Lifestyle

Lights Out

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

Our favorite weather saying in the PNW is, “if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.” That is especially true in March and April. I can’t complain, because we’ve had a relatively mild winter this year. But just when we were thinking about crocuses popping up, we got hit with high winds and our worst snowstorm of the year. Of course, it happens when Mr. U is out of town.

The night the lights went out

Mr. U and I had been on a short trip, and I was flying back early. My flight was delayed several hours so I ended up not getting home until 2:00 a.m. during a high windstorm. (Just for the record, I HATE turbulence in a plane.) Branches broke, trees snapped and the wind gusts made it a challenge to keep my car on the road while driving home from the airport. When I pulled around the corner into the bay, I noticed that it was exceptionally dark. None of the neighbors had their lights on. Hum.

Inevitably, the wind had knocked the electricity out. Now I had to enter a dark house that was still fairly new to me, in the middle of the pitch-black night during a powerful windstorm. I pulled into the driveway and sat in my car while I considered my options. Earlier in the evening, my sister texted me about the storm and offered to have me stay with her. I was wishing I had taken her up on her offer at this point. I considered getting a hotel, but I don’t even know if you can check into a hotel in the middle of the night. Nope. I just needed to put on my big girl panties and go into the dark house with my cell phone light that had a low battery. It was cold and scary. Your imagination can get carried away in the dark of the night.

Fortunately, I keep a lot of candles (both real and battery operated) around the house.

I was able to get a couple candles lit to find my way around the house and was relieved to find that there were no boogeymen lurking in the closet or under the bed. (You never outgrow some fears.) I piled every blanket I could find on the bed and listened to the wind howl outside before I fell into a fitful sleep. When I woke up in the morning the lights were back on and the heat was pumping through the house. It lasted for a full day and then we got a snowstorm and out went the electricity again. This time for 24 hours.

24 hours off the grid

You do not realize how much you use electricity until you do not have it. Fortunately, our gas fireplaces work without electricity, so I was able to keep the house reasonably warm. The first several hours I was totally frustrated. I kept flipping on switches, forgetting that it would not do anything, and turning on the faucet that could not produce water.

I went to the store to stock up on water, batteries and some food that did not need to be cooked. Then I called Mr. U to complain. There was no running water, no lights, no heat, no internet, no T.V. and you can’t even charge your phone, Kindle, or laptop. We are way too dependent on our devices. Once I accepted all of this, I settled in.

A cozy, peaceful evening at home off the grid.

Turns out we don’t need all of those electric devices to enjoy an evening at home. It was cozy and oh so quiet. I have a couple little chargeable lights that cast a nice glow. Between those and the candlelight, I was able to settle in under a blanket and spent the evening reading and writing by hand. My blood pressure dropped, my heartbeat slowed and my soul was able to catch up with my body. It was exactly what I needed. There is peace in the pause that we seldom allow ourselves time to lean into.

It was so nice to have a couple of these little rechargeable touch lights. Note to self, keep them charged in the winter.

Back in the ole days

When I was a kid, growing up in this very spot we now live, the electricity was guaranteed to go out every winter… several times. We got more snow and colder temps. back then. I specifically remember one year when I was around seven years old, and the electricity went out for five days. I thought it was magical to sit by the fire and read by candlelight. I imagined myself to be Laura Ingalls Wilder from the Little House on the Prairie books that I devoured. The one negative that I remember is that the porcelain toilet seat was really, really cold! I am quite sure my mom and dad remember a lot more negatives.

I can’t imagine having the electricity out that long with five kids at home. They pulled out the camp stove, put blankets over doorways and stocked up on water, firewood and candles. No battery-operated lights or candles in those days. We did not miss our electronic devices either since there weren’t any to miss, other than the T.V. and radio. (I am starting to sound really old.)

Maybe we need more nights off the grid

I guess I forgot how much our electronic devices control our brains… until I didn’t have them for 24 hours. It shocked me how restless I was at first. I was anxious and wondering what I was going to do for a whole night. But once the quiet took over and settled into my bones, I felt such peace. I would not recommend coming home from a trip at 2:00 a.m. in a windstorm to find your soul. But maybe we should schedule a no devices day every week. Kind of like a sabbath from electronic devices and social media. Could I do it consistently? Could you?

