Almost a Year into Retirement

January 6, 2020 was my last day of work. I remember that it was rather anticlimactic. It was the day after Winter Break and a teacher work day. Everyone at work had just come back and it was a non-student day. I was there because if you work one day in a month our health insurance covers you for that month, If you have ever priced insurance a month is worth working a day.

So after a number of very nice parties celebrating my retirement. (I know that is a strange concept now, getting together in large groups for any reason. ) I had a few weeks to just relax, sit back and contemplate my future. Ummm what should I do? I thought it would be sleep late and watch late night TV. No! My body had other plans. Even without the need to get up and go to work I was still waking up early and getting sleepy around 10 pm. I guess my body was having a hard time adjusting to this new life style. The nearly 40 years of work had taken it's toll. I realized I would  never be able to go back to my 20's way of living. Sigh.

Jan and my first big trip after my retirement was to go to Hawaii. 

But before that I had to suffer the trials of applying for Social Security. Wow that was an experience, bureaucracy at it's finest.  Thankfully I had guidance from several sources. Jan had tread this ground already. She retired 2 years before me and had already gone through the process. I also had the information I received from the district when I put in for retirement. And I also had the help from my financial advisor Matt Roberts, who helped to show me that I could retire. 

Christmas 2019 I received a paella pan and have been perfecting the art of

cooking paella. Unfortunately because of Covid I have had to put this culinary study on hold because of the amount of food this makes. I hope to restart this after we are allowed to gather in groups of 8 to 10.  

Now by this time I have done all that I can with Social Security and fed quite a few with good Spanish Paella so it is time for a vacation. Off to Hawaii! 

We were lucky and made it into Hawaii before all the travel there was shut down. I remember that there was talk online of a strange virus in China but nothing like life is now. 

Jan and I went there with our good friends Kent and Leslie. We saw quite a few sights and had some interesting experiences there.  

Toward the end of January I began a journey that many men my age travel. I had a blood test that reveled an elevated PSA level. To make a long story short and several not so pleasant tests later I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. As bad as that sounds it is very treatable. I chose the radiation route. With 44 treatments my PSA level was back near 0 which is good.

The only residual is that I am now sporting three tiny tattooed black dots below my waist that were used to align the proton beam. 

During this time I decided to pursue a quest.  After a few visits to local seafood restaurants that effort has been put on hold.  

March 15, 2020 was when Jan and I started to practice our social distancing  More that in a moment. 

The owls came back! Over at Philippie Park a pair of horned owls nest in a big oak tree there every year. Later this year we also had a little screech owl stay for a while in our back yard.

Covid 19 is a big common element of all our lives by now. Jan and I started to take it serious in March with social distancing and mask wearing. I found a bunch of scrap fabric and started to sew masks and
giving them away. I've gotten good at sewing the masks and have given quite a few away. 

Also because of Covid Jan and I started going to church in our PJ's. Okay not every time but the dress code has become very lax in the last few months. Last week for the first time in many months we had music at our service at Holy Trinity. This way of attending the service is not the same but will do for now. I'm a little sad that we will miss going in-person to the Christmas Eve service. That service has always been special to me no mater the form. 

Riding my bike has been an ongoing theme of this time of social distancing. I enjoy the solitude of a solo bike ride. I often ride out on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. For a while the beach was closed and I was able to witness the change with no people on the beach. 

This September I did my yearly fundraising ride " The Great Cycle Challenge". This is a fundraising activity to help prevent childhood cancer. I've done this for the past 6 years. This year I raised the most money ever. Together with my friends we raised $1527! That is the most I've ever raised. I rode over 300 miles in the month of September. 

April I cut off my beard. November of 2018 I started growing o beard and kept at it for almost a year and a half. I had been going to the little barber shop in Safety Harbor to have my beard trimmed. But with Covid and everything closed that stopped and my beard started getting long and shaggy so off it came.

By May Jan and I had fallen into a routine of sorts. The days of quarantine  are starting to run together. Jan had her birthday and I got her a planter to grow herbs and such. 

June and July were filled with daily radiation treatments. Forty four to be exact. Five days a week except for the 4th of July. I got that day off. Once the tests were over the treatment was not too bad. Except having to drink a lot of water. I had to go into each treatment with a full bladder. Not too full but just right. Each morning I had to chug about 8 cups of H20 and hold it. The radiation treatment itself only took about 10 minuets from when I walked in the door till I left as long as there were no holdups, and there rarely were. While I wouldn't recommend this as a fun activity it was not something to be feared. 

