{"id":2990,"date":"2020-01-10T16:31:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T21:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/?p=2990"},"modified":"2020-01-10T16:31:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T21:31:30","slug":"the-redirection-of-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/?p=2990","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cRedirection\u201d of My Life\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I borrowed that lingo from a book I very recently read about retirement.\u00a0 Seems the word \u201cretirement\u201d sounds too old so, with people living longer healthier lives these days, language a little more encouraging is the new buzz word.\u00a0 Regardless of what you call it, I have now entered the next phase of my life and am still coming to terms with what that actually means. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of July 2019, I knew this was coming and, probably like a lot\nof other retirees, went immediately into denial and continued along my merry\nway.  But, as the end date of December 20th<\/sup>\ndrew closer, and I started training someone else to take over some of my work\nresponsibilities, the reality hit home and I vacillated between euphoria and\ndread \u2013 thoughts of \u201cI would be free\u201d (whatever that means) and \u201cwhat am I\ngoing to do with myself every day\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For someone who has worked for over 45 years, and enjoyed most of it, I worried that my identity and my value were associated with my work.\u00a0 With Christmas over, and a feeling that I was in limbo, I found a quiet moment and made a list of all the things I wanted to do or accomplish over the next several months.\u00a0 Not a crazy, unobtainable list \u2013 just normal, ordinary things like learning how to bake bread and make cheese, for example.\u00a0 Or maybe take on some contract work in a little while.\u00a0 I was surprised at how long the list became and, since then, I\u2019ve added a few items as I think of them.\u00a0 I was also surprised that this simple act of planning and documenting seems to have helped me and given me something to focus on instead of worrying about the uncertainty of my future days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More surprisingly, I\u2019ve crossed off a couple of items already, not\nbecause I had a moment of sanity and changed my mind but because I\u2019ve actually completed\nthem.  I\u2019ll share, in the order of\ncompletion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Nutrition and Change Eating Habits<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to love to\ncook and there was a time when I could throw together a very delicious dinner\nparty.  As my career progressed and time\nconstraints increased, the frequency of dinner parties dropped and my\nenthusiasm to cook also took a plunge. \nDon\u2019t get me wrong, we didn\u2019t starve and we didn\u2019t eat processed foods\neither.  But my repertoire shrunk and I\nfound myself relying on old favourites week after week.  Now I\u2019ve got the time so I put \u201cresearch nutrition\nand change eating habits\u201d on my list.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over many years, I\u2019ve\nacquired a very impressive collection of cook books which, in my opinion, are much\nmore pleasant to thumb through than finding recipes online.  So, I chose a couple of the books that also\ninclude nutritional information and refreshed my knowledge of what was healthier\nto eat.  I\u2019ve started buying different\nand varied produce and trying new recipes. \nNo complaints so far, although it\u2019s early days, and my enthusiasm is\ncoming back, so I crossed that off my list. \nWho knows, maybe there will be a dinner party in our near future\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Buy a Baritone Ukulele and Learn to Play It<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I already play a\nUkulele \u2013 not as well as Steve plays his guitar but certainly good enough to\naccompany myself while singing and to keep up with my fellow jam members.  I learned on a cheapy Concert model I bought\nmyself, then Steve bought me a larger, nicer Tenor model for a birthday a few\nyears back that I tote around to acoustic jam sessions in others\u2019 living rooms.  Then, he bought me a fabulous electric Tenor\na couple of years ago for Christmas that I play every week in our more formal,\nscheduled jam sessions.  But the only\nreason why I play a Ukulele is because, in the summer of 2013 when we were\nheading back to \u201cAdult Camp\u201d at the Haliburton School of the Arts\u201d, there were\nno beginner guitar lessons that year which was a huge disappointment.  Let\u2019s just say that I \u201csettled\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soprano, Concert, and Tenor models are all strung the same way so, once you\u2019ve learned the finger placements for the notes and chords you can switch back and forth between all three.\u00a0 And then there is the largest model, the Baritone, which sounds mellower, like a guitar, and that I\u2019ve been coveting for quite some time.\u00a0 So, why didn\u2019t I just go out and get one or, better yet, put it on a gift list and let Steve get it for me?\u00a0 Basically, because I\u2019m lazy and frugal, a seriously limiting combination.\u00a0 A nice Baritone is costly (frugal me) and is strung differently than the other models so a learning curve is involved (lazy me).\u00a0 However, it\u2019s strung exactly like the top four strings on a guitar and that\u2019s why I\u2019ve wanted one.\u00a0 If I can learn to play the Baritone well enough, the next step is my ultimate goal of playing a guitar \u2013 yes, I\u2019m taking a very long and convoluted path to get there but I’m having fun in the process. \u00a0So, I put \u201cbuy a Baritone Ukulele and learn to play it\u201d on my list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to very generous donations at work, I was sent off on retirement<\/s> redirection with a gift certificate to Long & McQuade that covered most of the cost of a new addition to my Ukulele family.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ve crossed off the \u201cbuy\u201d part and am happy to say that it won\u2019t be long until I can cross off the \u201clearn to play\u201d part, too. Even though I get a bit confused, I\u2019m learning the finger placements much, much faster than when I picked up my first instrument almost seven years ago. And I already have the strumming under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s my Ukulele family in the order I acquired them…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Research Daytime Exercise Classes at Parks & Rec<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yup, everyone\u2019s New\nYear\u2019s resolution is to get in shape. \nExcept I\u2019ve never made this resolution before because, frankly, I don\u2019t\nlike exercise (oh, lazy me again?).  And\nmy other excuse was that I never had the time. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so now I have the time and I might just be a little more interested in options other than walking from one room to another or from the house to the car.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t want to flail around (yes, word chosen on purpose) with all those nubile 20-year-olds in the evening classes \u2013 been there, tried that, hated it.\u00a0 Certainly the daytime classes would be filled with more people like me, right?\u00a0 So, I put research daytime exercise classes at Parks & Rec on my list. I chose three very different classes to try out my theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n