Goodbye Cubicle, Hello Life!

The more I talk about the challenges I’m going through as I transition to retirement, the more surprised I am to find that this is actually much more common than I thought. I have heard from several people that what I’m experiencing is similar to their own experiences. Isn’t it weird that you can be worried about something until you hear that other people have the same experience, and then you can sort of relax about it?

At any rate, as I continue researching the transition from career to retirement, the one piece of advice that I keep seeing is to keep busy, and I have embraced that advice over the last week. It has really helped, believe it or not. I’ve always known that I feel better at the end of a day where I’ve been at least somewhat active.

Staying Busy

Perhaps the most offered advice is to just let things happen as they will, but I’m tired of sitting on the couch. I’ve known for a long while that when I am less active, I don’t feel nearly as good as I do when I am busy. I don’t want to maintain a break neck pace, but I have decided that staying somewhat active is the best course of action.

My daughter and I took a private baking class this week, as part of her Christmas present from us, and it was a lot of fun. It was just us and the chef, and he showed us how he makes banana bread, cornbread, and cinnamon rolls. While it wasn’t a very hands on class, it was interesting, and I did learn things from it.

Office Make Over

I realized the other day that I had a $20 reward from Michael’s that would be expiring at the end of the week, and while I don’t need anything craft related, $20 is a lot of “money” to lose to an expiration date. Last month, I had about $15 in rewards from Michael’s that I used for holiday decor, so I thought maybe I could find some faux flowers or something there that I could buy with the $20 reward. I was specifically looking for flowers, because let’s face it, faux flowers are easier to take care of than real ones.

I found this super adorable container, and a plan began to form.

I have a bedroom that is designated to be my office, though I haven’t used as an office since we moved in. It has been mostly used as a junk/storage room, and I want to reclaim it. I’m getting started with genealogy again, and I’d really like to be able to spread out when I’m working on things, so I want to transform it from a junk room to a nice office where I can hang out during the day when I’m not busy with something else. I already have a recliner and a TV in there. Now I need to clean it up and reconfigure everything. My work is definitely cut out for me!

Small Room, Big Plans

My thought is to replace the bookcases and drawers with Kallax units along the one long, unbroken wall I have in this room. My desk will go where the drawers are now, and I will use the smaller carts for my printer and Cricut.

I have collected some cute pictures of animals wearing glasses, which will add to the whimsy of the room, and I think reflects my personality quite well. I plan to mount the TV on the wall, and I’ll add a bulletin board, and the room should be complete!

I figure it will take a couple of weeks to get the room to where I want it to be. I’m using the container from Michael’s as inspiration, and I bought some purple flowers to go in it. I think that getting this room finished will give me a huge boost of confidence, and I think it will be a nice little refuge when things get too heavy.

Inspiration Acquired!

Isn’t it funny how one small item can inspire you to transform an entire space? There are a couple of other things I want that go along with this little container, and I wanted to buy them, but I also know that until I get the room set up the way I want it to be, buying anything else would be a waste of money. I am using those items as incentive for getting this done in a timely manner.

Yep, I’m treating myself like a child right now, and planning rewards for “good behavior” and I’m ok with that. After all, even adults need incentives every once in a while.