their sale. I found 2 big boxes - 1 of yarn and another with vintage linens and old sewing supplies. I picked up BK on the way home and spent the afternoon sorting through the boxes, ending up with some for Dottie, some for me and a bunch for Becky to sell at her next Stuff for Strays sale. All good. Before it got hot on the weekend, I had time a couple of afternoons to read outside on my bench while drinking tea. Believe it or not, that was high on my list of things to do during retirement.

Since it was too hot to be outside, I spent all weekend inside and a chunk of that was in the basement making a start on slogging through my craft room. I went through the biggest section of my Ikea wall unit, boxing up lots of books for Becky. I went through some spare room stuff too. Of course, there was some streaming and knitting too.

So not a full week of freedom but enough to get a taste. Even with work, I had time for social things, gardening and starting the slog through my house, which is my main goal for the rest of 2024. I am going to like retirement. : )

Week 34 - Home to Retirement

I just had one more day in Rhode Island before I'd fly home on Tuesday and much as I love hanging with Carolyn, I was definitely ready to go home. Monday was day 12 of being gone, which is a long time to be away.

Janice had tipped me off that I could get my favorite lemon filled chocolate covered donut, which Dunkin' no longer makes, at Market Basket so when Carolyn had to take her car into Kia for service, I asked to go along because it was near the market. I grabbed the donut (delish and cheap), we dropped Matt back home and then headed to one of Carolyn's schools. She had been there for years but not last year so she wanted to redo bulletin boards, which is easier with 2 people. I helped with that and then alphabetized the book order that had been delivered so she could check them in. She was under the weather so we didn't stay long, heading back home. I'd bought enough at Job Lot that I'd be checking my carry on too so needed to repack. We finished the movie Snow Cake, which we'd started the night before and just like that, the day was done.

Carolyn made me eggs Tuesday morning and I packed a lunch and snacks for the day before we headed to the airport at 10:30. I have TSA pre-check now so sailed right through and knitted at the gate. The flights were completely uneventful but when I got to my car, I couldn't find my parking stub, even digging through my suitcase to check the pants I was wearing the day I parked. I caused a back up at the booth while they checked video for when I drove in and I was glad I didn't have to pay some fine or other. After a stop at Aldi to restock groceries, I was home. The cats were happy to see me and after popping a frozen pizza in the oven, I unpacked. The house was hot enough that I needed to shut the windows and turn on the AC even though it would be cool overnight. It felt great to sleep in my own bed.

I spent all day Wednesday putting things away and doing load after load of laundry between the linens (you have to bring your own sheets when you rent a beach house and I'd brought for John too) and 2 weeks of clothes. On Thursday, I went to the optician to order glasses (I had planned to go in January but hadn't and I'd scratched one of my lenses in RI), ran errands in town and after lunch, during which I watched my favorite knitting podcast, I took my 2 old cats to the vet. They both had snot noses so got antibiotic and steroid shots and I'd be giving them pink antibiotic liquid for the next week or so. With all that crossed off, I made a cup of tea and read an actual book (as opposed to on my ipad) in the backyard. That was actually on my retirement to do list so I was starting to feel sort of retirementy.

On Friday, my boss was throwing me a retirement party with just my immediate work group of accountants and the data team. After a nice morning chatting with friends, I cut some sunflowers down, took a shower and headed to Seward. It's a town near Lacey's house that has a consignment store I wanted to check out for possibly consigning some of my work clothes and a fun thrift shop that I always enjoy. I found all kinds of goodies then headed to Lacey's.

It was a wonderful party. Lacey had made a taco/nacho bar and there were lemon cupcakes for dessert. They had decorated with a big poster of all the Rosie posts - the skeleton they photographed everywhere and posted on Facebook back when I had my shoulder surgery. They had all pitched in and gave me a birdfeeder with a camera that sends pics to your phone of all the birds that eat there. Lacey had told me about hers and I'd said it was cool so she filed that thought away. And apparently I spent a team meeting going on and on about getting a weed whacker when I retired (I have no recollection of this) so Dana bought me a cordless one. She is originally from Jordan so had no idea what they were so had to ask at Walmart, which I found funny. We all had a nice time and ended the night on Lacey's patio watching sunset. I do love the people I work(ed) with.

