One Year In

We're getting very close to the one-year anniversary of our unemployment. It seems like it has been a very fast year. We've really become settled in our routine of premature retirement. We realized soon into our unemployment that the chances of finding jobs weren't good. Not only is the national economy less than stellar, it's even worse in our local area. In over ten months of sending our resumes, I was only called for one job interview. That job was replacing someone retiring after 28 years in their position. I knew there was no way I would get hired to replace her, not at my age.

No one ever says that, of course. But once you're past 60, you know that your chances of employment are very, very slim. So early on we started looking at our situation to see if we could make it financially once the unemployment ended. We realized that it would take some tweaking, but that we could do it. By the time the unemployment stopped at the end of the year, we had positioned ourselves well. And we both had become comfortable with using the term “retired”, even though neither of us had thought of retiring for quite some time.

In the meantime, we began discovering our “new normal”. Hubby discovered the world of podcasting, so we started doing daily weekday podcasts in an attempt to keep up with his former radio audience. The podcasts have evolved to a point we're both very comfortable with, and we enjoy doing it. Hubby spends a lot of time on the internet, looking for entertaining news and also learning more and more about the programs we use to do the podcasts and our blogs. I started doing this blog, and Hubby encouraged me to podcast it.

Early in our unemployment, I went on a housecleaning binge. For those who know me well, that wasn't a surprise. I clean when I'm upset or frustrated. But once I got the initial heavy cleaning done, the cleaning has leveled off to normal. I did some container gardening during the summer, replacing the vegetable plants with flowers once the vegetables were done. It was fun. I've found a wonderful website where I can take college courses at no charge. I can pick and choose what I study and when. I like to think it keeps me sharp!

I think the thing we like most is not having to hear an alarm every day. When we were working, that alarm went off at 5 am Monday through Saturday. Hubby still generally wakes up before I do, but I think we've both caught up on our sleep! Other than a random day here and there, the only time an alarm has been used was the week we took care of two of the grandkids. I knew I needed to be fully awake, showered and dressed before that 4-year-old whirlwind embraced the world every day.

Do I miss work? Well, some days I miss being productive. But then I find something that needs to be done around the house. I certainly don't miss the stress, or the drama. Hubby and I spent the first five years of our marriage working in different states and seeing one another on the weekends. So we really enjoy being together full time. And in the meantime, I have time to cook and create yummy food for us. Both of us are enjoying that.

All in all, I look back at the past year and feel like we've been pretty successful in navigating the world of unemployment...........and I'm glad to be at this point and feel good about being retired!