Wednesday, November 17, 2010

What does "Retired" Mean to you?


I had once thought "Great!I'm retired. Now I can do what I want." Big Mistake! Your time is never as much your own as you would like.I spend a lot of time helping others since I have retired. Don't get me wrong. It is my nature to want to help others. That is a lot of my problem. I am too sympathetic,and gullible,and naive, or so I hear from every direction,but,there are times when I feel I need more Me Time.I have the usual things that everyone else must deal with,like Mom,the grandchildren,the husband,the never ending company,the pets,the yard, the garden,the finances,the bill paying,the grocery shopping.I could go on and on.What I really want to do,is to spend more time ORGANIZING MY STUFF. I do have a lot of what most folks would call clutter, but to me it is mostly things I have collected over the years with the intention of using it, in my hobbies,which is mainly crafting.When you are not organized, it all looks like clutter.At least, this is what folks keep telling me. However,I think I am beginning to see daylight in my craft room.I thought I saw a glimpse of it, way back when, but that was before I spent the week and a half, helping the little lady that moved back to California.She had basically been abandoned,and homeless,for the most part, and I felt compelled to help her.She had a lot of nice STUFF,which she brought out of storage,to sort through,but as you know, she had to get rid of a lot of it,for her 2200 mile trip back to her home.She would be driving,herself, in an older model pickup truck,with full racks,pulling a 16foot long trailer with 5 foot racks.We sorted through her stuff for about 10 days. She tried to yard sale some things, she auctioned off some things, and she gave away some things,and knowing me, and how I hate waste,or throwing out anything that might be considered useful, in any way, you can imagine the load I brought home.But, as I have said before,many of her interests were the same as mine,so most of her things blended right in, with what I already had. I was in hopes that HE would never notice.I catch enough flack over my own stock of collectibles.I did get boocoodles of plastic hampers and bins from her though, and that made it look a lot worse than it was. I have always stored my stuff in boxes.Now I have lots of nice bins to organize my stuff in. That will make it all better.(Sorry,but I need to keep telling myself that,if I'm to get through it).
If I don't live long enough to see my organizing completed, at least, I have enjoyed going through my collectibles once more.Some, I haven't seen for years.
I did take time out from "organizing" to do a little crafting yesterday. That always rejuvenates me.Then there's this sinus headache.I hate being sick.It might be a passing virus. My head has been bursting for a few days, and today, I am feeling nauseous, and that is rare for me.
Well,I took a nap with a pail by my bed,just in case,and a sinus cold tablet,and felt some better after the nap.Hopefully,it's just a passing virus.

I thought about putting a picture of my organizing progress, but decided the above picture expresses more of what retirement should look like.I'll keep dreaming.

4 comments:

  1. I think I'll be trying to organize my chaos for the rest of my life. It just never ends.

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  2. I'm sorry you're not feeling well.

    And I have to say, It's your clutter, if other people don't like it then they can stay home!

    I'm all for getting things organized, that way you know what you have. But once you start putting it away into closets you forget about it.
    Hope you feel better soon.
    Terry

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  3. Hope you feel better. I do like this photo!

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  4. Feel better Sue. I've been dealing with some kind of stomach upset this past week as well, and it really puts a person behind when they have things to do.

    Love the photo of you in the (Mustang?) The color really suits you. :)

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