three month report

Well, it's been three months since my last day at work. I'm still in a state of euphoria; it's going to take a little longer to realize that I'm finished with work.

At first I couldn't get into a good sleep routine. Sometimes I was up at 3:30 and sometimes I slept as late at 6:30. Some evenings I would go to bed as early as 9:00 and other nights, midnight. But, I think I've finally found my sleep groove. 10:30 seems just right for a bedtime, and 7:00 is a good time to get up, although it was after seven this morning before I finally rolled out of the sack. Dorothy brought me my coffee while I was still in bed and breakfast was on the table by the time I was dressed.

I think I should step up my exercise routine and walk more. I'm gaining a bit of weight. I put on an old pair of work pants this morning and I couldn't get them fastened, so I just tied the belt loops together with twine and went about my yard projects. I waved to a couple of neighbor ladies that drove by and I'm afraid I may have shown them the color of my boxers, so I went in and changed into some sweatpants.

The weight problem began on vacation. We cast dietary caution to the wind, and ate at all our favorite restaurants and at a few we discovered. We ate huge chimichangas in Holbrook, Arizona, jumbo pastramis at the Hat in Upland, California, and of course there's the obligatory cheeseburgers and fries at the In'n'Out. I tried octopus for the first time at a Chinese restaurant in Yuba City, Ca., and of course the world famous tacos my aunt Atha makes at her house in Live Oak. Dorothy's brother Bill introduced us to some great places to eat in Claremont, Ca. I certainly don't want to leave out the breakfast buffet at the Ramada Express in Laughlin, Nevada, and the cinnamon raisin french toast at the Denny's at Winslow, Arizona deserves a mention. I guess you could say we ate our way across the heartland of America.

So now it's back to working out with weights, and walking. How did I get out of shape so fast? Hard work and discipline were not part of my retirement plans.

After three months of fun, now we're settling down to living on a reduced income. That's going to be hard. We'll have to learn to economize more than we already do so we won't be forced back to work.

Yellowjacket Report: As I reported in a previous post, I was having trouble with a yellowjacket nest near the house. It was in the ground and I was stung after rolling the lawn mower over the hole. I found a method of control on the web and thought I would try it. I put a clear glass bowl upside down over the hole and spread shredded leaves around the edges making a seal (dirt works fine too). The next morning it looked like a popcorn machine with the wasps bouncing off the inside of the bowl. It took ten days but they're all dead. An excellent way to rid yourself of a nest without getting stung.