Tobe Frank – Retirement or just tired?

 To be frank, I think my life in retirement was proving to be busier than my life at work!  And I still hadn’t worked out exactly what it was I wanted to do with all my spare time…I guess if I actually had some spare time I’d probably work out what I wanted to do with it…and at this point, sleep, was looking like a distinctly good idea. 

I’m more re-tired than retired.  Re-tired from organizing our financial affairs, re-tired from all the shopping, re-tired from reorganizing the lounge room furniture just so the missus can see what looks like before moving it back to where it was originally, suggesting it was my stupid idea in the first place.  Just tired…re-ally-tired.

I remember when my own children were young, I’d actually look forward to Mondays…a chance to go to work and rest a little from the bedlam and chaos that rained at home on the weekend with three young rug rats running ragged and us running them round the ‘burbs to every sporting event, birthday party and door opening you can imagine.  Monday brought my reclining director’s chair, a steaming cuppa coffee and some peace and quiet…ah sheer bliss.  Damn you gold watch!

Since receiving said watch and tucking the chair under the desk for the last time, I seem to have been pulled from pillar to post…or should that be real estate agent to financial planner, from Freedom to Bed Bath’n’Table, from in-laws to lawyers themselves.  Whatever ever it was it didn’t really seem to be fun.

The advertisements for retirement had scenes of the missus and I walking hand in hand down the beach, with our pants rolled up, but getting wet frolicking in the shallow waves and looking into each others aging but adoring eyes.  It had us enjoying a crisp Semillon sauvignon blanc with pan seared tuna, caper berries and watercress.   It had us enjoying the company of friends at dinner parties and folk festivals.

It didn’t have shopping, redecorating, errands and lawyers fees.  Where had my newspaper time gone?  18 holes followed by a long session at the 19^th?  What about bobbin’ about in the tinne fishing?  Nup…Pillow Talk and Andrews LightUp.  I can tell you the only thing lighting up was my temper.

Watching paint dry sounded like a good to me right now.