Being without electricity is a good excuse to stay in bed a little longer and enjoy a slow morning.

Cheers to the retirement years!

Things I Did Not Expect About Aging

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

Years ago, most of us thought through our careers, whether we wanted to raise family, and what we wanted to do in our spare time. However, we gave little thought to our lives after we were old enough to retire. We have all seen the advertisements of gorgeous gray-haired couples smiling at each other and we just assumed that would be us “someday.” Well, someday is here and that advertisement forgot to tell you about the changes you did not expect.

Things I did not expect about an aging body

When we are young, we feel immortal. We never really think about the fact that someday we will get wrinkles laugh lines around our eyes, that our underarms will wiggle like a scoop of grape jelly, or that our fat cells will migrate overnight causing our waistline to vanish. We would roll our eyes as we waited for older people to try and remember the name of the restaurant they ate at last night. Now… we are them.

Aging happens to everyone that is fortunate enough to live that long. It is a natural process. I knew it. I anticipated it. I just didn’t fully expect it to happen to me. I mean I knew I would look older, but in a firm, youthful way. 😊 The media tells you that if you use their “anti-aging” cream, eat a plant-based diet, get the tuck, lift weights and exercise for five hours every day, that you don’t have to look older. Hogwash. It may help, but gravity happens.

The good news is that it matters less. I am not saying we “let ourselves go” and don’t care. If you are still upright, you usually care about your health and how you present yourself to the world. I remember my mom at 85, fussing about her hairstyle. What I am saying is that we care less about the parts of our aging bodies that we can’t control. Instead, we appreciate and care more about how our body functions and carries us through life. I did not expect this.

Things I did not expect about health

We worry about our health more. You take your health for granted when you are young. But as we get older, we recognize that our body is fragile and no one is immune to health issues. We have seen it in friends, family and celebrities. Every new age spot becomes a concern for skin cancer. Every bout of diarrhea causes us to worry about colon cancer. Every sniffle could be pneumonia. Every aching joint, arthritis. Good grief. We could become obsessed with it. And we do.

Have you ever noticed that when a group of older adults get together, every conversation eventually turns to health issues? We share war stories and scars, compare symptoms and debate the best surgeons in the area. There are complaints about the rising cost of supplemental insurances and whether you should include eye and dental. One of the advantages of spending time with our peers is that we can compare notes and learn from each other regarding common health issues. There is comfort in knowing others are experiencing similar things. The problem is when you discuss it… ad nauseum.

The good news is that you appreciate your health more as you age. You recognize that every day is a gift to be lived with joy. There is a deeper awareness of our mortality, which moves us toward a deeper awareness of the beauty of life. I did not expect this.

Things I did not expect about moving at this age

Like most people my age, I have moved several times over my life. Therefore, I expected the physical challenges of packing, hauling boxes and unpacking. I even expected some of the emotional challenge of leaving a place that had so many good memories.

What I did not expect was the confusion of living in a new environment. I can’t decide if this is due to living in one place for so long or because we are much older doing this move. It doesn’t help that we moved into two new homes over the past year. But now it takes me twice as long to do anything because I have to stop and think about where I put it.

I made zucchini bread the other day and I had to open three cupboard doors before I found the grater. I can’t remember which light switch goes to which light. Do they really need to make this many light switches? (But come to think of it, I never really figured that out the light switches in our previous home either.)

But the biggest surprise was that we have to develop new routines. Things that were automatic take thought and a small decision now. Where are we going to sit when we have our morning coffee? Are we going to eat dinner at the table, the kitchen island or in the living room chairs? Where do I set my purse when I walk in the door? These things were automatic in our old home of 24 years, but now they take thinking. I did not expect this.

Things I did not expect about my emotions

No one warned me that I would feel more deeply as I got older. I am a nurse, I raised four kids, and I have experienced enough emotions to last me a lifetime. But maybe those years just left me more raw… more aware of the beautiful, scary, fragile world we live in.

