It’s official – on Tuesday 31st July I will be leaving work – (notice I say leaving not retiring) for at this point I am not sure what my immediate future holds, and also notice I say immediate future as my working life at 64 is becoming increasingly shorter.
So at present I am saying goodbye to all my colleagues and everything I have known for the last 19 years… to venture into the unknown.
I am not able to draw on my state pension until May 2020 – so a while to go yet and it will be a challenge to see if we can survive on just the pension of DH. His first instalment has just been deposited in our bank account. I think we have paid out bigger bills!
I can’t even believe we have reached pensionable age – it has come round quicker than expected. What happened to all those years that used to stretch ahead of us and are now behind us? Do I sound a little scared – I could easily be if I sat and thought about it too much.
I have a number of alternative opportunities at this point, other than just to retire. I have been approached by one or two people to work within the Legal Aid sector that I know and love but remotely from home (I quite like the idea). But and this is a big but, I do want to have some quality time for myself to do all the things I am passionate about – gardening – crafting – painting, and some time just to be rather than to do and I want to do all these whilst I am generally still fit and able.
So lots of decisions to make and lots of challenges ahead of which I will no doubt keep you posted along the way. Any tips or advice welcome.
Apologies for anyone trying to leave a comment recently and thank you to the people who have hijacked other bloggers commenting page to get a message to me. It seems that WordPress Twenty Seventeen theme that I chose is not comment friendly so I have now switched themes – so I hope this solves the problem and I would love to hear from you if you would like to try again.
On the same note there are a number of blogs mainly on Blogger that I used to comment on that have recently changed and only allow Google account uses now for comments and I cannot sign into mine. I would love to leave you a comment if you could adjust your comment drop down to include the ‘Name/URL’ version.
So that is all the technical stuff taken care of and I am now about to run around in a frenzy trying to pack to go up to the cottage for a couple of weeks. The weather sounds good and I am sure our jungle of a garden up there will need quite a bit of attention. I am also hoping for a trip out on the Waverley paddle steamer – one of my favourite holiday treats.
Back soon x
where the journey takes me 2 
Best of luck whatever you decide, there is definitely more to life than work.
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Hi Enid – I know there will be – most people always wonder how they had time to work when they stop.
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Found the commenting button at the top by your headline. Happy you were able to adjust the blog so people can keep in touch.
I can certainly understand your trepidation in leaving your job, but think I might also understand (to some degree) your desire to leave now. Though I was past the age of retirement when I finished with my job at the end of the year, I found the combination of a long commute and a workplace that had become an unpleasant environment were enough for me to pack it in after almost 30 years. For me, it was the right decision, especially as the non-profit work I did has been badly impacted by the political turmoil caused by the idiot in the WH (as you can tell, I have no opinion). Since I have left, almost everyone else near my age also retired. I think many would have worked a bit longer, but poor leadership and unfair staffing practices were simply too much.
My suggestion for you is to follow your instincts. Enjoy some quality time doing the things you love and then take stock of your life and decide what you do (or don’t) want to do in the near future. If at some point the remote working job will fill some short-term income gaps, and it would be something you enjoy, fine, but if you also find you can get along without the extra income until your pension is available, then perhaps that is your answer.
Best of luck in the coming months as you make crucial decisions. Will follow your journey with caring interest.
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Thank you Mary for your encouraging words. You are right that the workplace for me has now become unrecogniseable – partly due to new but poor leadership, my long term colleagues also leaving and of course the death of my friend and colleague that worked along side me. There are no laughs anymore (we would belly laugh until the tears rolled). What happened I ask myself, when did it change so much without me noticing. I think I feel relieved now to have taken that critical step and handed in my notice. Looking forward to the next part of the journey.
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Nice to be back in touch Viv. The weather here is amazing and set to last for a bit for your cottage stay and trip on the Waverley! Enjoy!
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It is sweltering here in Yorkshire about 24C I think. At least the Waverley is a cool place to be although we haven’t booked anything yet – we need to see how the garden is doing it might be a jungle up there.
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Congratulations. Enjoy yourself..
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At this point I am not sure of what I am going to be doing but enjoying myself will be a high priority.
If you read this reply Ann – I am not able to comment on your blog anymore as your comment box is set to Google Account holders only. Are you able to set your comments to include ‘Name/URL’ in the drop down box so I can comment in future as I miss our little chats.
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