QUESTIONS
What’s your favorite way to spend a day off? If you’re retired, what’s something you now include in your schedule that you dreamed about while employed?
I am in a kind of between work and retirement limbo land. I am not old enough to claim the age pension but realistically it is unlikely that I will work again. I am required to either look for work or do volunteer work to claim social services. I volunteer at the local visitor centre once a week and I call it “work” although it is a lot of fun. The rest of the time is mine to do as I please so the concept of days off is a bit irrelevant to me these days. I don’t think that I’ve added anything to my schedule that I could only dream of when I worked. I could say blogging as I didn’t start until I was no longer working. However, when I was working I had never considered becoming a blogger. I’m not sure I even knew what a blog was.
Now that Covid isn’t so strictly monitored and folks can go out and about again, are you into after-work happy hours?
Do you mean at the pub? Not being at work I don’t have to wait till after hours to do that but in fact I don’t go to pubs to drink. Haven’t done that for over 20 years. I used to sometimes have a drink with my co-workers on a Friday afternoon when I was working at a hotel in Adelaide but never here in Tassie. Covid has really affected my life very little because many of the things we couldn’t do during Covid I either didn’t do anyway or wouldn’t have been able to because of my lack of transport even if there were no Covid.
What physical traits do you share with your relatives? (Example: I have my mother’s nose)
Naomi and I both have a mole in the exact same place on our faces.
How long does it take you to decide if you like someone or not?
It varies. Usually I try not to make a snap decision but some people I take to right away and others I don’t. However, I often find that the people I am not immediately attracted to become good friends over time.
GRATITUDE SECTION
Feel free to share some wisdom you live by.
I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this sort of thing but here are a couple of thoughts.
I think that it is important to work but also to give yourself permission to have fun as well. I think it is important to have a life outside of work and chores. It doesn’t matter what it is, a hobby, sport, collecting something, travelling, reading. The important thing is that it brings you enjoyment.
I also think that if life is going well for you it’s good to give back or pay it forward in some way by doing something for others. Help out a friend or a family member, support a charity or a cause, volunteer in the community.
Lastly, don’t forget to appreciate the small things that make life pleasant. I was hanging out the washing this morning and I spotted a finch in the gum tree. It had lovely yellow feathers. It didn’t seem to notice me so I watched it for a while and noticed how well it blended into the colour of the leaves. I looked away to peg up another item and when I looked back it was gone.
Our Other Blog: Two Sisters and Two Points of View 
Thanks Vanda for Sharing Your World! It sounds like your life has been rewarding and fulfilling, and that’s the biggest goal I can think of. You seem to enjoy the world very much (but you also live in an extremely beautiful country) and the finch? What a lovely spot of color! I was at lunch with the people who drove me to my eye appointment last week. We picked up some burgers (they did, I can’t even stand that anymore) and I had a turkey sandwich. We drove to a little out of the way park I know of (it is located behind a derelict building) and suddenly there was a squirrel. I chuckled thinking about E.S. and his squirrels. Well the homeless or someone must have been feeding the squirrels because suddenly there were five or six, popping up to peek at us and see (I suppose) if we’d dropped a treat. Nature is so comforting! Have a wonderful week! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Squirrels are so cute. We don’t have them here but we do have possums which are different from the opossums you have in the USA,
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve heard that, but I honestly don’t know the difference. I do have Google for that fortunately. 😄 I love squirrels and chipmunks and all kinds of little furries critters like them. Out here in the Western United States they also have ‘ground squirrels” (akagroundhogs or prairie dogs) which I don’t think are seen much beyond the mid-Western States. Those critters are fairly destructive though. I’ve heard possums can be quite fierce.. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our possums sound terribly fierce but look really cute. I daresay they would give you a nasty bite if cornered though.
LikeLike
I think my dream when I was working WAS retirement. As far as I’m concerned, not having to commute, not being under a permanent deadline, not have to be locked in a cubicle for 8 or 10 hours four or five or more days a week IS a dream. Even without enough money, its still better that working.
I have learned to not jump to quick conclusions about people. It’s easy to take first impressions and assume they are the whole story — only to later discover they aren’t even the preface.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Retirement should be when you finally get to do the things you wanted to do not the things you have to do. Some people seem to dread retirement fearing they would have nothing to do but the retired people that I know always seem to be busy doing something. I used to have a regular lunch with a group of friends, all older than me so they were retired. It was always hard to arrange a get together because everyone had hobbies and interests that kept them busy, community radio, gardening and boat restoration were just a few of the things they were into. Not to mention all the required doctors’ appointments and household chores. Nobody ever complained of boredom.
LikeLike
Take up a hobby. I carve wooden heirloom rocking horses.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds like a great hobby. I love to see things like that.
LikeLike