Just a couple of jobless goof-offs

Fond memories with work friends.

Three years ago life as my family knew it was turned upside-down: I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Four surgeries and 11 months later, I got a clean bill of health.  A few days after that, my husband retired from his job with the FAA and began planning how and when we'd fulfill our dream of gallivanting around the world together.

We have been waiting patiently for certain events to fall in place, and now they finally have:

• Child = happily settled in college   
• House = sold
• Car = sold

Now a final step: this Thursday was my last day of work.  Ever.  (Or, at least until I'm through playing Vasco da Gama and perhaps get bored - though at this moment I don't foresee that happening!)

Who wouldn't look forward to chucking their alarm clock and relinquishing the burdens of holding a 9-to-5 in exchange for new vistas under new horizons?  Not gonna lie, I certainly did!

But, like dark chocolate, I taste all kinds of bittersweet...I really loved my work, and genuinely enjoyed my daily interactions with everyone at the office. I'm glad for the whirlwind of farewell luncheons and hugs and shared excitement for my future meandering endeavors.

So as I finish the last minute details before leaving town, I will remain grateful for the friends I've made, and for those who choose to stay in touch with me after I've left this town.

Now, since we don't have jobs to get to, its on to final packing!

Farewell card from my awesome team

Yes, we are really doing this!

Two weeks after my 46th birthday, my husband and I sold our home, I quit my job, and we bought one-way tickets to Europe.

Todd and I have taken a few vacations abroad during our marriage, but a couple of years ago we began talking seriously about seeing the world while we still had our good health.  Now it was time to stop talking and start walking.  Put up or shut up.  Like the Nike ad says, Just do it!

Why not go now?  Just because we aren't "typical" retirement age?  That's no compelling reason not to.  Didn't we yearn to wake up in Paris or Pisa or Crete or Croatia, with no job to hurry off to, and the only agenda for the day being "taste something new"?  That's compelling!

Not every couple is on the same page when it comes to travel.  In fact, in most that we know, one half of the pair longs to tour far and wide while the other wants nothing more than to deepen their hometown roots.  So Todd and I know we are lucky to both want to do this, at the same time, together.

Throughout the commotion of wrapping up our whole life and planning (loosely) the first leg of our tour, I've discovered these things:

1. We have accumulated a lot of stuff.
2. Books, when loaded into a box, are really heavy.
3. It's emotionally taxing to pack away all your personal things, knowing it might be a long time before you see them again. 
4. It's even harder to select just a few items to take on a trip of unknown duration, especially when it all has to fit into a small carry-on.  (More on this in another post.)

Also unexpected is the emotional roller coaster of paring down nearly 22 years of married life into a few boxes.   Giving away books and furniture and clothes is easy; they are just things.  But I didn't grasp just how much I adore my house, a darling 1925 Tudor, until I realized that soon somebody else will call it home.

Exciting as it is to be taking the steps to fulfill this dream, it's not easy to walk away from life as I know it for unfamiliar everything.

But (deep breath) I'm truly looking forward to sharing new experiences with my husband.   Hand-in-hand, with heartbeats racing, we'll begin our adventure in ten days.

I'll let you know how it turns out.