Tears of joy and appreciation can spill out unexpectedly when I look at a beautiful sunset. Tears of sadness surface when I see a complete stranger struggling to walk down the street. I hurt more for the world that our grandkids will one day inherit. I feel this amazing life we lead on a deeper level. I did not expect this.

Things I did not expect about my soul

It takes years of living and soul searching to find your center. If you put in the work of introspection, you will find your soul more at peace. We realize that we can’t control other people, we can’t control the weather, we can’t control most outcomes, so we learn to accept. And with acceptance, comes freedom.

I am still learning to lower my expectations so that I am wonderfully surprised by life. I am trying to open my schedule to allow more precious hours for the things that make my heart sing. Of course I am still a work in progress, but my soul is more centered. I did not expect this.

Aging is the gift I did not expect

Growing older is a privilege that not everyone gets to experience. It is a challenge, but it is also a beautiful ride that I would not want to miss. Aging brings you full circle. Children look at the world with wonder and awe and now, after years of pushing and pulling through life, I do too again. I did not expect this.

“The ride was worth the fall. The fall was worth the smiles. The smiles were worth the tears. Tears were worth the miles. Miles were worth the pain. Pain was worth it all. It’s all worth this life. Life is worth the ride. The ride is worth the fall.”

Lyrics to the song The Fall by Cody Johnson.

Looking Back on 2025 and my WOTY

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

January is already over and it is time to look at 2025 in the rearview mirror. I hope you are looking back at it with a smile and fond memories. Last year was a year of change for us. A year that moved our retirement life in a new direction. It put me on a roller coaster of emotions as we evaluated our retirement lifestyle and made big steps towards rightsizing it. Scary steps that turned our little world upside down.

We knew that change was in the air, so I chose the word “rightsizing” to be My 2025 Word of the Year (WOTY). I hoped that it would guide our decisions and move us to a retirement lifestyle that fit our unique interests and needs. At this point, Mr. U and I have both been retired for several years, we are in our 60’s and have whittled down how we want to move forward in this phase of life. So, 2025 was our year of trying to rightsize our retirement life. Fair warning – photo bomb ahead. ⚠️

The year 2025 in review

Like all of you, we celebrated birthdays.

My dad’s 98th and my 29th!

We shared holidays with family.

Holidays are just more fun with kids (little and big).

And we welcomed a precious new grandson into the family.

Son #3 and his lovely wife, daughter and new baby boy.
Sons #3 and #4 (who are fraternal twins) holding the big sister and her little bro (left). Son #1 and his lovely wife made the trip back west to see their new nephew (right).

And amidst the joy was heartbreaking loss for our little city.

A city salutes its heroes.

Best trip in 2025

We did not do a lot of travel because we were so busy at home, but the best trip of 2025, hands down, was our trip to the Oregon Coast with all of our kids. We have done it for two years in a row now. Does that make it a tradition? While it was a busy year, I am so glad we made time for this. It is the stuff that gives family a common bond, shared laughter and memories to carry you for a lifetime.

Going crabbing and having a seafood boil is one of the highlights of the trip.
The whole crazy gang took time from their busy lives to make the trip.

Biggest changes in 2025

We spent a good hunk of 2025 preparing to sell our home. We went through every single item we owned and determined if it still served us as we moved forward into a smaller space. Hard decisions. It took me on an emotional roller coaster as I relived my life with each piece.

I had to decide whether or not to keep the afghan that I knit for a 4-H project in high school (left). I wrote about my struggle with whether to keep the wedding china in the post, Downsizing Dilemma: The Wedding China.
I am happy to announce that my lovely DIL #2 (left) decided to take the wedding china. She created this gorgeous table setting with some of it for Thanksgiving.

Once I was done sorting and packing, I mopped up my tears and we were ready. We said farewell to The House that Built a Family. It was a home that we loved for 24 years and held us during life’s storms – both physical and emotional.

We said goodbye to our house up on the hill.
It never looked better than when we were getting ready to sell it. Funny how that works.
So many good memories there.

In the midst of preparing our house to sell, we were also busy making the constant decisions on the new house we were building. We built it on the same property where I grew up, next to a little lake.

