When I'm Not Obsessing...

One of the greatest joys of retirement is being able to choose how to spend my time.  My first choice was eating but I've discovered that too much "together time" with the 'fridge has consequences.

My second favorite activity is reading, but I'm conflicted.  My mom was a reader and used to sneak me batteries so I could read in bed with a flashlight.  My dad wasn't a reader and used to yell "Don't just sit there - do something!" every time he saw me with a book.  As much as I love to read it always felt like a guilty pleasure.

One of my favorite reading spots.

When I was working I used downtime to read.  You'll never catch me on a plane without a book.  I read while I blow dry my hair (which results in either strained muscles, weird hair or both.)  I whip out a book while waiting in line.  And since I was a kid, I've read at least an hour before I fall asleep each night.

Now, with my time my own, I'm able to indulge myself.  And I have.  Thanks to the Seminole County Library and Amazon, I can download books for free onto Mr. Kindle.

At first I read whenever and as much as I cared to.  But then I realized my dad might have been right - at least a little bit.  When someone stops by at 1:00 p.m. and I'm still in my pj's on the couch, spending quality time with Mr. Kindle, it's a bit embarrassing.   Another habit had become having a quickie with Mr. Kindle in the middle of the night.  You know how it goes.  It's 2:30 a.m. and I have to pee.  As I crawl back into bed I hear Mr. Kindle whispering to me.  "Take off my cover, sweetheart.  Let me share my stories with you."  Damn that Mr. Kindle!  He lured me in every time and there I'd be at 6:30 a.m., still reading and sleep deprived.

Now, I'm on more of a schedule.    Usually an hour of reading in the morning.  An hour or two in the afternoon and 2-3 hours before bed.  Mostly it works.  But if you drop by at noon and I'm in my jammies, you'll know Mr. Kindle is the boss of me.

You can often find Mr. Kindle and me snuggled up on the couch.

Here are a few of the books I've read recently:

Devil in the Grove - a true story of the "Groveland Four" and Thurgood Marshall - a tough read on many levels.  This took place in Lake County, adjacent to Seminole County, where I live.
Out of My Mind -a powerful novel about a young women with cerebral palsy.  Because of physical limitations, medical professionals assume she is retarded.  She's not - in fact she is brilliant and has so much to communicate.  Hard to put down.
Absolute Power - a fun to read story of a politician gone bad.  Obviously fiction since that would never happen in reality.
Still Foolin' 'Em - Where I've Been, Where I'm Going and Where the Hell Are My Keys?  - an autobiography of Billy Crystal.  It starts off strong with humorous stories of what it's like to be middle-aged (assuming you'll live to 130).  Then becomes more of a "I'm talented, rich and hang with famous people" book.
The All Girls Filling Stations Last Reunion  - If you loved Fried Green Tomatoes, you'll love this story by Fannie Flagg.  Family, romance and the first women fliers to serve the United States.
I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away - Great short essays by Bill Bryson when he returned to the United States after living/working in England for much of his life.  Seemed appropriate since I was returning to America after 5 years away.
Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls - If you like David Sedaris, you'll love this.  If you haven't read him yet, you're in for a treat.  You might want to start with "Me Talk Pretty One Day".

I've read literally (pun intended) dozens more books since I've been home.  Most were novels which slid like junket across my tongue, leaving little taste behind.  That's paraphrasing Betty McDonald from "The Egg and I", one of my all time favorite books.   I'd list more but frankly, Mr. Kindle is demanding my attention and I have to run...to the couch.

Step One - The Nesting Continues

After getting the outside of my house whipped into shape, I moved indoors.  Before I tell you what I've been doing there, let me make a confession.  The biggest changes I need to make are in myself.  If only it was as easy to whip my butt into shape as it is my lawn.  Yes, I need to work on a lifestyle change - healthy eating, regular exercise, etc. and I've been using home improvements as an excuse not to get busy.  But for now, I'm still focused on upgrading my nest.  Excuse me, I need to grab some M&Ms before I continue...

Ok, back and ready to describe how I'm blowing through my retirement funds.  For years I've wanted to update my kitchen and bathrooms.  Since I bought my house in 1994 I've done some improvements but the kitchen and bathrooms were in desperate need of being brought into this century.

After getting a number of quotes, I was ready to get moving on the kitchen.  Have I mentioned that taking on household improvements is a great way to meet men?  I've been visiting Home Depot and Lowes regularly - who knew that's where guys hang out?  I've had more guys than I can list press their phone numbers into my hand.  Yeah, they just wanted to give me a quote but you never know.

