Retirement Ball on the Horizon

March 12, 2016 by JoAnna 14 Comments

Retirement is coming, and it’s gonna be a ball.

Not the kind of ball Cinderella went to, or the Marine Corps Ball my parents went to when I was a kid. Not a volleyball that I really enjoyed in college, but it might hurt my hands now, unless they have Nerf volleyball for seniors.

Wait a minute. I’m not really a senior. Am I? I don’t feel like a senior. Okay, I am 60, and I am tired more than I used to be… Oh, let’s not go there.

Let’s go back to the ball! For me, having a ball is going to be writing, painting (both art and walls of my little urban cottage) puttering around the yard as I sculpt mother nature just a tad, and naps! I love naps. That would have sounded boring to me 30 or 40 years ago, before I had kids, but ever since I had kids, I love naps – even though the kids are grown – maybe because I don’t get a lot of naps.

I also want to do some swimming. I miss swimming so much this time of year, before the water is warm enough, which now is in June. When I was 18, I went into the ocean in March. Yikes! But I still love to swim. Maybe I’ll join a club where I can swim year round.

So the ball of retirement is coming one step at a time. It will be process, but the ball is rolling! I’m taking vacation time, and in about two months, I’ll be cutting down to working one day a week at the agency where I do counseling. I want to keep doing my stress management group,  cause I always need reminders about that. But some day, I’ll be a full time artist and writer and putterer – puttering around my back yard.

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I do love snow globes, and I have a plan- a plan to have a ball as I slide down the water slide, a slow but not that slow water slide – faster than a lazy river anyway – into the lovely pool of retirement, which for me, will be full of creativity and service work without all the paperwork, and puttering, and naps – naps on the beach!

I think I need some practice!

 

Photo by JoAnne Silvia

 

I bet you can guess today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt. If you’d like to have a ball, visit Linda at :

http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-1216/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!