Perks of Retirement

2/21/2014

In case you're wondering, there are a few perks about being retired.  There is also a downside to retirement where your earnings are greatly decreased!  But on the upside, so is your spending.

For all of my working years, it seemed necessary (to me only), to have new clothes for all four seasons.  Oh, and shoes too!  You can never have enough shoes.  I have never been into designer labels partly because some pieces of clothing don't look much different to me whether I'm paying $100 for a blouse or $23.00 at one of the "mart" stores.  I have never been associated with a lot of style, comfort is definitely my thing.  I gave up wearing high heels years ago and even for the boys' weddings wore a more practical (and comfy) short thick heel.  I don't intend to suffer for the sake of fashion.

So since I am no longer working, my wardrobe consists of jeans, t-shirts, and sweatshirts.  When the warmer weather comes, then I'll swap the jeans for capris and the sweatshirts for sleeveless tops (that I only wear at home).  I may not be "styling", but I never leave the house looking like something a dog dragged in!  And a lady ALWAYS wears lipstick.  Lipstick is my beauty routine truly.  I don't bother with stuff to make my age spots disappear, or color my hair so that the gray hair is disguised.  I "earned" each and every one of those gray hairs and frankly I'm too cheap to pay for a regular coloring job so that nobody knows I'm going gray.  Who cares?  

Another perk of staying home - no alarm clock!  Yes after 45 years of waking to the annoying noise of an alarm clock, I now allow my body to wake up naturally - or when Sam starts walking on my body to let me know it's time for breakfast!

I can now make a doctor/dentist appointment for any day of the week and at any time.  I don't have to try and coordinate being away from the office with my co-workers.  It's freeing to know that my time is really my time.  I can come and go as I please and that's really a luxury, particularly after working in an office for so many years.

I can (if I wish) start opening up drawers and closets to dig for unburied "treasures" that I can use or give away.  I can clean out cupboards (ick) which is one of my least favorite things to do, but luckily I have plenty of time to drag out the cleaning/organizing!  After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and my kitchen isn't going to get completely organized in a day either - probably due to my lack of interest!



It's understood by my friends and family that I am a reclusive person and have been for many years.  I like my company and the quiet of my house.  Before you send me a comment telling me how bad it is to be reclusive, I already know this.  I just don't quite know how to put myself out there.  I am an introverted/extrovert and social situations cause me a great deal of anxiety and I avoid them whenever I can. 

Today's job is to clean out a basket I found in the linen closet.  The basket is filled with scraps of paper from 2010, most of which were saved only for book reviews.  I found a tiny sock of Ben's.  A receipt from 2009 for slippers, and one (and only one) sock of mine!  I have no idea when and why I stuffed so much in this basket and then just left it to gather dust on a shelf.  You'll be happy to know that today is "tackle the basket" day!  Tomorrow, I'll find something else to go through and likely most of whatever I find will end up in the trash.

P