Retired ... but Busy!

     I have to make a conscious effort not to roll my eyes when retirees complain that they have nothing to do, and then they whine, "So how come we're so busy?!?"

     When a retired person says something like that, it makes them seem a little ditsy (dare I say senile?), and not in control of their own time or their own life.

     However, be that as it may, for the past few weeks, I want to say: If I'm supposed to be retired, how come I'm so busy?!?

     Well, there was the wedding. B's son got married last weekend -- everything went off swimmingly; the ceremony was sweet, the reception was fun, the family all got along together. The preparations and the event itself took up a lot of time and mental energy, even though my responsibilities were fairly minor. My chief role in the wedding was to carry copious amounts of Kleenex and parcel out sheets of hankies to B immediately upon her frequent requests.

     Okay, I might make fun of her. But it is an emotional time. Besides, I admit, I'm jealous. My own two kids are older than hers, yet they don't have any wedding plans on the horizon, or even (as far as I know) over the horizon.

     But it's not just the wedding. I bought a new car. Actually, I leased the car, since that required a smaller outlay of funds and seemed to be a better deal in the long run anyway. But it takes a lot of time to do the research and visit the car dealers and then do more research and visit more car dealers and then make a decision. (I got an Acura TLX which, so far, I'm liking very much.)

     Then I had that eye problem. I made and kept a doctor's appointment; and even though he said my floaters were routine, he wanted me to come back. And when I did go back, a few weeks later, he said he wanted me to make yet another appointment. Everything looks fine, he said, but I have some little spots of blood in the fluid in my eyes and he just wants to check them out one more time.

     Then I had to get a crown on one of my teeth. I was getting a cavity, and there was already a large filling in the tooth, and the dentist said there wasn't enough tooth left to add another filling. And of course, it turned out the crown needed some adjustment, so it was back to the dentist again for a little extra drilling and buffing.

I tutor here at the community college library

     All those medical appointments. They take up a lot of time. But I guess I'd better get used to it. I'm not getting any younger.

     Then I joined a golf league, which plays every Monday morning until mid-August. So that takes pretty much one whole day out of the week (because, at my age, after 4 - 5 hours on the golf course, in the heat, all I want to do is come home, lie on the couch, sip iced tea and read the paper or watch TV.)

     And then, after taking almost two months off from tutoring, I've signed up for the second summer session. Three hours, twice a week. Plus the commute. Plus fielding all the emails from the tutoring coordinator, who seems to have not much to do but write emails to her volunteers.

     And in the midst of all this, what should happen? A former colleague called me up. Do I have time to take on a job? Yes, of course, I said. Because if you're a freelancer, and you turn down a job, you're afraid they'll never call you back.

     So you see? I'm a very busy retired person! But please don't roll your eyes. Just answer me this: Can you retire from retirement?