Who knew, I certainly did not. I grew up on a farm where everyone worked. We did not all do the same job, but we all worked. I am quite sure my brothers felt I did not work as hard as they did, but the truth be known, they did not want to do the jobs I did. They moved pipe, drove tractors and fed cattle, I fed animals, went to get the nurse cow, helped mom with the garden, orchard, canning and freezing food for later, and of course cooking and cleaning. My first paying job was in college. I graduated from college on a Friday and started my first job using my degree the next Monday. The point of this, I have worked all of my life, so when Mike started begging me to reitre and stay home, I was not really on board at first. He finally convinced me to do it and WOW, I am so glad I did.
Since I have retired I am soooo busy. I really don't know how I did it. How did I go to work and take care of kids, go to all of their activities, and keep house.... well, maybe I didn't really keep house all that well, but my kids were always fed, clean bodies and clean clothes and I am pretty sure they knew they were loved beyond measure. I look back and get tired just thinking about it. There were even times when I had more than 1 job, but we did it.
Now I am always going and doing. Mike and I get to pick and choose what we do, but we are always on the go. I am thankful that I worked hard in my younger years and now can have the time to be able to go to my grandkids activities. Every day I am doing something. I have read more books, that I did not have time to read before, I have time to write, but have not been doing near as much as I want to or as I should. I want to leave something for my children and grandchildren to be able to look back on and know what I was like, what our life was like and understand their heritage. The main thing is Mike and I get to spend more time together. Believe it or not, we always made time for each other, but now we spend most of our time together. I'm sure glad I married someone who is also a great friend and that we can talk, be together and get along. I love my children and I did everything I could for them while they were growing up and still do what I can for them, but I always tried to put Mike first and I know he did me. I have seen others who put their spouse on the back burner when their kids came along and then when the kids were gone, they were strangers. I am so glad that we did not do that.
It helps to marry someone you have common interests with. Mike and I both like sports....I may like them more than he does. We both like to travel, thank goodness. We both like to eat....I guess that is pretty easy to figure out. We have so many things we agree on, but of course we don't agree on everything. There are times we have to agree to disagree. LOL We have always encouraged each other to do our own thing too. I have my girl friends and he has his guy friends too. I probably do more in that way than he does, but he does go have coffee with the guys when he wants. We love going to see the kids in the community in their activities....music, drama, sports..it's nice to get out and see all the people, since I am home most days.
One of my very favorite things about being retired is being able to go out and eat lunch. School teachers just don't have enough time to go sit down, order, visit with a friend and eat. Now, Mike and I can go eat lunch and never have to hurry, because we can take as long as we like. It is wonderful!
This is my third year not to teach, so I have been home for two years now. I have yet to get everything done that I want to do, but I will get it done at my own pace. I can highly recommend being retired, I think most will think it agrees with me. I looked at my blog page today and saw that I have hardly blogged at all for the last 9 months. I'm going to try to change that. Look for more thoughts from me from now on. I am going to take time and do it.
PS.....I still work, but just different now, but I have to be honest.....I also do some of that relaxing stuff, and that makes my hubby very happy.
