On to New Beginnings

I finished my last day of work.  They threw me a lovely "tea party", so I got to say goodbye to a lot of people (there were hugs all around).  I was pleased by the people I don't see every day who took the time to come by to say goodbye to me.  Then I went through the official "exit interview" steps.   I had this moment of panic, where I almost said "No, this was all a mistake.  Give me back my badge and I'll be back at work Monday morning."  But even though I recognize how much enjoyment I get from my work, I am so ready to start new things.

I announced on various social medial that I have retired and got a lot of responses (and I think surprise).  Didn't discover anyone else who 'fessed up to having retired behind my back.  I do seem to be one of the first of my cohort to take this step.

It's not going to feel like a new era till Monday, when I don't have to go off to work (and am responsible for making my own breakfast, sigh.).  Enough people asked me what my first activity in retirement would be that I have come up with an answer:  I'm going to save the Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle (yes, I still subscribe to a newspaper -- proof that I must be old enough to retire) and try to complete it Monday morning over some homemade muffins and a lot of tea.  Then I will need to "get to work".  My list of things that I have to do  because of my life change includes:

• figure out how to keep a free checking account (or get a different one) now that I don't have direct deposit
• start the process of signing up for Medicare
• figure out what my relationship to the Social Security office will be (more on this later)
• get moved over to my husband's benefits
• determine what to do with my 401k -- whether to keep it at Google or roll it over
• change my health club membership (I had a corporate membership till now)

After that there are a bunch of nagging little tasks (clean out this drawer, make lists, etc) that I need to do.  I also want to find some hiking and biking buddies -- I have some who are available on weekends, but now that I have weekdays free, I need more.  So if you know me in real life, and you too are on a 'flexible schedule', get in touch.

This is beginning to feel as exciting as starting a new job.  Of course it has all the downside of any job where you work for yourself -- a real slavedriver of a boss.