Retirement Reflections…and Beyond

Somehow I am feeling behind on this blog even before I begin. I retired in June 2015 and had optimistically believed that I would have begun blogging that same month excitedly documenting my transition into retirement, and our lives back in Canada after 14 years living in Beijing, China. Two years ahead of time we had purchased a retirement home on Vancouver Island that we had earnestly planned to renovate before unpacking our stuff and moving in ourselves.

June was a whirlwind with catch-up with friends and family, visitors and settling into our vacation rental. July was filled with intensive pre-renovation work. August our youngest son competed in the 50K race-walk in the Pan Am games taking us to Toronto. August also saw the birth of our first grandchild … that started its own flurry of activity. Somewhere in the end of August we came to the stark realization that although we loved the home we had purchased, it wasn’t the right home for us at this time, nor did we really want to do the amount of renovation work required at this point in our retirement. September was the month of trying new things… canoeing, curling, bird watching, yoga and newcomers club. October we did the housing switch and purchased, and moved into, a renovation-free home (at least so far). November was the unpacking of over 100 boxes, some of which had been in storage for 14 years (honestly, the boxes were way over-packaged, but still, it was a lot of stuff). December was getting ready for Christmas…where we creatively housed our four sons, their partners and our grandson…totaling 10 people asleep on Christmas Eve in our 1700 square foot home (some of them sleeping more comfortably than others). This brings us to January 1, 2016. New year, fresh resolutions… a perfect time to take the leap and actually start this blog.

One of the delays in starting to blog was fear of lack of content. Although each day was filled with new adventures, what would I actually write about? And for those of you who are already retired, when would I actually find the time to write (trust me, I would never have understood this sentence pre-retirement). If I had actually taken the time to write during the June – December initial retirement whirlwind, here, in random order, are a few blog post titles that had briefly flashed through my mind, and what you may have been able to read about (or duly ignore).

And We’re Off!

Books and Coffee

Travels with a Siberian Husky

Housing, Housing and more Housing

Discovering Kijiji

Good Deals, Bad Deals and Bad Deals Disguised as Good Ones

Is there a Doctor in the House?

Rain Boots

Bringing Out My Inner Foodie

Starting to Relax

The Ever-Elusive Downward-Facing Dog

How I Murdered My Food Processor

Island Newbie

Busy! Busy! Busy!

So, if you think you might have liked some of those posts, feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Now that I have this blog started, my New Year’s resolution is to write weekly and see where 2016, and this new adventure, take me.

Donna