I paused yesterday morning as I was heading out the door on my way to work. It seemed like I was forgetting something.
“We must be getting closer,” I said to Gerry. “I don’t think I have any tasks to give you for today!”
We are, indeed, getting closer to retiring, relocating, and repatriating to Canada. Two weeks from today the movers will be loading our belongings into the moving truck. As you can tell by this photograph things are in a bit of an upheaval here, those days of feeling like we were living in a museum because of having to keep the house looking pristine for potential buyers are long gone.
The past few weeks have been hectic and stressful as we found and purchased a home, began organizing, coordinating, and preparing to move, all while taking into considering various cross-border implications. I have the utmost respect for the moving coordinator provided by my company for us when we moved here seven years ago–there are a lot of balls to keep in the air with any move, much less one to a different country.
We are doing the bulk of the packing ourselves and, while we’ve made good progress, there’s still a lot to be done before moving day. We don’t yet know when we’ll cross the border into Canada because we need to coincide our arrival with the moving truck’s crossing. The only thing we know for sure is that on February 18 we will be Canadian residents and homeowners again.
I am so looking forward to getting on the other side of this move and settling in to our new life. I’m dreaming of having time to write, cook, read, garden, sew, organize our new home, and get back into posting regularly here at A Slice of Life Writing.
I leave you today with a photograph of the flowers my husband gave me this week in honour of my birthday: fifty-five long-stemmed roses in honor of my double-nickels, retirement-eligible birthday!
Linda,
What an exciting,challenging time. This all reminds me of my own preparation for transitioning into retirement in 2011 (sans moving and repatriating!) I had so many hopes and dreams right along with bittersweet moments of leaving a career I loved. I’m happy to share that just the other day, I said to my husband,”I really had no idea I would love retirement so much.” I wish you the same. It’s the getting from here to there that’s the challenge. Safe travels and happy transitioning. I look forward to hearing all about it! 🙂 Kathy
There is that bittersweet aspect to it for sure, Kathleen. I was sitting in a meeting yesterday that I had just handed over to my successor to facilitate and had to smile as I thought about those things, and people, I will miss after the transition. The winds of change are blowing. If I listen closely, I can almost hear the tinkle of wind chimes!
I’m pleased to know you’re enjoying retirement so much. You’re one of my retirement mentors!
When I retired from teaching I prepared myself by reading books like George Vaillant’s, Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life. It has an academic tone because it includes the Harvard Study on Adult Development, but his tips are wonderful and the book conversational in style. More than 5 years after reading it, I remember his saying retirement often involves letting go of self-importance but keeping a firm grip on self-esteem. I’m sure you’ll be able to do that!
You’re miles ahead of the game because you have an online community of writer friends who are cheering you on. And the posts you are writing now are interesting markers of your transition. You might speculate now how you will view these posts years later: nostalgia? humor? probably a combination of emotions.
I am going to look for that book right now, Marian. I have been preparing in many ways for this for the past year but I am not naïve enough to believe there won’t be a time of adjustment required to the new lifestyle. Your comment about retirement involving letting go of self-importance resonates as in recent weeks I’ve been letting go of work that has been important to me for many years. While I look forward with great anticipation to the transition there is a bit of sadness at what I’m leaving behind. Thank you for stopping by.