Tonight I am sitting in front of a fire at Balgownie (South Haven, Michigan) quietly celebrating my “soft retirement.” I actually have to go back and work one more day on Friday but grabbed this chance to begin my summer at a cottage during the three-day hiatus between my last two days of work.
I’m calling it a soft retirement because I still haven’t decided if I am going to completely retire at this point. For the past two years, I’ve been employed as a “zero hour” employee of Elmhurst Hospital. That meant that I wasn’t required to work and they weren’t required to have work for me. It was one of the unhappy fallouts of my cancer treatment, but worked in my favor in many ways. I lost my job security, but gained the freedom to take off when I wanted.
And so, last fall I announced that I wanted to take the next summer off! My original plan was to stay home and 1) enjoy my pool; and 2) work on getting the house ready to sell. In October, Laura & Taylor announced that they would be having a new baby in the middle of June and shortly thereafter, Anne & James made plans to be home for a month from mid-July to mid-August. So I don’t think I am going to get much done on the house this summer, though I still hope to enjoy the pool. I know I will love having a new granddaughter (soon!) and family time later this summer.
Our latest plan is to put the house on the market in 2016, sometime after the first of the year. This summer we’re working on curb appeal and in the fall, we’ll have to get serious about indoor painting etc. So I’m not really sure about going back to work in the fall. I think I may have my hands full trying to prepare for a move.
The hospital recently changed the rules for zero hours, so that I now I have to work a minimum of 2 days a month in order to maintain this status. I will work two days in July before our Kiwis come home and two days at the end of August (if I decide to go back in the fall.)
A few weeks ago I put up a paper chain at work to count down the days. There is now just one link left, which I will joyfully remove on Friday!
But first, I am going to relax and enjoy a little pre-retirement vacation.
P.S. This last paycheck will also pay off my Visa bill–which I’ve been working on for the last two years. Something else to celebrate 🙂 !