Retirement, A Work In Progress

Okay, so this was the week of August 17, and this is my journal notes. So we were busy walking this week quite a bit. Should add it all up. Monday, Alimagnet? Yep, Alimagnet, just down the road there. And I thought it went well for me. I haven't been there for such a long time. I thought we went a different path than we usually do, but you know where we are over there. Yeah. So that was a good walk. Did we see any wildlife? We did see a deer. We were talking about how it's so interesting. Oh, that was Murphy-Hanrehan. Never mind. So we saw three. So, three deer, mama and two babies, and one of the babies started walking toward us. And brave. And so, skip a couple of days, and went to visit a friend in the hospital during that time. Yeah, we did that. Wednesday we did that. And then Thursday we went to, no, Lebanon Hills. Lebanon Hills. That was nice to see. We've been there before, but probably at a different location. And there's a lot of paths there. We could walk for...

We had the grandkids overnight. Their dad will pick them up in about 4 hours. This is my 2nd week of retirement. It feels too early to structure my days with projects. I still can't wrap my mind around having so much free time. The only change to our routine is that we've gone to a few more events than usual. Saturday we went on a ghost trolley tour. It starts at a renovated mansion in Minneapolis, a couple of blocks from the art college I attended. The trolley route took us past several buildings where ghosts have been reported over the past century. It was very theatrical and funny. One guy drove the trolley, and the other told us stories along the way. The historical facts were interesting, gruesome, and funny. The Wednesday before that, we went to a county fair with Debbie's youngest son and his 3 girls. I had never been to a county fair. The Minnesota State Fair is huge. I've attended that one too many times, but the last time might have been 15 years ago. I enjoye...

Day two of my retirement. Actually, I retired on Friday, August 7th. And today now is Tuesday. But I don't count the weekend as retirement. In fact, I don't even feel like retirement. I don't feel like... um... it doesn't feel different yet. But the thought about every day not having to go to work? That's where I feel it, although I haven't gotten to every day. You know what I mean? I've enjoyed the freedom I'm having right now. And... um... but it still feels just like, you know, a couple of days of vacation. And so, until I, I think, until I get beyond, you know, two to three weeks of vacation, you know what you would feel? Going on vacation for that length of time of being away from work or leave. The longest in recent times I've been away from work is when my mother passed away in March if 2021, and we were in Las Vegas, taking care of her final things. And so, I was gone for a month on Family Medical Leave (FMLA). And so that was weird. That was...

Walk Highlights & Key Details ​ Retirement Milestone: The speaker is taking their very first walk roughly 12 hours into retirement, adjusting to their new schedule and setting up Google Calendar to track daily activities. ​ Location & Conditions:  Walking at Murphy-Hanrehan Park on a sunny, 67°F Saturday morning. Notable for its surprisingly light trail traffic and nearby horseback riders. ​ Past Memories: Reflecting on getting lost in the park's prairie section over a decade ago (before getting married) and joking about needing a helicopter rescue. ​ Park Scope: Re-realizing just how large the park's acreage actually is while enjoying the quiet outdoor sounds.