Retirement or summer vacation...it's all work!

People keep asking me, "Are you enjoying your retirement?" Let me set the record straight...I'm not exactly sure what retirement IS or when it begins. As a professional educator for 30 years, I already had a few weeks "off" each summer. I often chose to work a bit during my time off...things like planning staff development activities, working on the staff handbook, etc. The operative word there is CHOSE. And I certainly didn't choose to do those things the first two or three weeks I had off. So....retirement for me thus far is exactly like summer vacation of years past. I suspect that in August when everyone else goes back to school I will feel the difference...and then I will understand and appreciate being retired.

Speaking of...what exactly do retired people do with their time? So far I have spent my time "off" mowing our three and a half acres, cleaning house, doing laundry, grocery shopping and, oh yes, working on the pool. Just for the record I have now spent another $325 and it is no better than last week...but that's another (very depressing ) story. (I think Jimmy Hoffa's body may be hiding in the depths of the deep end. If so, it's a great hiding place because we may never see the bottom of the deep end again!) My point being I am still just as busy as I was before and a lot more beat up (lost a fight with a hackberry tree and have the scars to prove it).

In my mind's eye I saw retirement a bit differently. I saw myself lounging around either my very clean house or out by my pristine pool and while lounging I was enjoying a good book and perhaps a cocktail or two. My mind's eye lied to me! It didn't tell me how that house got magically clean or how that pool suddenly became clean, clear and surrounded by perfectly landscaped terrain. It didn't tell me that to look decent in a swimsuit while lying around reading I was going to need a body transplant. Crap! I hate to be lied to even if I'm the one telling myself these lies! The reality of it all is....whether this is retirement or summer vacation....it's still a heck of a lot of work!