Well, now that I’m retired (WOOHOO!!!)  I figure I should post more frequently and so I will.  Gosh, I think I’ve been busier since I retired than when I was working!  The only difference is that I’m doing the things I want to do.  I so cannot wait for all you un-retired people to experience the liberating effect of retirement.  It’s like life begins all over again, only this time you get to fill you days with whatever you want to fill them with. 

I’ve been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather we’ve been having here, taking long walk-abouts with my camera in the local arboretums and along the shore.  Though summer is my favorite season, the fall is a very close 2nd.  Besides that I’ve started going to the gym again 3x a week, every other day, to tone up, and I’ve been staying up until the wee hours and then sleeping as late as I want.  I’ve been busy making art for some swap commitments ahead of time.  I’ve also been busy working on that article for Creative Therapy.  The writing is pretty much done, and the artwork is about half done, and I still need to take a decent picture of myself (ick!  I’m one of those people whom the camera does not love, and I generally hate every picture taken of me – it’s a rare thing for me to like a picture of me.  so I’m not looking forward to this part of the article, but if I must then I must). 

 

On 10/30 I celebrated my retirement with my family and friends.  We went into NYC for dinner at Ruth’s Chris steak house (one of my fave palces to eat in the city) and then we went to see the Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary Concert at Madison Square Garden, and it was way beyond awesome!  In one night I got to see Aretha Franklin, Jeff Beck, Metallica and U2 - and they had special guests – Ray Davies (The Kinks), Jerry Lee Lewis,  Annie Lennox, Lenny Kravitz, Patty Smith, The Black Eyed Peas, Ozzy Osbourne, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and would you believe Mick Jagger?  Eric Clapton was originally slated to play, but he had to cancel due to an emergency gall bladder operation, so Jeff Beck took his spot.  But OMG!  It was still an amazing concert made in heaven!!! 

So, as you can see, I’ve been uber busy, like the bee in the pic up above.  I think maybe I stayed in bed for the good part of the day one day when it was raining, just because I could – lol!  What a luxurious thing to do, and I definitely enjoyed it.  I will be doing more of that at least once in a while in the future I think…..

Monday marks 4 years since my mom passed away, so it will be a day for my family and I to visit her grave and then come home and look through the photo albums, cry a little, and reminisce.   It’s been hard to do but I have learned to live with and accept the grief of her passing and I have to say I am happier now than I have been in a very long time, though I miss her more than words can say.  I wish she could have been here to share my retirement with me, and see all the new artworks and techniques I’m learning.   And with that in mind, I will say goodbye for now, and ask you to call your mom and spend some time with her.  Life is precious, and none of us knows how long we will be here to enjoy it.  Like Nike says, just do it!