Rehearsing Retirement and Auditioning a Coffee Shop

The title describes what I did last Thursday and Friday. I had the two days off from time exchange and I took the time to do what I'm going to think about and plan on in a couple weeks when the road to retirement (or the opening of Career Three) commences. So I simply woke up when I woke up (i.e. I didn't roll over and continue to sleep until 10 or 11.)

I then checked the Internet- weather, mail, news, Facebook- which I do each morning after awakening. I went downstairs and had breakfast while looking at my "calendar" of things to do today- which I do every morning when I arrive at work. Next I did some errands I needed to do and spent a little time at the Library checking on some books on Tai Chi and Yoga that I need to some research about. I ended up at the fitness center where I rode the bike and did some strength work followed by a small, but healthy, lunch.

I headed home, spending time with my wife before heading out to do another errand and then checked out a local coffee shop that I hope to use as one of my writing/reading places. (It passed the audition!) Supper, practicing my trumpet, doing some more reading and writing in the evening and my Thursday was finished.

Friday was a day to work out, go to the Cities for lunch with a friend before returning home for some time with my wife and a band practice for last night's concert.

It was a dress rehearsal- and it worked well. It felt comfortable. It fit.

I came to the thought when looking at the couple of days that one of the things most important will be for me to see each day as a day of "work" in the broad sense of the word. Retirement is not a time of doing nothing. I have heard for years from retired friends that they don't know how they had time to work- that they are busier now than when they worked.

But it's hopefully a different kind of busy. It's not drudgery (my work has never been "drudgery!") It's not some kind of life of "leisure." It is what I am going to be about each day. It may not be as structured as getting to work at the same time each day and leaving when the day is done. From this dress rehearsal it looks rather like getting done what needs to be done while exploring the day's ins and outs.

Another moment of awareness came last Friday when my friend asked, "So! How many work hours left?" The answer, after the moment of multiplying 12 work days times 8 hours and then rechecking because it was such a small number.

96.

In any case, it was a good couple of days this past week that have sure whetted my appetite for more to come.

Side and irrelevant note: I double checked my memory on that phrase "whet my appetite." My memory was correct. The phrase, probably much misunderstood and misspelled, is about honing, sharpening your appetite, not drowning it. That is exactly what Thursday and Friday did for me!