Another Day After Retirement

How are your days filled?  Are you busy every minute with little time to relax?  Or, maybe those days are over, and now you're adjusting to large blocks of free time.

It's a mystery why many of us often want whatever it is we don't have.   When we are raising our families and working outside our homes we long for the days when the family leaves home to take care of themselves, and we can stop working.  We all believe we will take advantage and pursue interests we have put off for this time of life.

So far my husband has been retired for six years and things aren't quite like I thought they would be.  Some of the time it's all just fine, but other times I'm restless and not satisfied.  He too isn't satisfied staying home.

My husband searches for odd jobs and stays busy with them.  He does work for people who need little jobs done because they aren't able to do them.  And, most businesses do not want small jobs.  He is much more satisfied in our 'retirement' than me.

While he's gone on those jobs, I am here by myself.  Sometimes I've painted, taken photographs, and done some framing of my own work and some for other people.  I've spent some time searching for places to sell my work, but it's not easy.  So for some time I've been slightly discouraged about my art.  I dislike painting and taking pictures just to stack them.

Something I've done to keep busy was design and make ladies bags.  This is very enjoyable and it may be what I return to doing to keep myself busy and happier here.  At the present I'm not making them.  

Making the bags again is sounding like fun.  It involves drawing the patterns first and maybe even a small sketch of the finished bag.  I have to photograph them to put them up for sale online, make the price tags, ads, business cards and more using my computer.  If I begin again to make them I'll have to write copy for ads.  I'll need to design the web site and all other advertising materials.  I'd be using all my creativity constructively.

And so, it's another day after retirement here in the woods, by myself.  It's summer.  The dog is outside, panting, because it's about 85 and the humidity is probably higher than the temperature.  I'm inside in the air conditioning.  It's a better day than some, because I have been busy enough to be happy.  I emptied a small chest type freezer.  The food fit into the freezer of our refrigerator in the garage where my husband always has several cases of sodas and bottled chilling.  We will save some power, save some money and have extra space in the laundry room!  Good things.

In the kitchen I've put on a big pot of green beans, which I grew in my garden since we moved here.  I've seasoned them with bacon drippings, and onion and they are bubbling away.  The aroma is heavenly!  Hoping to make some corn bread and fry some ham for a delicious supper later. 

There are two containers thawing in my the sink.  One is full of pumpkin and tn the other container, seasoned tomato sauce.  More of the bounty from that same garden.  Tomorrow we'll have vegetable beef soup and pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread or both.

It's a good day now, tomorrow ought to be good as well.  Still would like to live closer to town with shopping more convenient and people closer, and would enjoy having something more to do, but for today I'm good.

Thinking of all who are, or will be, adjusting to retirement.  Plan as much as you can and make it good!