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Monday Confessional – ‘You Might As Well Live” (Dorothy Parker)

You Might As Well Live_2First of all, I am confessing to not even picking up the afghan I am supposed to be finishing for my daughter this month!!! Hello it’s October 22 already, I need to get with the program – geez! On the other hand, I did manage to make a dent in the torn out magazine articles/recipes pile.

Secondly, and the point of this post, is that I confess to my desire to be a domestic goddess/kept woman . Well not a goddess exactly or even domestically, I just want to have the time to enjoy my home and all that goes with that statement. I was listening to a Selected Shorts story on NPR by Dorothy Parker. There were two humble working girls fantasizing about what they would spend a million dollars on if someone had left it to them with the stipulation they had to spend it all on themselves. My first choices would have been retire, retire and then retire. I stayed home with my children when they were little – a luxury I will always be thankful for and don’t regret a single day. I was out the door to work with my youngest on her first day of Kindergarten and have worked outside the home ever since. Loved having a job, the social network that came with, the paycheck that came with, and the confidence that solving problems brings. Trust me, as I am sure most of you know, work problems are a cinch to solve!

A couple of weekends ago,Β I spent the days making grape jam from MI Concord grapes from my neighbor’s backyard (no, I did not tiptoe over there under cover of darkness, she gladly let me have as many as I wanted) and applesauce from any old gnarly apple tree outside in our yard that provides some of the ugliest looking fruit every other year. I can’t let these bounties go to waste. The gorgeous jars are so rewarding and the house smells amazing throughout the process. Combined with some homemade deli rye bread that rose and was kneadedΒ as required during the day, I was in heaven.I also want to travel, travel, travel.

I want to do whatever I feel like doing with my days and no longer need the satisfaction of doing a good job at work! I don’t need to solve all the β€˜family problems’: they don’t seem nearly as troublesome (could be due to the fact that my children are no longer in their teens and early twenties!!). Most things work out despite, or even in spite, of my ability to provide solutions. Did I mention that I also want to travel, travel, travel.

Does that make me any less fierce? I think not!!!

Stopped by the blog Frugal Confessions and serendipitously stumbled upon this post.Β I will be researching and implementing some of these ideas with the goal of getting to retirement more quickly than my current plan gets me there. This goal is not going to languish in a basket in my craft room.Β  -M

You Might As Well Live

 

0 Comments

  1. I’ve been retired for going on 8 years and I l.o.v.e. it. Had I know how wonderful retirement was, I would have done that first instead of working all those years. πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€ I have only one question: When do I get to sleep in?

    1. Sleeping in is for those of us who don’t want to get up and go to work – we treat ourselves on the weekend. When you’re retired you get to day whatever you want to do with your day, why waste that time sleeping!!! BTW – your travels in Shanghai look wonderfully exciting. Can’t wait to hear about shopping in the old bazaar. This is what I want my retirement to look like. Travel, travel and more travel. πŸ™‚ – M

      1. This WAS a trip of a lifetime because I haven’t traveled for almost 20 years and didn’t feel I wanted to anymore.

        Hope to plan another one but with all the mess in the world and Ebola right now… 😳

        1. Scary stuff out there for sure. I think it drives home the point that we are all connected even when we try to ‘distance’ ourselves from events. A Global Community is not just for businesses anymore.

          After not having traveled for twenty years, what prompted you to once again ‘get those bags packed’? – M

          1. A friend with a regular travel partner complained her girlfriend wasn’t well to travel anymore and she wanted to go somewhere. I asked where? Australia. I said, “I’ll go with you.”
            Then we found the China trip at 1/3 the price.

          2. Australia – nice way to ‘ease’ back into traveling again!!! So wonderful you were able to fill in and now have another trip under your belt. I have no worries that you will find another enjoyable, safe, and rewarding trip in the future. Looking forward to more pics and tales!

  2. Good luck . . . oops, I mean Good Preparation!

    It’s GREAT to be able to do what we want to do when we want to do it. In fact, it’s the BEST!

    1. Until the actual goal of retirement, it’s good to get as much of the things you like in when you can. Right now work is getting in my way – I don’t have time for it πŸ™‚ -M

  3. Me too Shel, but unfortunately I haven’t prepared well enough to have that luxury. I am fortunate though to have lost my job in the oil industry in the 80’s because it led me here, and I love my work.

    1. I am not there yet either Gina – but sometimes it feels close enough to touch! Loving your work makes retirement seems unnecessary. If you get up everyday loving what you do – you are already there πŸ™‚ – M

  4. [Insert smug smirk here] I am recently retired and so far have achieved much less every day than I did when I was working! [Insert another smug smirk here] However I am making quite good progress on my mixed media painting ONLY because of the lovely S’s support and the dread of letting myself down publicly…………..

    There is something quite magical about being able to spend all day every day doing things that please you. With no [externally imposed] deadlines to meet, no problems to solve and no people to manage it is my idea of pure bliss! I recommend every body do it πŸ™‚

    1. Sounds perfectly lovely! I have no worries that your mixed media will be ready for review in time for the goalfest tally πŸ™‚ Can’t wait for the unveiling. – M

  5. For the next fifteen years or so, I’ll pretend I’m retired on the weekends. πŸ™‚ I thankful to have a job and be healthy enough to make it to the office each day, but I do enjoy being a homebody on the weekend. Good luck with that afghan!

    1. Thanks Jill – just mentioning it today prompted the extraction of it and all it’s parts from the craft room bin. It is now out and staring at me! πŸ™‚

      I love my weekends too – little mini retirement retreats! If they are any indication, I am going to LOVE being retired (at least 10 years from now)!!! – M

  6. I recalibrated, but I’m not sure I’ll ever actually retire, M. I really enjoy what I do, so life feels much better than it did when I worked full-time and survived until the weekend. I realize not everyone has the opportunity to make the choice I did (to work enough to keep feeding retirement account.) I do need to keep my skills up-to-date in the event I would need to go back to full-time teaching (please shoot me should that happen!) I was never good at making my weekends “mini-retirements” — they were filled with the chores and errands I didn’t get to, and grading/lesson planning. Now even work days don’t feel like work days. [contented sigh]

    I hope your retirement comes sooner rather than later so you can really enjoy it. πŸ˜‰

    1. Can’t promise to come around and put you out of your misery Natine unless of course I can shoot you with my marshmallow shooter – WAY fun and much less painful!

      I do remember enjoying going to work much more when I was working in the school system. I also remember being more stressed when it came time to pay bills. I certainly don’t want to wish all these years and days away between now and retirement so finding a way to make my work days not feel like work days would be great. Until then -mini retirement will hopefully keep me sane and on track for the real thing. πŸ™‚ -M

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