The years had deteriorated the original home to such an extent that we needed to start from scratch.
We wanted our home to be cozy enough for the two of us, but big enough for family gatherings.
I am thrilled to be back on the little lake that has so many good memories for me growing up.

As if this wasn’t enough going on, we added in buying a small condo in Arizona last winter. It was in our retirement plan for several years. We had been looking for a while, but then everything lined up and so we needed to move on it.

Our escape plan from the cold, gray winter weather.

Daily life continues on

And in between all of the big life changes, daily life still went on. It always surprises me how life does not stop when I have a big, major hairy transition going on. There were still burdens to carry and the house still needed to be cleaned, the wash done, groceries bought, meals prepared and health issues that had to be followed up on. But there were also coffee dates to go on, micro trips to take and life to be lived.

In between all of the turmoil and change, I made sure to squeeze in coffee dates with my wonderful friend (left) and wine time with my amazing sister (right). Therapy for my soul.

Looking back over 2025

As I look back over 2025, I realize how much life and change we packed in. No wonder I am tired! Perhaps my 2025 WOTY should have been change, because there was so much of it. Yet it helped to control it by keeping the concept of “rightsizing” in the back of my brain through it all. It reminded me to constantly ask, what was right for us, at this stage in our lives? What did we want the rest of our foreseeable retirement life to look like? What can we do now that we may not be able to do in 5 or 10 years? It helped to drive decisions. Thus, 2025 was the year we spent working to bring our planned retirement lifestyle to fruition.

As you look back over the past year, what were your 2025 highlights? Did it reflect movement towards the life you hoped to live at this point? Do you feel like your life is the right size for you? If not, what changes do you need to make? Maybe it is just a few little tweaks or maybe it is a big hairy change.

My 2026 WOTY

I don’t have one. Nope. Nada. I decided not to pick a WOTY this year. It is more a lifestyle that I want to cultivate, and that cannot be captured in one word. After the frenzy of 2025 and all of the changes it brought, I am ready to settle in and nest. I want to live a little slower, more intentional life. I plan to treat my health like a part-time job. And I need more time to sit by the lake to reflect and just be. I want to purposefully spend more of my time on what feeds my soul. We spent 2025 setting up our retirement lifestyle and now I just want to sink into it.

Do you have a WOTY for 2026, or are you feeling more like me and want to slow down and just live life well and appreciate the moments? Either way, may your 2026 hold lots of laughter, joy and be a life lived well.

Cheers to the retirement years!

My Stints in Part-time Retirement Work

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

The plain and simple definition of retirement is leaving one’s job and ceasing to work. Of course, we all know it is so much more than that, which is why many people retire and then realize they really are not ready to manage their life without work. At a loss of what to do, they turn to what they know… going back to work.

According to a T. Row Price study, title “Unretiring”: Why recent retirees want to go back to work, 57% of retirees express an interest in working in retirement. While some want to work in order to pad their retirement nest egg, many are choosing to work because of the social engagement, structure and purpose that it brings to their lives. Personally, I thought I was going to want to work part-time in retirement more before I retired than once I actually did retire.

I really liked my job in nursing education. I enjoyed the people I worked with, and the vast majority of the students were engaged, committed, and fun to teach. Most importantly, my work was rewarding and I felt like it was contributing to the greater good. But I was ready to retire. I was tired of getting up and trudging off to work in the early morning hours for the 25-minute commute, particularly in bad weather. I did not enjoy working on reports that I was not interested in or the endless meetings. And I definitely had decision fatigue. It was time. Or was it?

My office on campus just prior to retiring from fulltime work. It never looked this clean while I was working.

My story

As with most major life decisions, I studied retirement for many years before I made the leap. (I hate the feeling of regret and will go to great lengths to avoid it.) I retired relatively early at 59, so I always thought I would work part-time during my initial retirement years. Planning ahead, I tried out a couple of part-time “retirement” jobs while I was still working full-time. Just for the record, I do not recommend this.

My office/craft room at our home (prior to the move.)

Part-time job #1

For a few years, during the summers and college breaks from teaching, I worked for a company teaching NCLEX prep courses at nursing colleges and universities around the United States. (NCLEX is the certification exam that nursing students must pass in order to get their RN license.) The company already had the power point, learning activities and curriculum developed so you just had to come in and teach it. Easy-peasy. I figured, once I got the content down, I would just get paid to travel and teach a little. It would eventually be the perfect retirement job.

