In the weeks leading up to my retirement, many of my work colleagues asked me what I was going to do with myself when I was no longer working. I had lots of plans and projects in mind. I was looking forward to having more time for the garden and allotment. I was going to be looking after 2 of my grandchildren before and after school 3 days a week. I had hobbies which I'd not had much time for in recent years and wanted to take these up again, knitting, sewing, crafts, baking. There was also the pastoral work which I am involved in at my local church. That was enough to keep me busy for a while.
I worked for the NHS as a ward clerk on a busy orthopaedic ward. It was a very demanding and at times quite stressful job. I was very well organised, in fact I was probably a bit of a control freak. But I really did love my job. When I went back a few months after finishing work to see my work colleagues, they were surprised when I said that I didn't miss work at all.
I was so glad to get away from that mad, manic busyness. It was great to be able to relax and please myself what I did everyday. I am still busy, but busy doing what I want to do. There aren't enough hours in the day sometimes. When I worked I often heard retired people say they didn't know how they had ever had the time to go out to work. I now know what they mean by that.
I saw retirement as a new phase in my life, another role to take on, like starting a new job almost. But doing what I wanted to do, not being bound by rules and regulations. I'm still very organised, having grandchildren commitments means I have to be and I love being involved in their lives.
As I look back on the past year I can see how much I've achieved.
- I've lost weight and I'm more active now. I don't 'do' going to the gym--walking and gardening help me to keep fit.
- I've mastered my camera and how to upload photos. I'm now sorting them out into folders. Still lots more work to be done there.
- I wanted to improve my writing skills. I've made a start, here I am writing a blog.
- I've converted a spare bedroom into a craft room.
- I've had a massive paperwork clear out and reorganised our filing system for bills, statements, policies etc. There's still 2 bin bags of shreddings waiting to go on the compost heaps when there's more room.
- Done loads of knitting.
- Tackled a few new projects in the garden.
