Good retirement problems

I haven’t been to the mall in years, but I needed either white shorts or a white skort for a golf thing where teams like to wear matching outfits. The things I do to be sociable.

It’s a Hawaiian theme, and my sister said you aren’t going to wear a plastic lei are you? I said, oh, yes I am. She howled and wants a picture. Fat chance that.

The mall was a complete waste of time. Call me crazy, but I would think this is the peak of white shorts season. They were nowhere to be found. A couple of white skorts were on display, but they looked short enough to display your hoo-hah.

Home I came for a meeting with Dr. Amazon. I guess we brought this on ourselves, but it seems you really do have to go online for anything. I bought four skorts in different styles and sizes. All on Prime, so I was thinking I could send back the ones I don’t want or all of them if need be.

Panic shopping this week is not my idea of fun. Still, I know this is not a bad problem in the hierarchy of problems.

Good news … one of the skorts arrived this morning, and it fits!!! And it’s a little longer, so no hoo-hah action. The event is Wednesday, and I’m relieved that monkey is off my back. The others arrive tomorrow, so we’ll see if I like any of them better.

Our club is hosting this event, so it’s a big deal, and we all have jobs (in addition to playing). One of mine is to sell mulligans at the welcome table. My sister said, you? Handling money? Geez, so I stumbled a bit with geometry, but I can make change. Oh, and build a retirement portfolio, if that counts.

I’m still struggling with time management. I know important worker bees cannot understand how retirees can be busy, but it’s true. We just have different priorities. My priorities are food and fitness, but chores keep messing with my mojo.

We have someone coming next week to do the windows and screens, inside and out, but they don’t do plantation shutters. I decided to bite the bullet and do it myself. Instead of going after it like a maniac, as I might have done in my 30s, I made a list of all the rooms with shutters and am committed to doing one or two rooms a day. Then I check them off the list because it feels good to check things off the list.

My strengthening exercises take about an hour, and I’m whipped when I’m done. I missed some swim time because I just couldn’t muster the energy to go after completing the exercises. What I’ve learned is that I need to do the exercises early so I can have recovery time if I want to play later in the afternoon. On golf days, I just do a few of the core exercises when I get home.

I’ve been neglecting my art, and I miss the creative process, so I need to make time for that. Then there’s food. Yesterday I made a double batch of my favorite juice – celery, apples, black grapes, spinach and lime. I freeze them in 4-ounce bottles. Also, a batch of peanut butter cookies for the freezer. Indulgent, but healthier than store-bought!

Oh, and bread. I’ve been feeding my sourdough starter for a few days, and he’s ready to go. I’ll make the dough later and let it rise overnight. Then it does a second rise tomorrow morning in the banneton. I suspect it will go in the oven around 10.  

The question is what to have with it. Good bread will not go to waste at our house, but I like to pair a fresh loaf with something special. We have some fabulous beef stew in the freezer, but it doesn’t really feel like beef stew season. Although our air conditioning always feels like Ice Station Zebra to me, so stew could work.

BLTs with farmers market tomatoes would be yum, but I don’t think they’re ready yet. Minestrone or some other kind of veggie soup would be good. See? This stuff takes time.

Not that I’m complaining. I feel fortunate to be alive and able to enjoy the simple pleasures of retirement. It took me a long time to figure out how to manage my work life, so I guess it’s no surprise it takes a few years to manage life after work. All in all, not a bad problem to have.

10 thoughts on “Good retirement problems”

  1. I was just sitting here thinking about how eating a whole foods plant-based diet basically means I think about food, prepare foods and eat foods all day long. And then your post came along to confirm. It takes a lot of effort to get in all the foods and vitamins and nutrients that you’re supposed to get daily.

    The fact that you and Dale prepare all your foods from scratch means that you’re already on a Whole Foods diet. Having meat or not having meat I think is a separate issue. But cooking from scratch means you’re not getting all that processed crap that’s in everything else. You may become immortal.

    1. Eating good food is almost a full-time job. We aren’t perfect, but you are right. We are already on a whole foods diet.

      One of my jobs at the golf event is helping with scoring afterward. I thought, what a perfect job for me, because I never eat there, and no one will notice. People always say, oh, you don’t eat, and I hate explaining that I eat plenty, just not that.

  2. It’s good to keep yourself busy in retirement. I’m not a golfer but my husband is and I don’t know what he would do with himself if he didn’t play golf (probably drive me crazy).

    I stay busy with yoga, pickleball, daily walking, family. About 2 months ago I began making sourdough bread. (my 39 year old son taught me how and gave me some of his starter). I have been making it once a week. It’s sooo good but I think I’m gaining weight from eating it! I have started gifting it to friends for birthdays, medical recoveries, hostess gifts. I bought some cheap baskets, dish clothes and jars of jam to make an attractive presentation
    ….it makes a healthier alternative for a gift rather than the usual bottle of wine.

    1. You sound pretty busy to me. I love the idea of gifting the sourdough. I think Dale would shoot me, though.

  3. I am impressed by your ability to make sourdough bread. I love it, but fear it adds to my weight gain. However, I want to give it a try with a starter this winter. Retirement does keep me busy. Sometimes it seems like there isn’t enough time in my day to do all the things I like. Even though Im seven years into retirement, I struggle with time management. Walking and workout exercises take up a big chunk of the day. Also, prepping veg for our plant-based recipes. My hobby is painting, but like you Donna, we need to carve out more time for this activity. Sometimes I think I have to get all the other activities out of the way first before I give myself “permission” to paint.

    1. The good thing is starter keeps in the refrigerator, so you don’t have to make it all the time. Some dark liquid will pool up on the top, but when you’re ready to use it, just pour that off or even mix it in. Feed it for a few days, and you’re back in business.

      I can see how a plant-based diet takes a fair amount of work. We’re not plant-based, but we do make almost everything from scratch, and it takes time. Both appoaches are well worth the effort!

      You’ve identified my problem with art. I hadn’t realized it, but that’s what I do — wait until everything else is done and then allow myself to indulge. Changes are in order.

  4. I too am surprised that I have to work on time management as much in retirement as I did when working. I’ve gone back to my 1-3-5 discipline (one most important task) so that I neither fritter away my day nor try to do too much. I’ve also found that making sourdough bread is worth the time and effort!

    1. Hi Bill,

      Oh, wow, I’m having flashbacks to productivity seminars. It is probably time to rescurrect some of that stuff.

      We do love our sourdough. I never was a bread baker, so it comes as a complete surprise.

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