One month into retirement, two sets of house guests, 4,000 miles across the country and I’m saying it’s time for a new routine. Time to start living my new life as a retiree. Again, that is.
I haven’t had a chance to establish a new routine, so now I’m plotting that out.
Cooking and Cleaning
No. Nothing in the world wrong with being a maid or a cook. But those are not my hobbies and will not be my new occupation. I will not fall back into that trap of feeling like I have to be constantly either buying, prepping or cooking food or cleaning up the mess.
Reading
Yes, I am going to do even more of it. Is that even possible?
Walking
God willing my knee keeps up with me; I see some beautiful spring walks in my future. Weather is supposed to be turning very nice next week so I’ll be racking up some miles on the soles of my shoes and listening to some audio books.
Club Time
Looking forward to not having to rush my workout at the club. Maybe do some extra stretches, spend time in the steam room and then catch some rays at the pool. When DF Jann and I used to meet up to do the same at our shared gym back in the day, she referred to that activity as “Night of Beauty.” I plan to make every day a “Day of Beauty.”
Any other suggestions on what my new routine should look like? I’d like to plan one outing a week and invite my friends to join me.
Reality
After a grueling drive home straight from San Antonio this week, the next day was a marathon cleaning and laundry day. So a 14-hour drive and then a 12-hour work day at home. But it’s done and I’m moving on.
So, really, I plan on having fun, it just hasn’t happened yet!
The new routine will have more time on the yoga mat and less on the computer.
Family
Speaking of San Antonio, we visited my dear Aunt and Uncle, Carol and Mike and cousin Dave and Ethel in their new home. It was just a few hours, but such a blessing. We love them and have missed them.
Another blessing on our trip was seeing my niece Alex and meeting her two boys. We played on the beach in Florida for hours. The youngest is almost 5 and kept calling me Gran. I kept telling him I wasn’t his gran, but he didn’t stop. He later told his mom that Aunt Corine looks like Gran. Yes, she does.
What I’m Eating
One night on our road trip we decided to do snack night with a veggie plate and cheese and crackers. I tried two new cracker selections. Good Thins are gluten free and new to me. These crackers are a crispy as chips and salty and good.
I thought the sourdough Wasa crackers would be something different but it turns out they are the same as all Wasas. Absolutely no flavor but somehow addicting anyway. Yeah, I’ll finish them.
What I’m Reading
I didn’t finish a thing while we were gone. I really had no time to read. Which isn’t exactly how I envisioned my vacation. Oh well.
I did finish two audiobooks: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah was the first. And it took me forever. Sorry if you loved the book, because I did not. Maybe in print it would be better because I could have skipped forward. But the droning on and on about unrequited love for Elsa’s own husband was ridiculous. And he was pretty unlovable.
The dust bowl and trip to California was Grapes of Wrath and I kept thinking Hannah was selling the book to Hollywood.
The writing was good so I didn’t give it a poor review, but I’m giving it three out of five stars. Not bad, but very, very long.
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker got a slow start for me, but ended with a bang. The characters are rich and there is a very nice twist at the end. If you like complex characters in small-town settings with lots of history, pick this up! I gave it four stars only because it took me a while to get into it.
Wrap Up
Blessings on a wonderful weekend and I’m looking forward to sharing a new routine with you starting next week.
And by the way, we did reach our road trip goal and made it to the end of the country. Key West was fun!