Four Months In!

 

Monday marked my four month anniversary since I stopped working and it is hard to believe that I am already four months into retirement.  To say I stopped working, however wouldn't be a fair statement.  I think I've worked harder since I retired.  I might be doing it wrong. Ha, ha!

 

So much has happened in that short amount of time.  I started out by taking the entire month of April off to rest, relax, wrap my head around what I was about to do and "detoxing" from work life.  The detox part was harder than I was expecting it to be.  It took a lot for me to just chill and not feel weird about not working.  I even had some guilt about it, which is absurd, but I did.  Lots of strange thoughts, feelings and emotions initially.

 

By the time May rolled around I was really ready to be retired and tackle some projects around the house and although the weather wasn't cooperating the first half of the month I was finally able to get outside.  As you all know by now, I have a yard!  Whoo hoooo!  Six weeks of hard physical labor has transformed our barren wasteland into a lovely and inviting yard that I am extremely proud of.  And I did it on a shoe string budget too.

 

My daughter graduated in May and that was a big milestone for both of us.  She is my youngest and was chomping at the bit to get out and be on her own.  Truth be told, I was ready for that too.  She moved out on the 7th of July and although I have her bunny and a big pile of her stuff in the garage still, it has been good for both of us.  Again, it took me a little bit to adjust to being the only one in the house, but I adapted rather quickly and I have to say - I like it!

 

All the goodies I've been collecting over the years for the room makeover

I gave it a week and then I was upstairs ripping out carpet, removing the old outdated and ugly trim and washing walls in preparation of a makeover in my daughter's old room.  That room has needed some love for quite a while, but my daughter had no interest in a makeover so I left it with dreams of what could be.  Now it looks like I pictured it in my head all of these years, maybe even better, and I couldn't be happier.  I used some of the leftover money from my landscaping project to finance this endeavor and I'm thrilled with the final results.  I will be doing a separate post on the room very soon.

 

Cleaned, new trim and fresh paint.  Ready for carpet!

I still have loads of small projects to complete around the house.  The only rooms left in my house that have not received a makeover are my downstairs bathroom and the laundry room, both of which are still in great shape.  However, I have plans in my head to spruce up those two spaces as well and I doubt it will be much longer before I get the itch to tackle them too.  I still have money left from the landscaping project to use to make it happen so that is very helpful.

 

Doll sized rugs I've made recently

However, I do plan to move at a much slower pace as we head into fall and winter.  Mainly I wanted to get done what I have so far in order that I can slow down and work on other things.  I have a lot of hobbies I enjoy doing, many that have been put on the back burner for quite some time.  Now I finally get to do those hobbies and I am super excited about it.  Work is behind me, my kids are raised and it is time for this girl to do all the things she wants to do.  Hurray!