However, being “on stage” and teaching 6-8 hours straight for 4 days in a row is HARD work. I was exhausted when I was done. I prepped every evening before teaching and once I finished a 4-day course, my feet hurt, and I was too tired to go out site seeing. Travel is not as glamorous when you are doing it for work. I did get to travel to a few great places, but apparently the company thought Idaho and Iowa were close by each other and kept sending me to Iowa. No offense to Iowa, but… not a travel destination. Complain. Complain. Complain. But if it was causing me to complain, then it clearly wasn’t a potential part-time job that I wanted to do when I retired.

Part-time job #2

Prior to retiring I tried teaching a couple of on-line nursing courses for an affiliate college. It was flexible and used my skills. However, it was not particularly enjoyable or gratifying. It was just, well… work. The only interaction I had with students was on-line. I missed the personal, face-to-face communication that I think is vital to being an effective instructor. Did I mention that I really do not like grading papers? Complain. Complain. Complain. This was not enjoyable enough to be a potential part-time retirement job either.

Part-time job #3

The last couple years I was at the college, I sat on the board of a non-profit company associated with healthcare education. When a half-time regional clinical placement coordinator position opened up with them just prior to my retirement, I decided to apply. The only problem was that they needed it filled a semester before I planned to retire. No problem, it was a remote position that could be done on-line so I could do it in the evenings and weekends until I retired from my full-time job. Do you notice a crazy theme here?

That job turned out to be a great way to transition into retirement and I kept it for a year and a half after I retired from my full-time job. At that point, it was starting to require more responsibilities, availability and scheduled meetings. The meetings were via Zoom, but still… you had to have your computer with you, be in a place with reliable internet, look presentable (at least from the waist up), and be available at the designated time, with a professional looking backdrop. I did not like being committed to someone else’s schedule anymore, so I decided to fully retire.

Part-time job #4

A few years into full-retirement, I had the opportunity to teach a face-to-face evening course a couple times a month. I wrote about that experience in a previous post, Have I Failed Retirement? I taught the course several times, but I dreaded going. We did not need the money to buy groceries or pay the electric bill, so I asked myself why I was doing it. I could not come up with a great answer, other than I always thought I would work part-time after I retired. Not a good enough answer so I decided not to continue with it and have never looked back.

Mr. U’s part-time work

Mr. U has worked part-time most of his post-retiree life. First as a consultant in school administration for several years and then in his favorite job driving a van, which I wrote about in the post Reverse Retirement. The biggest challenge when working part-time in retirement is that it gets in the way of play. It is particularly difficult if you have to request time off.

My office (prior to the move) now that I am just working at being fully retired.

In conclusion

I purpose that, if we plan our retirement well ahead of time, we do not necessarily need to work to gain the same emotional benefits (social engagement, structure and purpose) that often drive people back to work. They will be built right into our retirement life. If we have planned our finances securely, created social networks that keep us engaged and have planned things to do that give us purpose and meaning in our retirement years, we won’t want or have time for part-time work.

I know several retirees who have a hobby or interest that has expanded into a part-time job. Not because they needed the social engagement, structure or purpose, but because they love what they are doing and want to share it. They want to do more of it and so it blossoms into getting paid for it. Somehow, that doesn’t seem like work to me. Perhaps that is the key: the ideal retirement job is one that does not feel like work. The beauty of retirement is that most of us can choose. We can choose to work or not. And it is that very freedom that is one of the ingredients to the secret sauce for a happy retirement.

Cheers to the retirement years!

Make 2026 Your Time to Soar

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

The retirement parties are over, the plaque has been given and the well wishes for a happy, healthy retirement are done. You do not have to set the alarm and trudge off to work again… ever. What happens when you wake up for the first time as a retired person? A sense of giddiness fills your gut. It is like being a kid again on that first morning of summer break when you lay in bed and daydream about what you want to do all day. And then, a few months down the road, the reality of retirement sets in, and you wonder, “what have I done?”

