Routines.  That’s what became such a challenge when I retired.  My life had, up until that point, always had a routine superimposed upon it; not necessarily one that I’d chosen but one that was just there.  Get up, have breakfast, go to school, have lunch, more school, walk home, homework, dinner, homework, play etc.  That was pretty much the way it went until I first graduated from college and began teaching … then the difference was driving to and from school and doing chores along the way.  Of course the routine went all to hell with the birth of children; they introduced a new kind of routine to my days and nights which then had to be folded into the work routine.    Discretionary time – the time I could play with – was very limited.  At one point in my life I got up at 5 a.m. every day so that I could have an hour to myself before the household got into gear.  There were evening hours – which for many years meant those that came after children were sleeping.  There were weekends.  But Monday to Friday there just weren’t very many choices to make.

And then I retired and suddenly I had 7 days a weeek, 24 hours a day to play with.  My sleep/awake hours have been shifting around.  I’ve tried on a number of different routines and now I’m starting to feel not only this sense of movement and change, but also that my routine has now settled into a new rhythm. These days it’s wake up slowly and watch the news and drink coffee, knit a little, dream a little, be up and out the door at 9:15 for a 9:30 exercise class, an hour at Starbucks to recuperate, then home to a shower, some lunch and an afternoon of writing, reading, knitting, cooking, meditating.  Evenings are spent relaxing with David, or at choir, or out with other friends/family, or catching up on TV.  Of course there are some changes along the way – days that I meet with Motti for brunch or go to a friend’s for coffee or someone comes here for lunch.  And Fridays are a bit different since I devote a good chunk of that day to preparing for Shabbat.  It feels good.  It’s a calm rhythm and is still giving me time to do the things that I want to be doing … and in the way that I want to be doing them which is even more of a blessing.

Today I started printing out the blog.  I really want to imagine it as a book and need to have hard copy in my hands to do that.  How should I organize it?  Are there themes I should follow?  Should I leave it as a chronology?  It will take a long time to print and then I’ll be able to think it through; might come back to you for some ideas though.  This is truly a watershed moment for me in the sense of a critical point that marks a change of course.  I’ve been talking about turning the blog into a book and I’ve  been sort of working at it but I haven’t really put the force of my energy behind that … until now.  I’ve never published a book before.  I’ve had chapters published in books, but they were written on request and I didn’t have to look for a publisher or make the critical, early, development decisions.  Can I do it?  Will I be published?  Will anybody want to read about this experience?  Who knows!  For sure I’m not done – by a long shot – in figuring out how this transition works.  There’s still lots to write about and I’d be lost myself without the blog.  But it’s time, as the saying goes, to “put my money where my mouth is” and see if I can find a publisher.  Here’s hoping!  Meanwhile, if you’re a reader then I hope that you’ll email me some information about yourself:  where you live, whether you’re retired or not and if you are for how long (which doesn’t mean you’re not still busy doing things, right!), and a comment or two about why you enjoy reading the blog (which I hope isn’t leading you … I mean I do hope that you’re reading because you enjoy it).  I’d like to include that in the book and even some in the proposal.  So … email away please to sbforthefirstime@gmail.com !

My routine is not the only thing that needs adjusting as I work my way into retirement.  Since July 4, 2008 I’ve been posting twice each week.  Now, as I’m starting to move a little more into “living” retirement and a little less into “thinking” retirement perhaps it’s time to make a change here too.  I think that starting next week I’ll post just once each week – on Mondays.  Will that be alright with everyone?  Will people stop reading?  Yup, this big a change is a little nerve-wracking but it feels right somehow so, unless I have some insight between now and next week that hasn’t come to me yet – about this – it will be weekly postings from now on.

Life feels exciting right now.  And a little scary.  And that’s when these words help me the most:  “Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘WOO HOO what a ride!”