So you are retired, now what?? (weather, daycare, meal, movies)

[AlohaMarie]

You've waited a long time for retirement. Now it is here. Describe what you do with your days. What is the best part of retirement and what do you not like?

[Aylalou]

I sleep until I feel like waking up. Sometimes I wake up at 3:00 a.m. and can't sleep so turn on the radio and maybe an hour or two later I will fall back asleep. Then I sleep late. My friends know not to call me until 9:30 or later. I get up, wash, take vitamins with yogurt, turn on TV or look for emails. Fix tea and wholegrain toast with jelly. Then I dress and walk the dog. I don't leave the house before noon unless I have a date or appointment which is rare because now I can make appointments when I want. At noon I walk the mall at a good clip for 30 minutes. Then I go back home, wash, rest up, play on the computer and then might go shopping for groceries, run errands, or go to the bookstore.

I like to be home evenings unless I am meeting friends.

Today I packed up boxes of things to give to the Epilepsy Foundation as they will be coming back to pick up whatever. It is now 11:15 p.m. and I am not tired quite yet.

My days vary and I like to listen to Talk Radio while my running around in my car.

Weekends are a little different as family is not working so I might do something with them.

I like everything completely, unequivocably about retirement. No schedules, total freedom, can smell the roses, do what I want when I want. Life has never been this good.

[brightdoglover]

I just wanna not go to work. It's all I can think about, even as I'm grateful for a job where I can post at 4am and have benefits, too.
I'm just tired of working, enough, already.
I want to read and read and read. Walk around town and to the lake. Have some voluteering that feels meaningful. Not feel half-ass tired all the time from third shift and a difficult work environment.
I might even clean the house, whether it needs it or not.

[Retired Law 08]

I'll sum it up in 2 words..."enjoying life"

[esselcue]

I retired 1/1/09 and since then I have been doing whatever I want! But mainly I have been working on getting my home in shape to sell (I hope) so that I can downsize. Listed it yesterday! I have no definitive plans, I just hope to stay healthy enough to enjoy the last quarter of my life and fill it with things I want to do instead of things I "have" to do.

[Aylalou]

I agree! I even hired a cleaning lady AFTER retirement. I also have been downsizing, with my son's urging.

[carmac]

I just love the complete freedom that retirement brings. I do not miss work at all...sometimes I'm so busy, I wonder how I even found time to work! My favorite thing to do when I don't feel like going out to lunch with friends, or volunteering in a local ministry, or going shopping, bike riding, etc....is to have what I call a "pajama day"....I just stay in my pajamas, and either read, or get on my laptop. I very rarely even turn on the T.V., as I don't want the distraction. On the days I feel like going out...there is no end to the possibilities of things to do!!

[deckdoc]

Today is Thursday so I monitored a basic computer class this morn~ then grabbed a coupla KFC snackers for wife and I for lunch. Went to partners bridge this afternoon 12:30~3:30! Went shopping for food at Walmart~ then fixed Salad and stew for us for supper. Tonight going to center to play cribbage. Wife sewed some at home this morn~ then went this afternoon to quilting at center with quilters group. Tonight she will accompany me to center to do jigsaw puzzles. We each went for a walk out in the 70's and sunny weather.


The greatest thing about retirement is the ability to live in Az when the weather here is great and live somewhere else when it's too hot to stand it~ we live elsewhere 6 months per year~ So no great heat ~no snow unless we want to drive to it for a few hours~just the kind of weather we love and the scenery we want when we want! You really cannot do that if you are tied to a job. Any job!

[LauraC]

I wake up around 6:30A. When I get out of bed, I check my e-mail, news alerts, weather.com's 10 day forecast, the CD forums and read the national news and opinion columns online. Sometimes I read a few chapters of a book at that time of the morning. No breakfast. No coffee. No exercise (don't tell my doctor).

I have morning classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, this semester, and usually do routine errands after them.

On Thursday morning, this week, my nonfiction book discussion group met and we went out to lunch afterwards. When I got home, I went out on the balcony with my camera and took photos of some birds, then manipulated/fixed/edited the photos on my computer while listening to talk radio through my computer. That's an activity (outdoor photography and manipulating photos on the computer) I do a lot as that's my hobby. Usually, I go somewhere with my camera twice a week for about 5 hours per day, if it's not raining or below 35 degrees, during the winter. I'm not good at my hobby but I like doing it. In the Fall and Spring, I'm outdoors more often. In the summer, I'm outside less. My camera club meets once a month but not this week. Sometimes I play a video game on my PC.

I usually turn on the TV for the first time of the day at 5PM to see some news opinion shows and read the newspaper or a book while they're on. I rarely go out at night but didn't before I was retired, either. I eat dinner when I'm hungry, not at some set time.

Other than those regular activities, I do what interests me. Today, for example, I also researched non-stimulus healthcare mentions in the Spendapalooza Act that the President just signed and tonight, I did some online shopping. I'm going on a long driving trip so I have also been researching what I want to do when I get to the two places I'm going to, sending away for stuff and Mapquesting how to get to some of the places. I also watched an episode of The Unit online that I missed last Sunday but these things in this paragraph are not things I do normally/regularly.

[Aylalou]

I can identify, Laura. I'm not the avid photographer that you are, but I have been known in autumn to take my camera to the parks and lakes; in winter when morning white ice is hanging from the trees, I have taken snaps in my neighborhood and yard.

The two shows I watch during the day are The View and my British soap opera (30 minutes). I check emails, check CD several times a day, walk during the week at the mall for 30 minutes, take my dog to daycare 3X a week, listen to talk radio when I am driving or doing dishes. Also, like you, I prefer staying home at night, though will socialize for dinner with friends and prefer being home by 8:00 or 9:00 and then mainly watch TV or Netflix movies. I eat when I want; usually my main meal - at home or in a restaurant - is at 3:00 p.m. when the restaurants are empty. I will have something light later on for dinner, such as buttered toast or a cheese sandwich, either with tea. I will read in bed before sleeping.

There are so many fun things waiting for me to do. I keep the "have to do" to a minimum. I want and need to do more reading of the many books awaiting me on my shelves. My days are not long enough, I am never bored and have to force myself to bed at night.