30 days retired and searching for meaning for the day

[SeaBreeze]

Hi @debrakay, nice to have you join us! The Oregon Coast is a very pretty area, we've done some camping there in past years.

 

[CinnamonSugar]

Welcome to the forum from Georgia! I'm not retired yet but I'm like you, I have trouble with being idle. I enjoy dancing so if I need a pick-me-up I do line dances or freestyle dancing to music I love. I have knitted but you can only use so many scarves, lol. I enjoy making hand-made cards and greetings; I'm going to experiment with pop-up cards. All the best to you!

 

[asp3]

Welcome!

You mentioned you like music. Are you excited by finding new music to love? If so that's one area you may want to explore. There are lots of ways to find new music.

 

[Tish]

Hi debrakay

 

[DaveA]

Health issues and finances aside (and I realize they're both big issues) but retirement is whatever you make of it. My wife was a stay at home mom for most of her life and I retired 29 years ago. We're in our mid/late 80's and the past retirement years have been an enjoyable stage in our lives.

One piece of advice. Take your trips while you're still able. Age does take it's toll and eventually you find that things that you took for granted are no longer viable. Hopefully you'll adapt to your new freedom and slide into a pattern that will accommodate both you and your husband's lifestyle.

My best wishes in your future together.

 

[Kathleen’s Place]

Welcome from Wisconsin, Debra Kay!!!

Love, love, LOVE your part of the country! Of course that is to visit, not sure I could put up with the rain on a full time basis. My bother liked on Oregon and when his kids were little they’d tell me they didn’t tan, they rusted

i am 73 and quit my part time jilob at Walgreens last summer and oh how i miss the customers. My husband drives school bus, has all summer off and loves it. I volunteer 2 days a week helping elderly people stay in their homes. A little lite cleaning, hrlelping change the sheets. Take them shopping or wherever they want to go Just little things. Lots of times we just sit at the kitchen table and talk,,,they are sweeties.
Then I have my friends. In the summer we meet one or two days for coffee. We used to go to movies on senior fridays and then out for a drink after to discuss ss the movir Havent done that since covid but the theaters are slowly opening up again. What we mostly do is laugh ourselves silly. Last night I went to a local pottery shop and we painted a charger plate, then they glaze it and give it back to us ao we can hide it in the back of our cupboards. In the summer hubs and I take a lot of little day trips, sit on our patio reading, listening to music and visiting with neighbors who sit down to chat for a bit. And then we have a small garden that we love to plant, and then put it in God’s hands without a lot of fuss from us. You kind of slowly ease into it and before long you are busier than a one armed paper hanger....and by golly it’s FUN. Every day is fluid and you just find yourself going and doing what you want.
Hang out here for awhile and I bet you will love it as much as I do.
And I loved your intro! Can’t wait to read some of your new retirement abventures!!!

 

[gamboolman]

Welcome Debrakay

I retired effective 1-Feb-21 but really retired just before Christmas as I went on vacation until official retirement date.

ms gamboolgal and I are abit younger as I am 61 and she is 59.

I had worked in the Oilpatch for near to 43 year and the last 18 year we lived in Africa full-time as expats and we would only get home to Texas once or twice per year.

So - I am loving not having to work 7 days per week and be tied to the dam Cell Phone and Pooter every waking moment 7 days per week. It was a very stressful environment for sure.

Since the first time I layed eyes on ms gamboolgal when she was barely 17 year old, all I have ever wanted to do was to be with ms gamboolgal full-time - so I am in heaven now. Thank God for the Texas gals !
Pic below is our first summer of dating, ms gamboolgal was 17 at the time of this picture. Seems just the blink of the eye ago... I remember having that picture took by her momma.
I was roughnecking back then...

Congratulation on your retirement ! All the best in your new Chapter of life and I am sure you will adapt to being retired.

gamboolman....

Lifes A Dance And You Learn As You Go...

 

[molsongolden57]

Hello and welcome

 

[moviequeen1]

Hi Debrakay,welcome glad you found us
You'll meet wonderful group of people from around the world here at SF which makes this forum unique
I've been retired 10 yrs,before the pandempic hit,I volunteered 3 mornings a week ,2 in business office at my church,another at org where I call members to see how they are doing.That office has not reopen,since last March been calling from home. My church also has not reopened either,hopefully in next couple months they both will
I spend my days taking walks,doing word games,reading my books,stay in contact with friends&family via Zoom.
You might want to ck out the 'retirement'section on website,people can give your friendly advice
Enjoy yourself here
Sue in Buffalo,NY

 

[debrakay]

Welcome from The New Forest in southern England. You will find it quite addictive on this forum, members are friendly, spats are rare and political discussions, the cause of much strife, are banned. Thirty days into retirement, it must feel strange, not being controlled by the clock. But if you give yourself time you will soon fill your day.

