I "retired" 13 years ago to be a full time at home mom and home executive. At first, I didn't know what to do with my time. The decision for me to quit working had come rather suddenly, so I didn't have time to plan out my days and our house is small, so it doesn't take a lot to keep it reasonably tidy. For several days I played around on my computer, usually solitaire. Then my son introduced me to a game called Runescape. It's a MMORPG. I played it for several hours a day for a few years. Then I started wondering what it was really doing for me. Sure I was having a good time and some of my game skills were level 80 or better, but what was it doing for me as a person in real life? Slowly I started realizing there were better things I could be doing with my time. So, I found a few hobbies.
I started cross stitching again. I relearned how to knit and have tried to learn to crochet again. I struggle with crocheting, but I plan to keep trying. I'm learning to quilt and as I mentioned in a previous blog, I've also learned glassblowing.
I finally settled into some sort of routine, which helped me make time for all these activities and my roommate retired. I'd known for a long time that he wanted to retire, but couldn't. He finally got to a place where he could and now we're adjusting all over again.
I'd gotten used to having the house to myself, but with my roommate being home all the time, I have to remember to close my study door. If I don't, he'll come in and start talking, which of course totally disrupts whatever I'm doing. I even had to go so far as to put up a note on the door, which reads:
"DO NOT DISTURB IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM!! (Don't speak, tap, knock or in any way disturb the writer at work).
Most of the time it works. lol Every so often he'll knock because he needs something he's left in my study.
The other adjustment that I hadn't expected, but should have is that I'm now cooking breakfast and lunch for two, most of the time. Before he was home all the time, more often than not, I'd just grab whatever was handy, sit in front of the TV and watch whatever I wanted. I can still pretty much watch what I want, but I'm not alone now.
There are blessings to his being home all the time. I no longer have to get up at 3:45 a.m. and make sure he didn't sleep through the alarm. I don't have to wait for an 8:00 a.m. phone call before settling into my day and if I really need to talk to him, he's available in ways he wasn't when he worked. I also don't have to wait for my son to come home to do the heavy lifting that I can't. Grocery shopping or errands in general are more leisurely now as he doesn't have to work the next day. So there are some definite benefits.
All in all, his retirement has been good for both of us. So far. . .