Retirement expectations

I am really enjoying retirement and would not choose to go back to work. But, if I am being honest, occasionally I miss work. We had a couple meetings at a lawyer’s office to do some estate planning recently. Several of us sat around the conference room table and I was suddenly in a cloud of nostalgia. I was taken back to those years sitting around a conference table discussing work issues, planning projects or debating solutions. It was energizing and felt good to be a voice at the table that was making decisions. I felt a brief wave of sadness that those years were behind me.

That sense of nostalgia for work was a quick flash in the pan, but it got me to thinking about retirement expectations and happiness. Prior to retiring, you probably imagined yourself traveling the world, sipping margaritas by the pool all afternoon or playing endless rounds of golf. But the reality is that most retirees don’t do that every day. And if you did, it would probably not be a satisfying retirement life that would sustain you for the long haul. Anything, even the good stuff, can become stale when you do it all the time.

It is at this point that people often recognize that their retirement does did not meet expectations. Now what? Or perhaps you have been retired for a while and are in a bit of a rut, wondering if this is all there is. It is the start of a new year, so it is a good time reassess, flap your wings a little and get ready to soar.

Spread your wings and soar

We have a pair of bald eagles for neighbors. They have a nest in a tree that sits over the little lake we live on. Our new favorite past-time is sitting and watching these majestic birds in their natural habitat (exciting life we have🤪). They sit in the pine trees overing the lake and patiently watch for surfacing fish. Once they find what they want, they swoop down quickly and snatch it up. They wait. They observe. They go for it. Then… they soar.

I think that we could take a lesson from these powerful birds that represent strength, freedom, determination and courage. These are the very qualities that one needs to curate a satisfying retirement lifestyle. The new year is a mark on the calendar the signals a time for reflection and evaluation. Are you satisfied with your life, or do you want to take it up a notch?

Reflect, observe and then soar like an eagle.

If you are preparing to retire, or even if you are a few years in and not enjoying retirement the way you expected, then it is time to step back and observe. Look closely, with an “eagle eye” at different hobbies, interests and volunteer activities. Observe people enjoying a full and satisfying retirement. Ask yourself a few questions:

  • What resonates with you?
  • How would you like to be living in five years?
  • When you look back on your life, what will you wish you had done during your retirement years?
  • What do you admire about other retirees?
  • What is holding you back?

There is no better time than retirement to live your dreams. Never before have you had the time, freedom and financial security to do what makes your heart sing. Curating a satisfying retirement lifestyle takes strength, determination and courage – the very qualities that bald eagles represent. It doesn’t happen by just laying on couch thinking about it.

“What if I fail? Oh, but darling what if you fly?”

author unknown

Let’s make 2026 our year to fly

So go ahead and take the first step. Spread your wings. Start the small business, call about the volunteer opportunity, join the gym, write the book, register for the class, join the Meetup group, invite the acquaintance for coffee, delve into your artistic side. See where it leads. You can’t soar until you flap your wings a little first.

Heck, we are retired so we have nothing to risk… except our preconceived notion of looking like we are in control and have it all together. We fear being the fool, the novice, or the one that does not have all of the answers. But we have everything to gain. Being curious and trying something new stirs our creative juices and adds texture to our lives.

Boldly seek out your retirement dreams.

I don’t want to look back in ten years and wonder what I did with my retirement years. As a nurse, I have seen too many people on their death bed dying with their song still in them. Living a life with too many regrets. And those regrets usually focus on the things they did not do. Not the things they did do. It is the family member that they did not reach out to after a falling out, or the adventure they did not pursue. So, let’s be bold, fierce, and strong like an eagle in these bonus years and live the retirement life that we will look back on with satisfaction and gratitude.

The beginning of the year is an ideal time to consider what you want your 2026 life to look like. Do you have some unsung dreams that you want to accomplish? Perhaps it is an adventure that is begging to be checked off of your list. Don’t wait until all of the stars align and the timing is perfect, because it is unlikely that will happen. As we get older, we recognize that we have more life behind us than ahead of us. It is a sobering awareness to live life fully today.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to a skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow – what a ride!”

Hunter S. Thompson

Cheers to the retirement years!