The heat set in so I happily stayed inside all weekend. I had started going through something every day so kept that up by going through most of my hutch. Otherwise I did minimal chores and caught up on online things - Ravelry, YouTube, etc. It felt like a regular old weekend so not like retirement and I had to work 3 days in the next week. I'm betting on September to bring retirement vibes. Can't wait.

Week 33 - Perfect Beach Week

What can I say about our beach week except that it was fantastic. I can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed. Could it be a hint of retirement feels? Or maybe that we weren't crammed into the tiny house? Whatever... it was wonderful.

As usual, John and I had a great time doing almost nothing. He did the majority of the cooking (I only did one dinner of spaghetti with jarred sauce, a few sandwich based lunches and our last breakfast) and I did the clean up. We had visitors every single day and enjoyed some amazing meals with them. John took a few walks but I spent that time knitting on the deck (slug fest!) and there were days I never left the house and when I did, it was mostly going off to Job Lot or to buy provisions for yet another meal. We ended each night in front of the TV and we found a wide variety of things to watch. The weather cooperated for most of the week with no humidity and pleasant temps, only getting muggy on Friday afternoon. Sleeping was easy and with no cats to wake me up, I slept later than I do at home.

Most of our visitors were more into hanging at the cottage but we did make it to the actual beach on Wednesday. Carolyn and Matt were coming down to be on the beach at 9:00 and would be staying all day so John and I walked down just after 11:00 and were back at the cottage all showered and eating lunch by 1:30. We did swim and I got a doozie of a wound on my toe from walking in the slides I bought to wear to swimming this summer but had never walked in (the cottage was about 1/4 mile from Matunuck State Beach). John got me a bandaid from the lifeguards and I limped home. 

John's aunt and uncle came for dinner on Thursday (swordfish with melon salad and I made a blueberry pie for dessert) and they brought prosecco and chocolates to celebrate my retirement. When Kate, who used to own the cottage, came on Friday, she brought me a gift too. How wonderful!

In a flash, it was Saturday morning and time to check out. I made a big breakfast to help clear out the fridge, we packed the car and headed north. John was dropping me at Carolyn's where I'd be for a few days. It was such a great week that we talked about renting it for longer next summer. Time will tell on that.

My 45th high school reunion was that night and I was bumming a ride with Janice, who had been at the cottage on Tuesday. It was fun to see people, some of whom I didn't know or recognize at all, despite Deanne and I studying the yearbook the previous weekend. But here's a pic of some of my girl scout friends (Janice, Beth, Deanne, me and Linda) and it was great to catch up with them. There was a ridiculous amount of food (we all took some home) and in honor of high school, I drank sea breezes. Ha!

Sunday was yet another veg day but this time at Carolyn's. John and I had been to the Wakefield Job Lot (it's similar to Big Lots but much better and started in Rhode Island but has spread out from there) several times but Carolyn and I went to the bigger one in Warwick to look for more of the hand towels I'd bought for the beach house. We hit another one on our way to dinner but no luck. Dinner was at one of Carolyn's favorite restaurants that I'd always wanted to try and we were meeting our friend Bob. The espresso martini was delish but alas, the lobster roll was not good. They come either cold with mayo or plain and hot to dip in butter. It was supposed to be the salad kind but was just plain lobster meat cold in a roll. Bob got one too and we concurred that it was not good. Oh well.

So another beach week was in the books. I was feeling completely relaxed, had seen lots of friends, got to swim in the ocean and ended with a couple of days to hang with Carolyn before flying home on Tuesday. All good in my book and I'd be going back to retirement. I'll take it!

Week 32 - Retired and Relaxed

It was finally here! My last week of work and my trip to Rhode Island. It always seemed like a future thing and now it was reality. Yay!

