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Just got back from 3 weeks in Hawaii, 10 days on Maui, 10 days on Oahu. Saw a lot of whales on Maui - which is the reason I picked this time of year to go. Also did some fun activities, but mostly just relaxed in the beauty that surrounded me.
That was my big reward to myself, but I've also taken AMTRAK up to a uke festival in Eugene, Or. Lot's of fun!
It's funny, I've just been thinking the past couple of days that every day is a reward now, whether I do something or not. A reward for all those years of working nights/weekends/holidays, and overtime.
It's funny, I've just been thinking the past couple of days that every day is a reward now, whether I do something or not. A reward for all those years of working nights/weekends/holidays, and overtime.
I feel that way, too. My retirement isn't splashy, but even thought my days are pretty simple, each one feels like a reward.
For my retirement, I gave myself a small gift - tossed my flip phone and bought a low-cost android phone. I just wanted to update myself electronically. I rarely use it, but it's good for some things that my flip phone was not.
For my husband's retirement, I got him a set of nice woodcarving tools, because that was his dream come true - sitting on the deck and whittling. It's nice to see him out there enjoying himself, just whittling away.
I had a practice day for retirement on Wednesday. I spent the entire day doing things that I wanted to get accomplished - auto and yard maintenance - nothing exciting.
BUT AN ENTIRE DAY DOING WHAT I WANTED!
I don't think I have had that much freedom since High School.
On Thursday it was back to work, dealing with idiot processes and people.................
Well! Once I get relocated back to a more mountainous area of my home state, I'm going to do virtually nothing for 30 days but wake up, rejoice and float through the day. My first gift to myself. Then buy a bike and begin to take any of the free crafting and arting courses online that I could never devote the time to. My second gift.
Retiring on a small social security after decades of working and struggling and not being able to get things to work out like I wanted. Will be moving myself and my elderly mom (whom I am caregiver to) to individual subsidized housing units, and I am so elated about it all! You'd think I've hit the lottery! Maybe I'll take 3-6 mos to write a book too! After that, life will just continue to be a gift, everyday!
I bought my wife a nice, fairly expensive piece of jewelry from Tiffany’s that she admired but would never allow me to buy her. My sooner than expected retirement will likely be harder on her in the beginning than for me. That’s how I broke it to her.
I love the ways everyone has increased their pleasure in retirement. Love the walking down the dock and jumping into the boat.
I retired with a buyout, and spent half of my buyout money on two treats for myself. I had already bought my retirement home, in a remote location in northern Michigan. I knew tuning the piano might be a problem, so I traded in my old piano, along with a lot of cash, for a new fangled thing called an AvantGrand, made by Yamaha. It has the keyboard action of a real piano, but everything else is digital. This means no tuning, and it also means that sharing a house for the first time in years, I have the luxury of using headphones if I like.
The second big splurge was because there was no indoor gym where I was moving. So I bought a used nustep. I had bad knees, way too much weight on me, and a big empty garage, so half of the garage is now a gym. I first tried a nustep in a gym while visiting my folks, and realized how great it was for a large person with bad knees. I asked the desk guy about maintenance, explaining repairs would be difficult to arrange where I was moving. He told me I couldn’t have picked a better machine, that people were on them all day long, and they require less maintenance than any other machine in the gym. So I started watching Craigslist for a used one, and one showed up a few weeks after my buyout came through.
I would have expected to use the Piano a lot, and that the enthusiasm for exercise would fade. Oddly, it’s worked the other way around. I play the piano much less now than before I retired, but I am on that dang nustep for about an hour just about every single day. On bad snow days, it’s my big outing, to bundle up, get on boots, pack a tee shirt and tennis shoes, and do the two minute careful walk to the garage.
Well! Once I get relocated back to a more mountainous area of my home state, I'm going to do virtually nothing for 30 days but wake up, rejoice and float through the day. My first gift to myself. Then buy a bike and begin to take any of the free crafting and arting courses online that I could never devote the time to. My second gift.
Retiring on a small social security after decades of working and struggling and not being able to get things to work out like I wanted. Will be moving myself and my elderly mom (whom I am caregiver to) to individual subsidized housing units, and I am so elated about it all! You'd think I've hit the lottery! Maybe I'll take 3-6 mos to write a book too! After that, life will just continue to be a gift, everyday!
Good luck and God bless to everyone!!! ♥♥♥
Love it! I look forward to being as positive (when the time comes) as you are.
Well, that is fun to think about, but we will probably be in the midst of packing for our final (we hope) move to our new custom home out of state, which will be a BIG retirement gift to ourselves. (Not a big house, though.)
However, maybe we will open the most expensive bottle of wine we will have on hand that is ready to drink, and have either a nice steak or an assortment of gourmet cheeses and crackers to go with it. (Either that or go to a very nice restaurant that we haven't been to before.)
I will definitely look forward to reading the replies of others, though!
This will probably be ours. When the time comes.
We will be moving to a warmer environment and leaving winter behind. Not right away, we have 3 or 4 areas to check out so we will spend some time in each, then buy a new house and pack/sell off to move.
We will go out to eat at a nice restaurant and NOT look at prices, read it left to right and order what we want. Not what we think we can afford. With no senior discounts.
We will sleep when we want and not have an alarm set.
It will be joyously be anticipated.
Good luck to all the planners and new retirees.
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