I QUIT !

I have become a quitter. Yes, I admit it. I am a quitter. The beauty of it is that I am actually finally able to quit. I'm not doing anything that's required for my livelihood. I'm no longer supporting a family with my activities.

During this past week I sent a letter to the local newspaper. Part of it looked like this.

     I have appreciated the opportunity to write columns for your newspaper during the past year and a half.

     At this time,  I wish to suspend my writing to pursue other activities.  If possible, I might like to send a guest submission from time to time.

Interestingly enough, I received a response which included regrets and confirmation that I can send them anything at anytime. I received no offer of a pay increase. The good news...I'm able to cross this off my bucket list. I've been published.

My volunteer hospital job, has also fallen by the wayside. I've lost interest. I have not as yet officially quit, but I plan to do so. It occurred to me, that obligations, such as regular work shifts and column deadlines, do not fit into my current lifestyle. Substitute workers are hard for me to find each time I have company, go on a trip or want to do something else on certain days.

The last time I was at the shop, I jokingly suggested that I should come back in ten years when I have nothing else to do but stay home and volunteer. Sometimes, we are far too fixated on doing what we think we ought to do. Often we see things as obligations, when they should no longer fall into that category. In the process, we miss opportunities.

So now, I'm down to five desired or essential activities (in no particular order). Housework is not on the list, 

One, is ukelele group. It's undemanding. You show up or you don't. I like it. I need to practice more but it's fun, costs nothing and is pressure free. My tante gave me some money and told me to buy myself a gift. I now own a ukelele.

Number two is blog writing. I've severely neglected this of late and I actually enjoy it and am hoping to take more time to get back into it. This is today's. Tomorrow's is also almost done.  

Thirdly, it seems, that you get to a place in life where visits to various doctors, optometrists, physiotherapists and the like take over. Suddenly, appointments are your excursions, your outings, your social life. I believe I'm getting close. I don't like trying to schedule these around other things. Time to simplify.

Fourth is to spend time with whatever friends and family I chose to spend time with. We can do things, or do nothing. We can bake, dance, sing, act foolish, dine out, mall walk, or just hang around and reflect on our lives.

Fifth and final is working on achieving my bucket list...and my new (soon to be published) bucket list add ons. I've already missed one opportunity. (Honest Eds is gone, so no lining up for turkey). Wouldn't want that to happen again. I don't want regrets.

A friend recently said something like this to me. Getting old is like waiting on the edge of a cliff. You never know when that final push will happen and, the older you get, the closer it will likely be. You only have so much time left. You only have so many books left to read. You only have so many vacations left to go on. You only have so many meals left  to eat. How do you want to spend that little time? Do you want to go on doing what you're doing or do you want to change? Do you want to make that time worthwhile for yourself? The answer is clear.

Working at Not Working...a Day in the Life of a Retiree

It has occurred to me that retirement is not quite what it's cracked up to be. There's a reason the word "tire" is in there and it's not as it suggests. The difference between being a working stiff`and being a near-life's-end stiff is that you still work, only you don't get paid for it. You're allowed to get caught up on that all-important and ever-looming housework. You get to exercise in an attempt to make up for years of bodily neglect because instead you once dared to raise children and get an occasional bit of sleep. You are also allowed to offer your services and share your talents with local organizations and charities, free of charge. I suppose it at least gives you something to do between doctor's appointments.

Hubby, a more recent (one month only) retiree commented on this as well. "I work harder now than before I retired." He just painted the deck, escorted a mountain of trash to the curb, greened up the lawns and is in the process of writing a sermon for next Sunday. He has thought out his volunteer projects already.

So how does a day in the life of a retiree play out? Here's an example.

Yesterday, I was up bright and early to meet my newspaper column deadline. Did I mention that I get no renumeration for this? At least, there's been none that I've noticed as yet. I've created several months of memorable submissions about about clutter, technology, adult children and dog poop. I suppose seeing my drivel in print with a photo of my huge head atop should be payment enough. After all, it allowed me to cross something off my bucket list.

***Note to self...all other readers ignore - There's definitely some kind of connection between my themes. I've just noticed for the first time and should further investigate my subliminal motivation.

After finally completing yet another pointless piece of writing, I went walking...one hour daily with my friend. We usually walk at a pace of about five to six km per hour. Yesterday, we walked mostly uphill (how does that happen?), through ever hovering construction dirt, towering weeds and a soggy parkette. When we were finished, I took my wet feet and headed to Curves to meet yet another friend. Half an hour of workout there, followed by a trip to the track to complete some laps and I went home to make lunch. Of course, this meal had to be nutritious, unlike the rushed pre-retirement offerings. It also needed to be fast. The fabulous festive special occasion feasts I used to create for family and friends are now a rarity. Fish, spinach and wild rice donned our plates...yum.

The real fun began in the afternoon. I arrived at Petticoat Lane, our hospital thrift shop, where I get to enjoy the company of some of the nicest people...volunteers and appreciative customers alike. After a quick look around the shop to make sure I didn't miss out on any bargains, I began working. Four hours flew by. Since I'm one of the younger volunteers, I got to make the fifteen trips up and down a ladder, adorning bald styrofoam heads with stylish hats, measuring art pieces for customers and shelving stuffed toys out of reach of chocolate covered fingers. I even had time to parade around the store, test driving as it were, two strands of pink pearls, long feathered earrings and a straw hat. I purchased only the hat, determining that it was most suited to my new "style" (see blog "Old Woman, New Look" April 25, 2013). Two dollars well spent. My one attempt at a practical joke on our team leader went awry as my Scottish co-worker and I couldn't contain our laughter. Oh well, there'll always be another Monday.

