I watched the sunrise this morning. This has been a goal for many years: to be able to watch the color change from the dark of night to the day. It gets me every time. This is definitely an upside to retirement. Before I would be on the bus traveling to work, still watching the light but also anticipating what needed to happen that day. The work defined my life. Now it is, what? People ask me all the time, how am I enjoying "retirement". Sometimes it is simply wonderful to have the time and freedom to watch the sun rise. Not worrying about work also lets my brain find new things to worry about. Just like when you clear a shelf at home new things find their way to it. So the adventure continues. Now it is all about the inner challenges. Mindfulness exercises and learning to let go of stupid stuff. My husband says it takes 6 months to make this transition.

The verdict is that we love camping, wish we could have done more and we're thinking about an early spring trip. At home, real life kicks in and I need to figure out what else is out there. I have to remind myself that it is ok if this takes a l while. The big thing is who am I when I am not working. My first priority is to get my body back. I am doing the gym every other day and at least 30 minutes aerobics daily. That should do something, but man oh man it is hard to take off weight. I am working on learning digital photography, but again, it is so hard to figure it out. Many "stupid" moments. Add to this that I think my hearing is going. Oldness is an adventure all by itself. You gotta push!