I realized this afternoon that this vacation (last day was today) was practice for my retirement. There are situations that slightly worried me about retiring and being home day in and day out.
1. Will I go stir-crazy being in these 4 walls every day?
2. Will I enjoy cooking every day (or the majority of them)?
3. Can I save money and be off, too (are they mutually exclusive?)?
4. One of my retirement goals was to visit each doctor and get clearance for my health and be able to live with only one insurance coverage
5. Etc…..I have a 2 page list of goals to retire
Yes, it can be crazy-making staying at home every day; we all know that but when it came up during the past two weeks I was happy to see that I reacted well. The dogs were getting on my nerves and I just needed to have a change of scenery. So I went to Barnes & Noble and browsed the cookbooks for an hour or so then I went to Starbucks, got an iced tea and a piece of lemon cake (ate 1/2 of it—yay, Me!). By the time I got home I felt better all over and have 2 new cookbooks to play with.
I cooked most of my days off when I got home early enough to do so. I tried some new recipes that we liked (and Ronnie took to work without me suggesting it). Yesterday he asked if I would make another pan of cornbread so he could take the rest of the pinto beans to work for himself and the rest of his crew. Yeah, I was hot and tired but I was more flattered so homemade cornbread it was! He said they loved their lunch. I felt like I was 10 feet tall. Decided that there was something to this cooking thang.
Saving money was never my strong point but for the past few years since I’ve decided to retire early I’ve been learning. To date I have all the big stuff paid off (except Ronnie’s truck which he is paying for as penance—-which is another story entirely), all the credit cards gone and (hopefully) the monthly bills at a manageable level. We’ve done all the big ticket items in preparation. You know buy a new laptop (have it custom built), a new iPad, new cellphones (iPhone 5 for me 4S for Ronnie), new refrigerator, new treadmill, new mattress set, additional sewing machines (total of 4 different machines now), boat paid off, new freezer in the garage, etc. We still need a new roof and a patio cover (I still don’t know what I want) which Ronnie is going to pay for with his bonus. So, financially I think we have it going our way.
I’ve been to each doctor, had an echo-cardiogram, dental cleaning, scheduled a scan of my carotid for next week, had 3 shots of cortisone in the bottom of my foot, ordered new orthodontal retainers, etc., etc., etc. Talked to each office about the coming switch to one insurance company——-check!
Now I guess I want to know how I’m supposed to know that I’m ready to retire. How do you KNOW? I THINK I know but since I’ve never retired before what the hell do I know???????????? Any suggestions? Still waiting to talk to the financial guru next week; what if he says I’m not ready? What the hell will I do then?
Texas Lady 