The Best of Both Worlds

 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 – The Best of Both Worlds

As I near the three-month mark since my formal retirement, I’ve settled into a routine that offers me the best of both worlds.  Through my work with the ESOL drama class, I still have a presence at Annandale High 2-3 times a week (without the need to get up at 5 in the morning).  I also get to see my colleagues during lunchtime.  Then I’m free to leave at 12:30, so it’s an ideal arrangement. 

And the rest of my time is available to spend with Elliott.  We’re both just delighted to be together during the day, whether we’re at home, traveling, working out, or off doing mundane errands.  It’s amazing how much you can accomplish and how much more efficient you can be when you do errands during the week rather than on the weekend.  Yesterday, we were out of the house between 10 and 3 and we checked off the following:  library (to return books), Macy’s (summer shirts for me), jewelry store (for watch repair), Dick’s (gym shorts for Elliott), Whole Foods (lunch – yum), Costco (more graham crackers), Target (printer ink), Office Depot (various items – I have a weakness for office supplies), gas station (to feed the car).  And then we had time to take an hour-long nap before we had dinner at home and headed back out to see another movie at the Jewish Film Festival in the evening. 

It certainly takes a lot of energy to do retirement well.  To keep in shape, we’re trying to fit regular workouts at Lifetime into our schedule.  Yesterday morning, Elliott had his first meeting with a personal trainer there.  Since I’m Elliott’s 24/7 personal trainer, I attended the session along with him, and we came back with stretching exercises he is supposed to do at home three times a day.  Increasing his flexibility is the first goal.  Then we’ll move on to developing balance and strength over the coming weeks. For cardio, Elliott alternates between the treadmill and the bicycle.  By the way, he looks really hot in his new gym shorts. 

We’ve had a welcome change in the weather, although some might disagree.  Temperatures in the forties and fifties are fine with me.  At last I feel grounded in early spring rather than teetering on the cusp of summer.  Of course, the cherry blossoms are just a beautiful memory.  The last of the petals were blown away by the recent winds, but all of the trees continue their greening, and the redbuds still dazzle.  The azaleas splash new colors about on a daily basis.  Driving back from our morning workout, we were greeted by a resplendent array of tulips at the entrance to our subdivision.  One of our few contributions to the spring glory is a fairly modest dogwood with a profusion of blushing blossoms.