A photo of the look I'm going for.  No, it won't look just like this, but hopefully will be similar.

Back to home improvements.  I was happy with the way my kitchen functioned.  I like the layout.  I'm way too cheap to replace perfectly good appliances with new ones, just to change their color.  So, the big changes are new counters, cabinets and backsplash.

I did a lot of research about what's involved in a kitchen renovation.  I spent hours on the internet obsessing over photos of kitchens.  I had big dreams.  But then there's reality.  Stuff is expensive!  And there are so many choices.  You wonder what retirees do all day?  This one spent hours in tile stores, looking at granite, cabinets, and photos of completed kitchens.  Obsessing over kitchen organizing tools.  Colors, shapes, textures.  Obsessing.  Really, every time I walked into a friend's house I examined the edging of their counters.  They'd open a cabinet and I was peeking in to see how they'd organized it.  I needed to obsess less and do more.

This is how the kitchen looked when the reno started on March 28.

The 1983 kitchen!

The cabinets were removed and new ones hung in just three days.  A few days later, they did the template for the granite counter top.  In another week to 10 days, the new counter will be in.  Then back splash and finishing the crown molding, etc. on the cabinets.  It  should be done by the end of April.

I'll post photos as soon as I have a functional kitchen.  In the meantime, I'm obsessing over bathrooms.  On May 2, my contractor will arrive with a jack hammer to start work on the master bathroom.  Yup, this is how this new retiree nests.

Step One - Nesting

Most of us spend a lifetime thinking about retirement.  The magical golden years when we can do as we please.  I officially became a retiree on Oct. 1.  I spent the next six weeks or so traveling in Thailand and Vietnam.  I confess, at that point it was less about the travel and more about killing time to let my house sitters in Florida find a new place to live.

Once I was home, it felt like my annual once a year vacation at home.  Seeing friends, eating foods I'd craved and just hanging out.

Next came the nesting stage.  It's been a very long time since I've been home for long periods.  Since moving to Florida in 1994 I spent the majority of my time traveling.  Mostly for work but when not working I felt obliged to keep in touch with my friends at Delta.  Now that I was home "for good" I wanted to get things fixed up just the way I liked them.  Or the way my budget allowed.

Step one was landscaping.  Where my house stands used to be an orange grove.  Before that, it was a jungle.  Things grow quickly and it doesn't take long to get out of control.   People living in my house in my absence didn't want to spend the time or money to get it under control and when given a choice of spending money on landscaping that I saw 2 weeks a year or on a new trip, the travel won every time. 

Trimming palm trees and hacking back shrubs was easy for me.  It just involve writing a check. Since it was a small check, no problem.   Not so easy for the kid on the very tall ladder, chain saw in hand, when a rat jumped out of the palm tree and onto his face.  He didn't drop the chain saw or fall.  He was annoyed that his partners and I were laughing so hard.  The rat escaped without harm.

The next step involved sweat equity on my part.  My backyard is very small and is mostly filled with a pool and small deck.  Three feet behind the pool enclosure (to keep out insects) is a wall that borders the entire subdivision.  Mine used to be covered in a beautiful Jasmine vine.  It looked lush and gorgeous and smelled amazing in bloom.  It also was the home of a turf war between birds and snakes.  The birds nested there and laid eggs.  The snakes came and ate the eggs.  The birds attacked the snakes.  The snakes found a way to get into the pool enclosure.  Because they were either clumsy or suicidal, they fell in the pool.  I had no desire to keep finding six foot long snakes in my pool.  I didn't care if people swore they were harmless.  I was not willing to share my pool with them.  So I had the vines ripped out.

The vines had done a job on the wall, though and it needed to be fixed up.  I borrowed a friend's power washer, bought paint and the necessary tools and started cleaning and sweating.  The result was worth it.

The wall behind the pool before being power washed and repainted.

The wall after it was painted.

The good news about Florida lawns is that even if you don't actually have a lawn, you have weeds.  If you mow them, it kinda looks like a green lawn.  From a distance.  But since I now was living here,  I wanted the yard back the way it looked when I was regularly awarded the "Yard of the Month" sign by my Homeowners' Association.

Getting new sod and mulch didn't involve sweat on my part but was a bit painful when I had to write the check. 

The front yard before the new sod.

And after...

Sod, mulch and landscape blocks.

That was phase one of nesting.  Once the outside was done, I moved on to the inside.  Check that out in the next post.