My First Year of Retirement

I had planned to blog regularly about being retired, but if I ever began writing & reflecting on the process last January, those notes have been lost, with the exception of my daily journaling—which comprises most of 9 notebooks over the past year, rather more than I want to review at present!

There were the practical details, of course, to be worked out to get my health insurance with Medicare established, then applying to begin collecting Social Security at 70, 2 months after retiring. But the biggest difference, and most immediate gift was the freedom of setting my own schedule: doing chores and running errands on any day of the week (and mostly staying out of stores on those busy weekends), taking naps if I wanted, and simply reading or exercising or whatever—whenever!

The second biggest blessing was finally having the time and energy to begin decluttering. I had moved from a house with a garage in California to a 2-bedroom apartment in Sedro-Woolley many years ago, and then to a 1-bedroom apartment here in Tukwila also years ago, and I never got completely unpacked from either move. I was always too tired and busy working and keeping up with life as best I could. But now I spend purge time (mixed with taking care of business when other needs arise) pretty much every day. I don’t push myself too hard, so I don’t burn out; I just keep chipping away at it, imagining where I want things to go for now, realizing I may do more releasing and rearranging later, but celebrating each new space as I free it up. I finally have the time and energy to really ask myself what I want around me and in my life. This has been a treasured gift.

I’m pretty proud of how I’ve been balancing this work with relaxing (lots of reading) and new activities like the free Fitness Drumming and Line Dancing classes for seniors at the Tukwila Community Center each Monday and Tuesday morning. Those are such fun, and I'm meeting some great ladies! Sadly, my 6-Pack group wasn’t able to gather this summer or fall, but sister Mary and I just attended our annual Shafer Ladies luncheon and ornament exchange in Salem, Oregon in early December. We stayed 2 nights to have easier driving, and it was great to see Aunt Wanda, especially after her stroke.

I get to see my sister more often; she lives in Pierce County while I’m in King County, so there’s some traveling involved. I’ve turned my sister into a fellow MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) fan, and we get together almost every two weeks to watch Marvel movies or TV series on Disney Plus at my place. I try to walk every week with Karen, a former coworker who lives fairly close and is now retired. And I recently dropped in and got to visit with coworkers from my days working in the local Labor and Industries office.

I’ll be sharing plans for my second year of retirement in subsequent blogs, but my first year has been pleasurable, successful, and downright satisfying. I’m really glad I did more than take webinars planning for the business end of retiring—the how to get ready, learning about Medicare and Social Security, but also about the emotional side with books and classes addressing setting goals and imagining what you’ll do and how you want retirement to look for you. I am so grateful I took this step, and am thoroughly enjoying this new phase of life! 

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