All dressed up and no place to go

We were discussing people's reactions to being retired during my retirement class, and one of the sentiments was that the retiree was:

All dressed up and no place to go

What is that all about? I had not really had this feeling -- mostly because I don't get dressed first thing in the morning. I tend to be in my nightgown and robe until afternoon. Then I either have to jump into clothes because someone is at the door, or because KW is coming home and I will be embarrassed. Or because it violates the three- day-rule**. Even when I get dressed, however, if I am not leaving the house I wear my slippers.

Yesterday I got up and tried on some clothes that I am taking on the cruise (see Cruising Blue), and the new shoes that I bought. I thought I would wear the shoes around all day to make sure they were broken in. Since they are just like my old shoes, just a different color, I am not too worried about breaking them in, but you never know.




So there I was at like 10 in the morning, completely dressed with SHOES on. And I got it - All dressed up and no where to go.

I wandered around in the house, in the yard, and finally decided I had to go to the grocery store (one of my least favorite places). It was on my list of things to do, but it seemed sort of anticlimatic. And possibly the subject of a separate blog post - weekday shopping at the grocery store. Another new adventure.

**Oh yes, the three-day rule. Well, when we (Bee and I) retired we made a pact that we would not go more than three days without a shower!! Or something like that. Sounds gross, I know, but we had both discovered that frequent, hot showers is not really all that good for old, dry skin, especially if you tend to have eczema or other skin conditions. The doctors even said so! You don't really have to shower every day. But three days without is sort of pushing it.

The cats are happy I am home

The two cats seem to think that my being home all day should translate into a constant food marathon, or at the very least intermittent food and a constant petting marathon. Except for when they are asleep.

One day I decided to take a picture for the blog of each time the orange cat, Jean, came to tell me it was time to eat. I decided that twelve pictures of the cat interrupting my important blog time, eating at 11:00 a.m., 12 noon, 12:15, etc. was not as cute in the execution as it was in theory. However, in the interest of full disclosure, here are some pictures of Jean.

Whatcha doin' Mom, huh? huh?

And here...


Clearly I had been broken by his persistence. And lest you think that Jean is the "bad" kitty (with that face? nah), here is Toby...


And if you have made it this far, here is a picture of them being very cute and not just obnoxious.

I figure that they are my almost constant companions (asleep in the living room as I write this), so they are part of this retirement story. Also, it works for Crazy Aunty Purl, so why not for me, too?

The Art of Retirement - learning about retirement

Last week I completed a five-week class called "The Art of Retirement" offered through the adult ed program. The teacher, George Fulmore, has been writing a column in the local paper, with the same title, for several years. This was his last class because he is planning on retiring from the retirement business now that his wife is also retiring. They are going to try out some other lifestyle choices - traveling, maybe even moving.

I missed out on retirement classes offered at work. I think they were nine-weeks classes offered twice a year, but I never was able to get signed up before they filled up. After I made the decision to retire there were no classes available from work. I looked through some retirement books, and even bought a new book from George called The Joy of Not Working, by Ernie J. Zelinski. I have thumbed through that also.

During our last class people told about their retirement plans. Many people were not yet retired and with the current wild fluctuations of the market were rethinking their plans. When they got to me I said with a big grin that I WAS retired. I also said that I had started a blog about retirement and maybe I would appropriate the name "The Art of Retirement." Several people were interested in coming to the blog, but of course I had forgotten to bring the URL. Bummer.

I even got a very nice certificate of completion, saying I had done the class. It was fun seeing people at all different stages toward the end of their careers or beginning of retirement. You could tell those manager types who could not stand disorder in the classroom. Lots of volunteers to pass out papers. Men saying - "what's the big deal?" - while their wives grimaced.

So when I mention my retirement class and the words of wisdom I gathered there, I am talking about the Art (not science) of Retirement.

Getting Culture

It seems that everyone is talking about the lists of things to do before they die. Like sky diving or see the Grand Canyon. I don't have such a list. I do own the book 1000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz. It was a gift. (I find it annoying that I can't decide whether to actually check off in the book the places I have already been, or to keep it pristine.) Why are there a 1000? Why a list?

This topic has come up in my Art of Retirement class - things to do to keep from being bored when retired: Make a list of things to do! When I mentioned that I had been going to lots of museums since retirement. Someone asked if that had been on my list of things to do after I retired. Was it?

Not necessarily, especially since I do not have such a list**. It was just something that I never really had the time or energy to do while working. So one of the first things I did when I knew I was retiring was buy a membership to the Fine Arts Museums of SF and go to the exhibit of Annie Leibowitz photographs that I wanted to see. I love photographs. This exhibit was pretty interesting.

But getting to the museums in SF from my house is a long haul. I can take BART in to the city. In fact, my fellow retiree, Bee, and I took BART to the MOMA in SF a few weeks ago, and I had also taken BART to the Asian Art Museum in the Civic Center area of the city with a group of retirees from my work. But how to reach the DeYoung in Golden Gate Park? or the Legion of Honor way out by Golden Gate Bridge?

So I was happy to see that they have started a "Culture Bus". This stops at most of the museums in the city center and then goes out to the DeYoung and Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Bee and I made the trip to the DeYoung, and plan to go back to the Academy soon. We were happy to ride the bus with the tourists and other people who do not have to be at work on a Thursday. It is a strange feeling having the ability to go to a museum in the middle of the week!

But why did they have to name it the "Culture Bus?"

**P.S. Don't get me wrong, I have a list of things to do, but mostly they are things like: "go to the grocery store, buy toothpaste, call the cable company." Not exactly a lifelong plan.