Six, No, Make That Ten-Week Check-In

It's been ten weeks since I stepped off the cliff that is retirement. Eight weeks ago, I was wondering how I'd do with my new life.

I love it.

My favorite part is Sundays. Sunday used to be the day that I'd look back over the weekend and realize I hadn't gotten nearly enough done and I had to go back to work the next day. Now Sunday is the day I look back over the weekend and realize I haven't gotten nearly enough done--and then relax, because Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday look just like Saturday and Sunday.

Things that are working well:

1) I'm defintely more productive in my writing. I'm not getting in quite as many hours as I'd hoped, but a lot more than I was. Not only that, but because my writing time occurs in uninterrupted blocks, I get a lot more done during my writing time.

2) The house is cleaner, the food is better and the yard looks fabulous. (I took over the lawn duties from Old Dog and I love doing yard work. It's a great change from sitting still writing.)

3) I'm seeing friends every week, so I haven't turned into a hermit yet.

Things that are working less well:

1) I'm having some physical challenges. Mowing the lawn with a walk-behind mower, even though it's self-propelled, puts a lot of strain on my hands. I've started waking up in the morning with the middle two fingers on each hand too numb to type.

2) Likewise, I'm having some problems with the sciatic nerve in my lower back. I suspect that's from too many years of desk work. I've joined a couple of yoga classes, and I have some rehab exercises I hope will remedy the problem.

Things I haven't figured out if they're good or bad:

1) It turns out it's a lot harder to get up and go to the gym in the morning if you don't have a job looming at 8 o'clock.

2) On the other hand, if you get enough sleep, your brain works a lot better. Before I retired, I was starting to worry about dementia. I was like I was 50 First Dates--I would get into work Monday with no recollection of what I was doing on Friday. I kept leaving myself increasingly elaborate notes, but despite that, the time to restart was getting longer and longer.

Now, with enough sleep and one huge category of stuff not to have to remember, I can keep track of what's going on in my work-in-progress AND manage the various tasks around the house. Mostly.

On balance, I'd have to say I like this new life.