RETIREMENT is HERE + Life Updates

Finally, the time has come. In this video, I share my thoughts across the days of December with you as my retirement day approached. There were a few twists, turns, and concerns along the way. You can watch it here.

Since then, I took most of the month off from vlogging itself. I did release 3 different Christmas videos in December also, so all in all I still made the same number of videos across the month, but just in my own time instead of on Saturday. We all had to flex in December. Nothing is normal then.

We have had two sets of family in town and loved having them. No one stayed at our house but we got to see everyone many times through the December days. Everyone has arrived home now. We ate to celebrate retirement, we ate and celebrated Christmas and had a great time.

My sister was in the hospital during Christmas week and I was worried about her. She had surgery on her colon and is dealing with all that goes with that. She is home now. It was the inflammation and damage from radiation and chemo, she says, that caused a weak spot in her colon. She has said for months that her stomach has not been right. So this finally played out over the holidays. I felt so bad for her going through this and then to have to be going through it at Christmas.

I also had a family member that showed disrespect and drama – just simply over where/when we would be eating and not wanting to be flexible while we waited for other members to get back in town. She was impatient and showed her inability to act like an adult and be able to go with the flow like the others. There always has to be one in the crowd that has to make everything about themselves. Everyone else was willing to be patient. This happens at the most surprising times. I should be used to it by now but then I so easily forget and get fooled that she really doesn’t care about anyone but herself. I keep thinking surely it must not be true.

But we did have to cancel the original plans as the family members traveling got stuck on the interstate and wasn’t sure how long it would take. But….It wasn’t before the disgruntled family member called everyone else “ridiculous” (to have to wait on them) and declared that “she had already eaten” and “didn’t want to go out to eat now”. (Same person wonders why no one wants to go out of their way to see her or talk to her.) However, she ended up going anyway with us crew that did get to go and she ate twice. I vowed never to invite the person again to a big family event outing – especially if the timing and even was “up in the air” as she does not have the tolerance to wait or be flexible and then wants to be ugly about it, creating a negatively energized atmosphere that no one wants to be in. And so I didn’t invite her when we had the next family dinner, so we could be without the drama, but I told other family members they could invite her if they wanted.

I basically don’t have time for this kind of behavior at Christmas so I tried to move on and not let the ugliness hurt Christmas as there were so many other family members bursting with love and good intentions instead of hate and selfishness.

But you know me, I don’t leave out the REAL. I show the thorns. Because it’s a reality that one has to deal with (or not -because I’m just over it and don’t deal with it anymore and draw boundaries by leaving when it occurs, or never inviting again, etc.). I used to have to think you needed to tell people when you drew a boundary, but with a narcissist, I don’t think it is going to make a difference. Sometimes they just don’t need to know when they have been “boundaried”. They will just be left to wonder. As they are not going to improve anyway, in most cases.

We did have a great Christmas and enjoyed our times out with family. It all happened so fast. I prayed that I would not get sick at Christmas as I do every year. God answered my prayers. I did not begin getting the flu until after midnight Christmas night. I began getting a scratchy throat and stuffy nose. It was hard to sleep. I pushed through and felt good until Noon on the 26th and got a lot of clean up done in the house and gifts up. However, mid-afternoon found me in bed with fever. Nearly 103 by midnight and George handing me a cold compress. Acetaminophen is bringing the fever down. I have had a runny nose for a day and now it’s moving more into a coughing situation. George is sickly also but seems to only have the cold part and not the flu part.

So it’s a good thing I’m off! I think maybe next week will be a better week to see what retirement feels like. It’s only felt like a holiday week so far but I have appreciated a few days with no alarm and the ease of which I could do things. Even if we are in holiday mode.

I’ve already begun working on the new year goals for 2025 but can’t shoot the video til I can talk again and when I don’t feel bad. So I’ll probably go head and release the Texas videos from Thanksgiving as that got behind so I could bring you some real time Christmas videos.

Anyway, my intention here on the blog is to do updates 2 to 3 times a week of personal updates instead of just video updates weekly. I could use the journal time to vent sometimes but we’ll see how the new schedule plays out. It’ll be interesting and fun to see. I also will be working on a retirement vlog about the first weeks of retirement and my “new schedule”. I’m truly so excited – even though I’m sitting her with a 100 degree fever. So NO, we didn’t go to church today.

Ok if you read the update and need the video link again, you can watch it HERE. Thanks again and see you in a few days.