Guys ask your doctor when you should have your PSA tested. Get the test when they say but be an advocate for yourself and make sure you get it. From my conversations with my Doctors and reading about this type of cancer if you live long enough you will get it. It is very treatable not something that should be feared of avoided. Just get the test, if needed get the treatment and then continue with your life.

Jan and I have been toying with the idea of getting an RV when covid is over and seeing the country. To test our this we rented a trailer for a few days. We were going to see Jessica, Jared and Noah for a few days cause we missed seeing out grandboy! This RV was a 5th wheel and located on a horse farm not far from Jess and Jared's home. We did have some interesting neighbors 😆.

In September as I stated earlier I was riding my bike, a lot. That is most of what I did each day. One week I did borrow a pressure washer from the library here in Safety Harbor. The library not only lends books they also lend out tools. So I pressure washed my driveway. Our HOA requires us to keep it clean so I'll be making use of that service from the library every year.

First night at a KOA

By October Jan and I were getting a little stir crazy so we decided to brave a trip to see Austin in Raleigh  NC. For this adventure we rented an RV to drive to Raleigh. It was interesting being all self-contained the the trip. 

After our trip to Raleigh Jan and I finally got to use the gift my kids gave me for retirement. An air-boat tour of the St. Martins Marsh near Crystal River. 

We had a lot of fun on the ride and it was great seeing Kent and Leslie.  If you haven't been on an airboat take some earplugs, they are loud. A lot louder than I has expected. 

In November we took 2 trips. I know we are not suppose to be traveling but sometimes ya just gotta do it. 

Our first trip of November was to Evansville Indiana. We went to help Jan's sister Mary and to see Jan's dad. It was an interesting trip.  I realized while up there that it was the first time in my life that I had really seen the leaves change. Being from Florida where there is less of a season change in Indiana it is quite dramatic. When we got to Mary's house the tree out front had leaves all over it that were beginning to change. A week later they had all fallen to the ground. I wish I had taken a series of pictures over the week we were there of the tree to see the change.  

Now that I'm retired I'll put that in my calendar to do next year. 

Also in November my coffee plant started having the coffee cherries ripen. I picked a few and started dry them. I'm not sure if I will have enough for a cup of coffee but it is cool just to see the process. I understand now why coffee is so expensive.  

At the end of November Jan and I had planned a trip to Blue Ridge Georgia. The kids were planning on meeting us at a nice little AirBnB in the mountains.  

We had a great time but not everyone was able to come, more info on that on my blog linked above. 

 

I started creating our Christmas card for this year in November. In it I included everyone in our little family and tried to get a sense of the year 2020. 

Like the rest of the year our Christmas has been different from other years. This years Christmas is split into three parts. First part with Austin in the mountains, second part with Patty and Bill here at home and the third part with Jessica and family in Tallahassee. 

Our second Christmas with Patty and Bill was nice but kind of quiet. Patty has been decorating her home for Christmas for a while now. I felt kind of special because Jan and I are the only guests to enjoy all her work. Patty told us that this is the first year she has been able to display her entire Snow Village collection.It looks like she has them all.

Our third Christmas was in Tallahassee with the Jaworski's. Christmas is always fun when a kid is involved. 

Noah showed us the desk where he has his virtual school. He has a nice set up and from the awards on his bulletin board is doing well.  

We also had fun playing games in the yard and riding our bikes. My sister Rebekah gave me a set of very big dice to play "Yardzee". We all had fun with that.  

On December 29 we took a ride on the St. Marks Trail. This is a 16 mile rail to trail that runs from Tallahassee to St. Marks Florida. We rode the last 8 miles of the trail to the town of St. Marks. We has a great time and Noah is doing very well riding his bike. We only had to take  a few breaks along the way. 

Back at home Noah and I went to the park for some fun. Noah got a drone for Christmas and showed me how it flies. He is learning to do flips with it now. 

Overall my first year of retirement has been good. Not exactly what I expected but I really didn't have a lot of expectations of what retirement would be. Covid has been a challenge but not as much of a challenge as it could have been if I had been working. Jan and I have had time to dream and plan for our future.  We are talking about buying an RV and traveling to see the National parks in the lower 48. But those stories must wait for future posts.