From talking to people who are retired, I know that most of them are as busy as they were when they were working.  So Tom and I had no expectation that we wouldn’t be busy in retirement.  The joy of retirement, however, is trading “have to” for “want to.”  We are traveling, not because we have to get the robots to California in three days, but because we have chosen to go to California for the winter.  We have been blessed to see family a lot during the last month and to spend time with a variety of friends.  We have done it, not out of social obligation, but because these are people we love and enjoy being with.

Still, it feels like the days have been packed full with lots of running around.  Consequently Tom and I have been enjoying a couple of quiet days, just the two of us, before we finish up in Ohio and set out for California.  We went to physical therapy and for long walks in Highbanks Metro Park.  We did the grocery shopping and picked up our mail.  Tom worked on a paper and I did a jigsaw puzzle.  We watched a few episodes of “Big Bang Theory” that we hadn’t seen before.  We got a newspaper and read it and ate what we felt like when we felt like it.  I sat and knitted and then read a book.

If every day were like the last two, we would get bored and tired of each other’s company.  But it has been wonderful, in the midst of a crazy month, to have a couple of quiet days to enjoy each other and enjoy being home.