I wanted to keep balance in my life, and so I set aside days during the week to do certain things. I set daily little goals for myself. When those things are accomplished, I sew. It's easy to spend too much time on the computer. Beware.

I have not retired yet=41 years in nursing-but I have thought about it. I love my quilting but do have to make time for the hubby else he will feel neglected. I have thought about volunteering at the local hospice- I do dream about a day when I will never have to get up at a certain time and be at work. I do think however that retirement is what you make of it.

Lucky you!!! I started working at 14 and I'm almost 61 now. I'll probably never be able to retire (thank you Wall Street). But my brothers and 3 best friends are all retired. They definitely keep busy. One teaches gun safety and cleaning and target practice (he's an ex-cop), one makes quilts 5 days a week for Project Linus, one works part time, etc. They all sat at home for about a month to just enjoy the freedom but then got bored.
Congratulations. You're still young enough to start another career doing something you really love and no stress.

Here is my best advice: If you have a basement that you will be using, start walking up and down steps whenever you can at work. This has been my biggest obstacle since retirement. I bet I am up and down the basement steps 10 to 20 times a day. I was not prepared when I retired, it just about did me in! Also, take your time before you leap into too much. And, practice saying "no". I came from a very stressful job and spent the first summer drinking coffee on the deck and just trying to relax. It is worth it!

I've been retired for 15 years & like others wondered how I found time to work. Don't worry, everything seems to fall in place. I was 47. I still have not learned to say "no".

That is what we always say too :-)

I don't .......

I just enjoy getting up each morning and doing whatever comes to mind..........

I did alot more sewing and alot more TV watching...but usually with hand sewing. I was a TV watcher before but live in a small town with not much going on during the day, no shopping malls, no daytime movies, just uninterestng stores...summertime I golf alot. That keeps me fit and in the winter not much....

Poorly. :oops:

I found that no matter what I had planned, life happened. My husband was diagnosed with life limiting disease in January. We moved from from California to Oklahoma (temporary until we decided where we wanted to lived on a permanent basis) in May. In September our youngest son who was in college was in a car accident and suffered extensive brain trauma. In December we moved to Dallas to be near medical facilities for his treatment. He gradually got better after 3 years and we started thinking about going back to our retirement planning. Then my mother started ailing and had to move in with us. 5 years later she died. Then I had a wreck and 3 back surgeries. This is LIFE as it really is. Now I'm 70, DH is 72 and we've lost interest and energy in traveling as a life style and the extra money is gone. But our years were invested in the people we loved.