After a productive day, I went home, had a sandwich, washed the kitchen floor, did some laundry, cleaned the sinks and countertops, hemmed some pants and watched the Blue Jays. They actually won the game although I was asleep by the time they caught up from their 7-0 deficit.

So today is another day. What's on the agenda? So far not too much...the usual walking and gym. More housework and meal planning since my daughter will be here for the rest of the week. Flower planting, changing linens, ironing, dusting, grocery shopping, cooking, gift wrapping, dog walking and  bathing (see Dog Blog Nov. 8, 2012) . All in all, a pretty easy day in the life of this retiree.

Perhaps I'll even have time for a nap...or a blog. 

Working for Fun Not Profit

It's a new year. I have now fully retired. Since there's only so much shopping, reading, house cleaning, tv viewing, exercising, travelling, furniture moving and puttering I care to do, it's time to commit to something new. I shall fill the void with meaningful courses, hobbies and community service activities. I have studied the options.

My resources are limited, so unlike some who are able to open private schools in South Africa, reconstruct homes in Haiti, monitor elections in the Sudan or educate teachers in the Dominican Republic, my age and lifestyle have forced me to offer my services locally.

Volunteer work in schools and with children is out. I'm old now. My patience for noise and organized chaos, are diminishing. Besides, I have done that type of work for so long that I refuse to share my skills and talents for free. Seniors are more appealing and I've often been intrigued by the ads for "junior seniors helping senior seniors"...a definite possibility. I'll consider it.

I was at a meeting recently where a woman approached me and convinced me that I should help at a hospital auxiliary used clothing and gift shop. "Great idea", I said, thinking about the amount of "stuff" I could unload from home during each weekly shift. I picked up an application form, filled it out and went downtown to the police department to get the compulsory police check.

"Do you have a letter from the organization you're volunteering at?" I was asked.

 I cringed at the use of a preposition at the end of the sentence, gathered my wits and responded, "Uhhhh, no, but they want a police check with the application."

"Well, you'll need a letter from them before you can get the police check. It'll cost you $5.65, unless you prefer to get one without a letter in which case it costs $28."  She looked at me suspiciously as if I were some kind of alien and added "Do you even live in this town?"

"Errr....yes, I do." I responded surprised at the implied accusation. "Thanks. I expect I'll be back."

Off I went. I added a note to my volunteer application form, stating the aforementioned police check info and the necessity for a letter. I dropped it off at the hospital and haven't heard a word since. Apparently, the hospital already has 600 volunteers. That's what happens in a town where the average age is senior. Lots of volunteers.

"I think I'll try the library", I said to myself.

So I either uploaded or downloaded the volunteer form from their website, printed it off, filled it out in detail and headed to the library.

"The volunteer co-ordinator will call you today or tomorrow," I was told.

It's now a week later. I haven't heard a word.

While I was clipping out information on art classes, cake decorating and stained glass window design, I noticed a course calendar from a local college tucked into the middle of the newspaper. I looked through the booklet and noted an interesting course entitled "Photoshop...Picture Manipulation".

"That could be fun, or strenuous, or difficult, or confusing," I said to myself. "Oh well, what's the worst thing that could happen?" Thoughts of overwhelming amounts of technological data, complex instructions and other scary scenarios raced through my head. I brushed them away with a tiny little brain broom created by my imagination. "I'm patient. I'm smart. I'm capable...I'm, gulp...a little nervous."

So I trotted over to the college, took a deep breath and signed up. A six week course beginning at the end of the month. I hope I encounter lots of beginners. I hate going to a class full of keeners who already know it all and immediately try to impress the instructor by asking questions wayyy beyond the basic, "How do I turn on the computer?"

So, no volunteer opportunities as yet but I am registered for one course. If nothing else, that will give me something to blog about. "Photoshop for Phools" or "Manipulation for Morons"...hmmm...Those are definitely more fitting titles for a person with my level of technological skill.

 I'm back to focusing on the possibility of helping in a seniors' home. I saw a notice requesting people to come along on field trips and do seasonal decorating. Sounds right up my alley. Guess I'll give it a try. Perhaps the seniors are not overrun by volunteer seniors offering to help in the senior facility.

How tough can senior field trips be to supervise? Seniors are less likely to run off than four and five year olds, and if they do, I'm pretty confident I can catch them. Their speech is probably at least as clear and easy to understand as that of a kindergartener and they have about the same number of real teeth. I doubt that I'll have to insist they wear their coats, hats and mitts and hopefully, they won't be losing these items along the way. And best of all, I won't get into any trouble with parents for things real or imagined which may happen on the trip.

So these are my current ideas for community involvement. Along with my continued attempts at writing, streetwalking (I'm not done yet), photo organizing, decorating and painting, I will hopefully keep myself amused for awhile. Oh, and don't count out the belly dancing just yet. It's still on my "to do" list.