How I fill my time after retirement

Hostessing

A nice job for a retiree is hostessing for new show homes. For me, it’s maximum three - four hours at a time and I have worked any where from two to five days a week. I can accept less hours if it’s affecting my retirement gig, or if I have other plans but the little bit of extra money in my bank account doesn’t hurt. In this city there are quite a number of home builder/developers and like any line of work, you can expect a certain number of hosts or hostesses to come and go.

Writing and Art

If you’ve always wanted to write, this kind of activity can eat up an entire day/month/year. I started with a non-fiction Memoirs book which was incredibly long and convoluted. I researched the how to and once I sent it off to various publishers the waiting game began. In the meantime, I started another book, this time fiction in the historical fiction/family saga genres. At the same time, I paint with acrylic paints and experimented with illustrating a children’s book. My grandchildren loved it, so there’s that. Not to mention the main animal characters were all named after them.

Fortunately, I lucked onto an ad for a free webinar about literary agents and how to get published. The information is life-changing and I am working my way through it.

For your information, what I discovered is that for non-fiction, you send a proposal document (between 30-70 pages long of your business plan before you actually write the book. Oops! As usual, I have done it bass ackwards. Oh well.

For fiction, you do write the book first and for children’s, there are agents for picture books which I would like to explore. 

Gardening

If you have big trees that suck up all the moisture, maybe containers are for you. I have done container gardening for some time with tomatoes and cucumbers, but recently had potatoes suggested. Hmm ...I will give it a try. I was fortunate to receive raised garden beds from my family and they sure save the back.

Playing an instrument

I have played piano since I was a kid but am enjoying a keyboard. I bought an electric guitar and received a very old fiddle for Christmas one year. I want to learn both. Recently, I was lucky to talk to a friend who could show me the basics for the fiddle. I bought a how to book and watched You Tube videos so this should help.

Baking, cooking, crocheting, knitting, games, biking, and yard work are a few others. If you’re bored and can go for a walk, plug in the headphones to listen to an audiobook. If you have a treadmill, watch walking tours of various countries and essentially, walk around the world! I have walked around places like Hawaii and Las Vegas.

I want to learn how to sculpt and do stained glass. I would love to play in a band or sing back up (although that might be a pipe dream with my pitchy alto voice). The best though is interacting with friends and family whenever possible.

Did I mention I am neither talented nor gifted but sure am having fun trying out new experiences! Don’t let lack of talent stop you, practice makes perfect!