My wife has her sewing with a cabin in which she loses herself. I still work, I couldn't do anything else, but I do have a pen-friend, remember them? My pen friend is a lady, she's 92 and my former neighbour. Her husband died a couple of years ago, just short of their seventieth anniversary. I do most of the writing, telling her of anecdotes, adventures and stories of our dancing and our adventures in our vintage MG car. Writing is a pleasure, and for my pen friend, she loves a letter, a real letter, not an email or text, but a hard copy, that lands on her doormat every couple of weeks. Stay a while debrakay, you won't regret it.

I think what I will love about this forum is the people from places I would love to visit one day! I am into genealogy and have traced part of my family back to the 1500's in Yorkshire and Hampshire. When covid is lifted I would love to come over to your beautiful island for a long visit and see where my family lived. You are a fine gentleman to befriend an old lady. Should we all be so blessed! Back in my olden days (Elementary School about 1965) we had pen-pals. I had a very long pen-pal in Malaysia whose parents were missionary's. We wrote at least once a month for 5 years or longer. I often wonder about Kathy! Thank you again for the welcome HC and I intend to visit here regularly since everyone is so very pleasant!

 

[debrakay]

Hi Debrakay,welcome glad you found us
You'll meet wonderful group of people from around the world here at SF which makes this forum unique
I've been retired 10 yrs,before the pandempic hit,I volunteered 3 mornings a week ,2 in business office at my church,another at org where I call members to see how they are doing.That office has not reopen,since last March been calling from home. My church also has not reopened either,hopefully in next couple months they both will
I spend my days taking walks,doing word games,reading my books,stay in contact with friends&family via Zoom.
You might want to ck out the 'retirement'section on website,people can give your friendly advice
Enjoy yourself here
Sue in Buffalo,NY

Thank you for the note Sue! I am finding that people are kind and open with advice of all kinds. It's wonderful! I such a novice at retirement and really, really appreciate the advice of the seasoned retiree's on here! My only trip to New York state in the past was as a chaperone for a girls basketball tournament (14 teenage girls!) at Schroon Lake. The New Yorkers talked about the mountains there but coming from Oregon with the Cascade Range of mountains, we were surprised to find the beautiful rolling hills. Thanks again for the welcome! I am looking forward to being on SF for an hour or so each day!

 

[debrakay]

welcome debrakaye---do you crochet or knit--that keeps you busy for a while

Thank you for the welcome Twinkles! I do not knit or crochet. I can't seem to sit that long unless I have a book in my hands or a computer at my finger tips. Two of my grandmother's tried to teach me when I was younger and they gave up. Someday painting or drawing would be fun to try. I guess I now have the rest of my life to figure out what to do for the rest of my life!

 

[debrakay]

Welcome to the forum from Canada
Retirement is fun. What you do with your day is totally up to you. We have the opposite situation as you. I’ve been retired for a while and now my husband is about to retire so our life is about to change for the best.

I can also relate to having a large lot of land to take care of as well as organizing and decluttering a house. We just finished doing that and it took us a couple of months at least. We organized a room at a time and divided stuff into 4 categories; garbage, donate, keep and sell which worked out great. Mind you, it WAS a lot of work but once finished, we ended up with a fresh new organized home. With the things we sold we had enough money to finish renovating our kitchen, donating to those in need felt great and tossing out stuff we were hoarding, even better.

I spend my time rotating hobbies since I have so many , walking our dogs, trying new recipes, socializing here, reading and keeping our house clean the rest of the time keeps me busy.

I’m really looking forward to more kayaking with my husband, biking with our dogs in trailers, swimming around the waters as my husband tries fishing LOL, exploring new areas and crossing things off our bucket lists.

There are so many things to do that I’m sure you’ll have no problems settling into retirement.
I wish you the best and happy retirement.
Just have fun.

Thank you for the welcome Keesha. You have retirement down. My husband has been retired for 15 years but is only hobby's are mowing the lawn, chopping firewood for the coming winter, burning firewood in the rainy season, which is about 9 months in my part of Oregon. He has bad health and is unable to do much physical activity. I am going to have to find my own way of retirement. My main bucket list items are travel plans but the plague restrictions have curtailed all of those plans. Maybe next year!