I worked late with Dana on Monday and rushed off to knitting, which ended up being just Andrea and me. Denise reminded me of the special library board meeting with the architects on Tuesday night, which was on my calendar but not on my radar. I had already started making piles of things to pack so wasn't too concerned but the meeting did go long so I pretty much went right to bed when I got home.

All of a sudden, it was Wednesday - my last day of work and of course I loaded it up. I had rescheduled breakfast with Darla from the prior Wednesday so was meeting her at Cook's Cafe at 7:00 but stopped on my way there to pick up cat food for Husker Cats. We had a nice breakfast and she gave me a tater tot cookbook as a retirement gift. Cute. I stopped at Super Saver for kitty litter and was in the office just a bit late. Brook gave me a drinking fountain for my cats, which was sweet. The day flew by and in the afternoon I finished cleaning out my cubie, met Becky in the parking lot to donate 2 boxes of stuff from my office for her Stuff for Strays sale, loaded the cat food into the bin and left work early to head home and pack. Just like that I was retired! I do have to work a bit the last week in August but it still felt like I was done.

My flight wasn't until 11:30 and now that I have TSA Pre-Check, I didn't have to leave the house until 9:00 Thursday morning. I picked up my fave grab and go lunch and was at the airport with plenty of time. My flight to DC was uneventful with only some turbulence as we punched through Hurricane Debby (or was it a tropical storm by then?) My second flight was delayed and Reagan airport is awful, which was compounded by me having brought the wrong iPhone cord so I had to beg a charge from some girls who had been on my flight. I got to RI 45 minutes late but Deanne was right there at the curb and we headed south, stopping for a meh dinner in Wickford before heading home to her new house in Wakefield.

Friday was our annual visit to Mrs. Bassett (our childhood girl scout leader) and Deanne's mom, but not before hitting 2 yarn shops - Mermaid's Purl in Wickford and Skein in East Greenwich. Of course I bought sock yarn in both - best souvenir ever. We got poke bowls in downtown EG for a late lunch and then took the scenic route home, going Route 1A along the coast. We picked up some snacks and ice cream and streamed Deadpool 1 & 2 to end the day. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday was check in day but we needed to grocery shop first so John picked me up at Dee's and we headed north. Our first stop was The Crow's Nest so I got my favorite fried clams and then we hit Trader Joe's. After stocking up on all kinds of goodies, we went down to the beach house and settled in - unloading groceries, making beds, etc. It was so wonderful to be back in our regular cottage and after enjoying sunset from the deck, we made a frozen pizza and watched Sherlock on PBS. We were all set for a week of relaxation and friends.

We had turned off the AC as soon as we arrived but the humidity completely left over night so we woke up to glorious weather on Sunday. We played Boggle on the deck and when John took a walk, I happily knitted while watching birds on the pond. We headed to Aunt Carrie's for a late lunch. It wasn't busy so we got seated right away but when our waitress was heading to our table with menus, she fell to the ground like a ton of bricks and had a grand mal seizure. 911 was called and tables cleared so the paramedics could get the stretcher in. When another waitress came to take our order, she said she'd never had a seizure before (she was a 22 year old college student) and they thought she'd be OK. We enjoyed our lunch (I had clamcakes and chowder) and then went to Job Lot and Stop and Shop for yet more groceries. We ended the day watching Good Morning Vietnam (I'd been looking to watch that since reading The Women) and eating popcorn.

I was 100% relaxed and looking forward to our beach week. As usual, John and I are pros at doing nothing together. I didn't really feel retired because this is our fifth year at the beach but that can wait until I get home. Until then, beach, friends, yummy food - bring it on!

Week 31 - The County Fair

It was another week of bad weather - blazing heat and a big storm. I ended the week with a stomach bug so all in all, not a great week.

It was the week of the county fair so I dropped my entries - 5 pairs of socks and a project bag - off before knitting on Monday. I ran to check my ribbons after work on Tuesday and got all blues on my socks and a red on my project bag. I didn't get best of lot because my friend Heidi's colorwork mittens won best of lot AND best of county. They were gorgeous so it was well deserved. Other than running through the quilt building, which is air conditioned, on Tuesday night, I didn't go back until Sunday when I picked up my entries. There was not a single comment on any of the projects so I'll never know why my bag got a red. Lame judging. This isn't a great picture but here are a couple of my beribboned socks.

