As of Thursday afternoon, I am officially retired! So, what did I do on my first day of retirement? Read on to find out.
Welcome to the 71st edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week. In addition to my retirement plans, this week’s edition covers Hawaii’s new tourism tax and decluttering bedroom surfaces.
On my mind this week: My first day of retirement
On Thursday afternoon, just before three o’clock, I walked out of my office for the last time. Fittingly, Loverboy’s 1981 anthem Turn Me Loose was playing on the radio as I exited the parking lot.
Leaving work for the last time was a strange feeling. Over the last few weeks, I have been fortunate to celebrate my retirement with many groups of friends and co-workers. But handing in my laptop, phone, and security pass on the way out of the building made it all very real.
To be honest, I don’t think it will fully sink in that I’m retired until a few weeks from now. I expect the first few weeks will just feel like an extended summer vacation. I definitely plan to take some time in July and August to decompress and relax on our deck with a few good books.
How I spent my first day
So, what did I do on my first day of retirement? Well, I didn’t sleep in! I was up bright and early as usual. That’s something I don’t really expect to change. I’ve always been an early riser and the mornings are my most creative and productive time of day.
After republishing my weekly decluttering post and catching up on my blog reading, I started reading a new book. It’s a novel by Heather Graham, The Uninvited, and it’s book 3 on my quest to read 1000 books.
By far, the highlight of the day was reclaiming the space taken up by my home office. My work desk is now gone, and I filled a bin with papers and old notebooks ready for a bonfire. The turntable I got as a retirement gift from my co-workers now sits in the corner where my desk used to be. The first album I played was Queen’s live album Rock In Rio.
I’ve written before about views on retirement and my reinvention plans. I have a few exciting projects lined up, but that can all wait for fall. Over the summer, I have a couple of trips planned. And I hope to make some decent progress on that 1,000-book goal.
Stay tuned! The next chapter is just beginning…
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- Last weekend, my daughters and I went to Niagara Falls. We had lunch at the Flying Saucer, took a stroll by the Falls, and then saw Keith Urban in concert. Keith didn’t disappoint. He’s such a great entertainer. It was a wonderful weekend before the girls went back to their respective corners of the country.
- On Tuesday, the manager who hired me at Mutual Life 34 years ago took me out to lunch to celebrate my retirement. It was wonderful to catch up and share memories. Our conversation took me back to the job interview when I first met him. We immediately connected and the discussion flowed easily. And 34 years later, the conversation is still flowing.
- On Wednesday, I attended a retirement party for a friend and co-worker who retired the same day as me. We walked out of the building together on Thursday afternoon. It was fun to share that moment with someone else.
Things I learned this week
It was an exciting and busy week, so my usual reading and learning took a bit of a back seat. Regular learning highlights will resume shortly.
Hawaii introduces climate tax
One of my biggest personal disappointments from the pandemic era was the cancellation of our planned trip to Hawaii in 2020. Since then, Hawaii has been feeling the effects of a surge in tourism which is putting a strain on the state’s infrastructure, impacting both tourists and residents. environmentally sensitive areas and threatening the natural beauty that makes the state a bucket-list destination for many.
The state recently introduced a climate tax of $25 for all visitors. The funds raised from the new tax will be used to support initiatives to prevent wildfires and floods, restore coral reefs, build green infrastructure, manage land, and provide emergency supplies.
Given the cost of a Hawaii vacation, $25 doesn’t feel like enough to me.
(Source: Happy Eco News)
This week’s decluttering challenge – Bedroom surfaces
In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. This week’s challenge was decluttering bedroom surfaces, and I’m happy to report I got back on track by decluttering 27 items. Find the details, along with my half-way update on the challenge, in this week’s decluttering post.
If you’d like to join the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
With the soundtrack to your next chapter coming from Queen on vinyl, you’re off to a rocking start! Congratulations!
Thanks so much Caroline. I’m excited to play my old LPs again!
Happy new life retirement! In a few weeks, you will be accustomed to the reality every day is Saturday and your weekend has seven days!! Enjoy!!
Thanks!
Happy Retirement. I hope you have fun exploring all your new ideas.
It was interesting to read about the tax in Hawaii. I know there is talk here of some cities introducing a Tourist tax too
It is interesting, although $25 feels too low to me. I suppose they are trying to raise funds to address the damage of overtourism rather than deter it.
I suppose it would hurt the economy if the tax acted as a deterrent. I’m off to Edinburgh for 5 days in about a month, not sure if the tax will be in place when I get there.
I suspect that you, like me, will have no trouble adjusting to retirement. I’m busy (the way I like it) without being stressed out. My wife and I are planning a European vacation (I’ve never been) for our 40th anniversary in two years. You sound like a candidate for the Goodreads Challenge if you don’t already do that. I set a goal of one book a week, and I’m far ahead of that pace.
Ooh, a European vacation sounds wonderful. I was born in England so I’ve visited England, Ireland, Wales and France. I’m going to Ireland in August with my mum and two of my sisters. One of my retirement goals is to brush up on the German I learned in high school and then plan a trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
I haven’t heard of the Goodreads Challenge. I will have to look into it.
Wuhoo!! What a headline – retirement!! Love that your first task was to sort out the home office. It looks great. So interesting about the Hawaiian climate tax. Enjoy your first week of retirement.
Thanks Wynne. It felt good to toss those old work notebooks. I still have a few more things to organize down there but I have lots of time! Have a wonderful week.
I like your first day of retirement! I agree with you that 25$ tax to enter Hawaii is really ridiculous. It sounds like the 5€ they put for Venice!
Thanks Cristiana! At least we can hope they will put the $25 x the millions of tourists that visit Hawaii every year to good use.
Huge congrats Michelle now that all is official and you are retired. It is incredibly surreal at first isn’t it? Absolutely it will be wrapping your head around the fact that this isn’t just a vacation. Huge smile when I read your leaving song- Perfect! I also remember with a small heart tug the leaving behind of the ID badge…
Here’s to an amazing future! Can’t wait to travel it with you 🙂
Thank you Deb. Yes, surreal is a good word to describe it. Funny that you mention the ID badge. When I dropped it off at security, I expected some sort of fanfare. My friend and long-time coworker who also retired at the same time as me looked at me and said “Well I guess that’s it!” LOL
No fanfare at all! I didn’t even know what to do with mine as technically it was issued from the larger hospital entity miles away and I had no intent of driving there to hand it back. I left it with the floor nursing supervisor. It’s been 2 years. It could still be hidden in her desk somewhere 😉
Ha ha. That reminds me of when I went on maternity leave and left my ID badge with my manager who was supposed to return it to security. When I returned a year later, security said “We’ll just reactivate your old badge.” She had never returned it and no-one knows where it ended up.
We should have just kept them as souvenirs I think given as you note they get deactivated anyway 😉 Glad it’s behind me!
I’m so, so, so excited for you, Michelle! Reinvent, my friend! Enjoy! You’ve got your Queen soundtrack ready…what more do you need? xo! 🥰
Thanks so much Vicki! It still feels like a regular weekend. I think it will take a few weeks to sink in. Happy Sunday to you my friend! 🤗
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Congratulations on starting retirement!
Thank you! It feels good!
Congratulations! Can’t wait to hear about your retirement adventures!
Thanks Nikki!