It is so amazing how time gets away from you. I was sure I had posted something to my blog within the last couple of months. I was so sure that I didn’t stop to look until today. Last October? Six months ago? How could that be? Mea Culpa!
Life. It just gets busy and often with things that are so mundane that when someone asks what you’ve been up to there isn’t a lot to talk about, yet the days just seem to roll into each other, and turn into weeks and months.
When I worked it was all about work. There was “budget season”. Budget was a big, complicated, detailed process with continuous meetings, computer inputs, printouts, review, review, review, and often a lot of overtime. Easily a full five-month process followed by quarterly updates and reviews. We lived by the budget. On top of that were grievance hearings and discrimination complaints for investigation and hearings and reports. It was simply a matter of saying that I was working on a detailed investigation. “So, what are you doing?” answered with “I have a big, involved investigation”. Those with similar jobs smiled a little and nodded and knew that would be the end of that conversation. Add in annual reports, fund raising drives for company charitable commitments, and other annual events and there you go. That was life; everything had a name. Things at home didn’t come into the picture.
Once retired the things that had names were far more mundane: laundry; grocery shopping; bill paying; cleaning; yardwork; decorating; and home maintenance. Things I had been doing all along but now they moved to the forefront. “So, what have you been up to?” would be answered with “Oh the usual house stuff. We’re getting a new garage door next week and thinking about upgrading the bathroom”. On occasion a response mentioned a club or charity event, always noting in my head whether the person seemed likely to buy a ticket or make a donation.
Now that I’ve been retired quite a while and most of my friends are retired there is a new trend. Many are downsizing to the extreme, moving, traveling more, and becoming more involved in their community or charity of choice. New hobbies; new friends. Still, once you get a handle on it one day rolls into the next, the Spring events end, and the Summer events start. Easter is over, Summer holidays are on the horizon, then back to school events, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and getting ready for Easter.
I guess the best thing to do is to just lean back and enjoy each one in an observant mode. Involved enough to enjoy it; distanced enough to remain calm.
everydaywithvj 