 

[debrakay]

Welcome Debrakay

I retired effective 1-Feb-21 but really retired just before Christmas as I went on vacation until official retirement date.

ms gamboolgal and I are abit younger as I am 61 and she is 59.

I had worked in the Oilpatch for near to 43 year and the last 18 year we lived in Africa full-time as expats and we would only get home to Texas once or twice per year.

So - I am loving not having to work 7 days per week and be tied to the dam Cell Phone and Pooter every waking moment 7 days per week. It was a very stressful environment for sure.

Since the first time I layed eyes on ms gamboolgal when she was barely 17 year old, all I have ever wanted to do was to be with ms gamboolgal full-time - so I am in heaven now. Thank God for the Texas gals !
Pic below is our first summer of dating, ms gamboolgal was 17 at the time of this picture. Seems just the blink of the eye ago... I remember having that picture took by her momma.
I was roughnecking back then...

Congratulation on your retirement ! All the best in your new Chapter of life and I am sure you will adapt to being retired.

gamboolman....

Lifes A Dance And You Learn As You Go...

Thanks for the welcome Mr. G! It is such a blessing to find one's soulmate in life! My hubby and I have been together for 38 years now (2nd marriage for both of us), for better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and health, and all of the other commitments we made before God and man! It's been quite the adventure with more to come, God willing. We have family in Killeen so maybe a road trip will be in my future when covid is lifted.

 

[debrakay]

Welcome from Wisconsin, Debra Kay!!!

Love, love, LOVE your part of the country! Of course that is to visit, not sure I could put up with the rain on a full time basis. My bother liked on Oregon and when his kids were little they’d tell me they didn’t tan, they rusted

i am 73 and quit my part time jilob at Walgreens last summer and oh how i miss the customers. My husband drives school bus, has all summer off and loves it. I volunteer 2 days a week helping elderly people stay in their homes. A little lite cleaning, hrlelping change the sheets. Take them shopping or wherever they want to go Just little things. Lots of times we just sit at the kitchen table and talk,,,they are sweeties.
Then I have my friends. In the summer we meet one or two days for coffee. We used to go to movies on senior fridays and then out for a drink after to discuss ss the movir Havent done that since covid but the theaters are slowly opening up again. What we mostly do is laugh ourselves silly. Last night I went to a local pottery shop and we painted a charger plate, then they glaze it and give it back to us ao we can hide it in the back of our cupboards. In the summer hubs and I take a lot of little day trips, sit on our patio reading, listening to music and visiting with neighbors who sit down to chat for a bit. And then we have a small garden that we love to plant, and then put it in God’s hands without a lot of fuss from us. You kind of slowly ease into it and before long you are busier than a one armed paper hanger....and by golly it’s FUN. Every day is fluid and you just find yourself going and doing what you want.
Hang out here for awhile and I bet you will love it as much as I do.
And I loved your intro! Can’t wait to read some of your new retirement abventures!!!

Thank you so much for that wonderful welcome Kathleen! I like to call myself "freckled" but I am sure it really is rust! I was born and raised right here in my hometown 67 years ago and we average 90 inches of rain per year so rusting is something we all learn to live with. The Pacific Ocean is 10 miles from me and even though I only get down on the beach a half dozen times a year, that is about to change. I will make it a point to walk there once a month, even in the rain if I have too! We live about 6 miles out of town and neighbors are down the road and up the road but not right next door but I intend to reach out to a few of them as the months proceed. Covid has made such a mess of life for everyone with all of the restrictions but we can hope that will come to an end soon! For now I will keep up with the house chores, reading, watching old movies (old ones because the new ones are mainly junk IMHO), talking with the kids and grandkids, and catching up on all the beauty sleep I have been missing for the past 50 years! LOL!

 

[Dana]

Hi debrakay...another big Aussie welcome. Hope you find something to bring you joy during your retirement. Take your time, no rush. I have just handed over the keys of my business to someone else and am taking a nice long break before getting myself involved in another venture. My trouble is, I can't sit still.
Good luck

 

[Jondalar7]

Hello Debrakay I am in the desert so some of your rain would be welcome here. I try to schedule things though the day in one hour events. I have a list of home repair items that I have committed to do before I get back in my pottery studio.
Too easy to wind up in a chair and wonder where the day went. I do some home repair still and look forward to calls.