Well, it has been a little over one month and I have to say that I'm loving this new stress-free life of mine!!

We left for Siesta Key, FL one week after I retired and spent an amazing 2 weeks on the beach with family.  Casey and Whitney spent the whole 2 weeks with us, Kel came for 10 days and Ryan came for a week.  We sure missed Caleb and Megan, but have high hopes that they will be able to join us next year.

Bret and I decided to drive down this year instead of flying and I guess because I'm so relaxed about no time pressures, I agreed it would be a good idea.  For those of you who know me, this might surprise you because I am a "hurry up and get there" person!!  Well, it's the new me . . .  driving worked out perfectly because we were able to take Casey, Whitney and Kel's luggage to save them time and money in the airport and had a leisurely trip to Siesta Key.  Bret and I really enjoyed the drive (I still can't believe this is coming from me :)!

It was incredible spending so much quality time with Whitney.  We typically get to see her once a week and on vacation we spent 14 days straight with her.  Bret and I spent lots of time building sand castles, playing "Where's Whitney Papaw" and just having nothing but fun!!

The whole two weeks were filled with great fun and lots of relaxing with the family!  Our Thanksgiving tradition is to take a picture at sunset on the beach.  We have so many great family photos in our collection.  Here's our 2012 edition!

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Now we are back and have somewhat of a routine going on.  One of my favorite things about being retired is that I don't have to rush to get anything done.  No more mad dashes to the store at lunch, or after work to get errands run.  I can come and go whenever I want to or need to.  It is a strange mindset, however, because it took a few weeks to get rid of the scarcity of time feeling.  I kept getting caught up in lists and everything I needed to accomplish before tomorrow.  But I quickly realized that it's okay to do some of it tomorrow or the next day . . .  because I can!!!  That is the most amazing, freeing feeling ever!!

 

I have also been hired back by Weight Watchers and will start training to be a Weight Watcher Leader this month.  I have a passion to help people lose weight and since weight has been a life long battle for me, I have a lot of experience and help I can offer people.  Becoming a leader is a stretch for me because I'm not fond of being in front of people . . . I'm more of a behind the scenes type of person, but I feel like I need to just push through the fear and do this!

 

Well, friends, life is good and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.  More to come . . .

 

 

 

 

 



Retirement - A New Chapter

Wow, what a week I have had!  This retirement stuff is where it's at :)

My first day off work, Thursday, November 1st was hard on me.  It caught me off guard because I figured it would feel just like a vacation day from work.  It didn't . . . I felt sad, I felt alone and left out.  I'm not a pitty party person, but I felt like I could have easily gone down that path.  Thankfully, those sad feelings were very short lived and by Friday I was feeling excited because my party was that evening.

Let's just call Friday "magical"!!!  We had a leisurely morning (Bret and I) and then Kel came over so we could all go to Casey's to spend time with her and Whit before my party.  Would you believe that Caleb and Megan were hiding downstairs at Casey's to surprise me???  They flew in from Colorado for my party.  I was shocked and touched and so very happy!!  I was showered with gifts throughout the day/evening which again I was surprised about.  I had no expectations of the day except a huge celebration.  And celebrate is what we did.  My party was so much fun - it was everything I had hoped for.  My friends and family were so generous!  This gift (below) was from my family and painted by a close family friend.  They picked out meaningful book titles to describe me and Jenny painted this beautiful picture!  Love it!!!  This is just one of many wonderful gifts I received.



The past few days have been wonderful as well!  I have never had time to just "run errands" on my time.  It is so freeing to be able to do what you want, when you want.  I definitely can do this retirement thing!!  I'm feeling mighty blessed to be where I am right now!!

Am I really retired?

I had several friends ask me to blog about my retirement as a way to keep in touch and probably so they could have a glimpse at what it is like :)

Yesterday was a magical day.  I anticipated it to be a crazy busy day, working with my replacement to get the last several hours of training in, so she felt comfortable moving forward.  Little did I know, my friends had planned a surprise "open house" for me at work and from 11:00 - 3:00 people stopped by to say good bye, to wish me well and to thank me for all my hard work.  I was very touched by all the people who took time out of their busy day to honor me.

Bret, Casey, Whitney and Kelley were all there for the open house as well.  I felt so special and so loved.  There are few pictures floating around on cameras at work, but this one Casey sent immediately!



Day 1 of Retirement
Well Day One doesn't feel much different than a vacation day.  I didn't sleep in, which is not a surprise to me, but that was the #1 question I was asked yesterday.   Are you going to sleep in tomorrow?  I woke up at 5:30 just like normal. The difference was, I headed to the gym at 7:30 a.m. instead of 6:00 a.m. which was great!!!

I do feel a little out of sorts today because I'm so used to a crazy, fast-paced day and now my time is my own.  It is hard to put into words the emotions I've experienced over the past couple of days.  They were intense . . . happy, sad, excited, overwhelmed, disbelief.  I have been working at P&G since I was a kid (17 years old).  That is all I know . . . a full time worker bee.

Perfect Timing
As many of you know, I am a huge supporter of Weight Watchers and I used to work there part time.  I love to help people with their weight loss journey.  Last night at 5:00, the Weight Watcher regional manager called me to set up an interview to come back to work for them part-time.  I'm excited about the opportunity to help people again.  This is not a job, this is not work . . . this is something that I really enjoy!