Because it was fiscal year end, we got a pass on working in the office on Wednesday. That was a blessing because I had to teach Dana the big spreadsheet and that was much easier via zoom. It ended up being a good thing that we were all home because a huge storm came through right at 5:00 and branches and entire trees were down all over campus, one of which was right in front of Canfield Admin. It was bad in Lincoln and Omaha but not too bad in Wahoo. Tens of thousands of people in Omaha were without electricity for days and it was blazing hot. Dodged a bullet there.

I had rescheduled my Wednesday lunch with Dodie to Thursday because I was driving in for swimming so went into the office for the day. Lana was one of the only others in so we went to Starbuck's for one of our last coffee runs (this was my last full week of work, after all). After a nice lunch at Bison Witches with Dodie, I spent the afternoon clearing out my cubie. I emptied all the overheads and drawers except one and took some of the stuff off surfaces but it still looked lived in when I left. I swam for the last time of the summer at the Irvingdale pool and drove through McDonald's for an ice cream to eat on the way home.

I woke up in the wee hours with intestinal issues. I took immodium and went back to bed but felt like absolute crap Friday morning. It was the last day of fiscal year 2024 so I had to work that morning but once I was done with what had to be done, I sat like a zombie in my chair and watched House of the Dragons all afternoon. I ate some toast and tea and waited for bedtime because I knew I'd wake up feeling fine on Saturday.

And I did. Having started House of the Dragons, I spent the rest of the weekend knitting and streaming between chores. It was still blazing hot so I was content with staying inside. Fiscal year end was over and Dana had done great learning all the things. It was my last full week of work too before retirement and heading to Rhode Island. Counting the days....

Week 30 - Started My Basement

It was just another hot summer week in Nebraska with not much exciting going on but here goes....

I started a rotation in an attempt to lose some weight before heading to Rhode Island next month. I started late so didn't have the full 21 days for the diet but I shortened it a bit and was pretty motivated. It helps that I had produce left from Cindy's CSA pick up so I started the week with salmon roasted over zucchini. Didn't even feel like diet food.

On the work front, I spent most of the days working with Dana, who is still picking things up super quickly. After my campus day on Wednesday, I met Cindy at Sam's to get a 12 pack of Noosa (the best yogurt so try it if you haven't) and a chicken. Of course the chicken oven was broken so after killing time after leaving the office early (I'd skipped lunch), it was a total fail. Good thing I had more salmon to nuke when I got home.

I had book club on Thursday night but nothing else worth a mention and it was HOT so I was holed up most of the week. Since I had no plans on the weekend, I headed down to the basement.

Years ago, I had bought a small TV for the sewing room but had never set it up. I also had a firestick for it and had just bought another new one so I could retire my problematic old upstairs one. Amazon has improved the process so I formatted them both and on Saturday, I went downstairs to start going through the craft room. I cleared the entire top of my sewing machine and the table next to it, which is where I put the TV. I found the DVD/VCR combo but not the remote and I didn't find the DVD player that I have the remote for upstairs. Watching China Beach will have to wait (adding it to the post retirement list) but with the firestick to stream, I blazed up YouTube and attacked the mending pile. I was happy and productive for the next 2 hours. I also had a full box to donate to Becky's next Stuff for Strays sale. Win win!

Fair entries were due on Monday so I spent time washing and blocking socks between chores on Sunday. I was entering 5 pairs, which is the limit in any single lot, and a fabric project bag I'd made to fill the 6th spot on the entry tag page. I also had time to finish this pair of socks I made with some yarn I bought at Fiberpalooza. I used a favorite pattern and the yarn reminds me of a dilute calico cat so they're a particularly happy pair.

Just a week and a half until I leave for my annual beach week in Rhode Island and retirement. Sort of. I'll have to work a bit in the last week of August but then I'll be on vacation until my retirement date sometime in mid October. So close.