Retirement: One year in

The application is submitted, and now there´s nothing to do but wait two or three months for a response. In the meantime, I have lots of fun stuff to keep me busy in retirement, which I have been officially enjoying for one year this past February.

When I moved to Gainesville, I started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. It´s a Women Build project, which means all the volunteers and construction personnel we work with are women. I love it. I am learning a ton of new skills and everyone is super supportive even when they are correcting your mistakes. The very first day I  showed up I learned how to use a nail gun and I was hooked, returning every Saturday that I am in town. The group completes one house per year, and so far I have learned door, soffit, and siding installation. I am sorry that I live in a place where not everyone has a home, so that this group is needed, but it is now one of the most enjoyable experiences of my week.

It has been a real surprise to me how social I can (and want) to be since I have retired. I have long known that I´m pretty introverted, and when I was working I was careful to have lots of down time to recover from all the personal interactions my job required. That meant that most evenings and weekends I´d be alone. Now that I don´t have to spend my social energy on work, I can socialize multiple times per week (and sometimes multiple times per day!) and still have time to recharge on my own. Friends drop into town or have a spare ticket for something, and I jump at the opportunity. It is truly delightful, and I am amazed that I have friends in Gainesville and friends in DC. Sometimes I feel like my friendship cup is overflowing, in the best possible way.

And just because, I got to attend a Holi celebration recently. It was as delightful as I expected. Maybe someday I can even experience this in India, although that´ll have to wait at least five years, when my visa no longer has such tight travel restrictions.