Blog

The Transition of Monday

Maggie

Mondays are very different for me as a retiree. When I was working full-time, it was a day of dread. If not careful, it was easy to sacrifice part of the weekend by thinking about what Monday would entail.

We now choose to run our errands during the week so as to avoid the weekend shopping crowd. Today, for example, I will go to Costco. I never go on the weekend if I can avoid it. Monday always seems to be the target day to ‘start’ something.

Today we started our morning walks again. It was wet from some early morning showers. The number of leaves on the ground seem to equal the number remaining on the trees, but there is still some fall color here in the foothills.

F3D3AD4D-B6B9-4C2D-B99F-761E2058A958
Today is also the day I start clearing the counters and the mantle for holiday decorations. I will put out some fall and Thanksgiving decorations even though we are not cooking this year. It is still nice to enjoy the festive nature of the season.

This week I will start unpacking our Dept. 56 New England village. In this house, they go above the kitchen cabinets for some lovely lighting ambiance and will stay up until after the new year. Since they are not Christmas themed, it is nice to get them out in advance of the other decorations.

Weekdays are a perfect time to meet friends and family for lunch. I hope to meet my niece this week to catch up with her. Restaurants can still be a little crowded for lunch, but the traffic is definitely much lighter.

I will continue to work on my NaNoWriMo novel. I am around 28,000 words now so I am on track. Last night I decided it was time to kill off one of my characters so today I am working on how best to do that.

The ability to manage my time is one of the best things about retirement. And I look forward to Monday’s now much more than when I was working.

21 thoughts on “The Transition of Monday”

  1. I like how you’re easing into the holidays, Maggie.

    I have to say that not dreading Monday is one of the things I like most about retirement, so far. It hasn’t really sunk in that this is a regular thing, but I’m getting used to it.

    I decided to wait until it gets to 40-degrees to go finish raking some leaves. It’s 39 – time for one more blog 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  3. It sounds so lovely and leisurely! I love a good mid-morning or early afternoon grocery shopping as well if my baby will allow it.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Interesting take on Mondays. I used to take Mondays off from the internet and social media, but have found over the years that is a pipe dream. I always seem to need to be available to someone for some reason on Mondays. I wonder if when we’re both retirees we’ll get into a groove like yours. Sounds lovely.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Hi, Maggie –
    Even though I loved much of my paid work, I totally dreaded Mondays (especially in the time we had staff meeting at 7:30 am) — at least he was a visionary leader trying to cram in time where he could.

    In later years, Mondays started fading quite, as I went part-time and we spent weekends and summers in the mountains. Now it’s barely on the radar, thankfully, aside from juggling traffic, as you write about.

    Sundays also had a tug in my life — anticipating Monday. Ugh.

    Thank goodness for “retirement.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Life in retirement is a gentle glide from one day to the next. I suppose it can be a slippery slope if we are not careful to keep busy with something we enjoy. I do not miss the Monday chaos of work life.

      Like

  10. Hi Maggie, i read this with interest because i’m in transition right now. having worked all my life, to suddenly “not” work is a big change for me. your words are very encouraging especially – “The ability to manage my time is one of the best things about retirement.” and the tips on how to manage your week is very appealing to me. thank you so much 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Transition is a lovely yet confusing and sometimes scary time. It is about re-imagining ourselves and discovering new paths. Enjoy the transformation, Wilma. I am sure it will be beautiful to witness.

      Like

  11. Ooh yes! Another wonderful thing to enjoy!
    My husband sometimes pouts on Sunday night, not realizing he’s robbing his own time and happiness.
    I don’t mind Monday so much, as it’s expected to be wretched and when it’s not, that’s nice. Now, Tuesdays — UGH, Lawd I hate a Tuesday.
    When I didn’t work out in the world, I did the wash on Monday and then the shopping on Wednesday or Thursday. (so as to have enough to get through the weekend, when more of the crazy is out…) I always thought that was a perk when I was young and worked retail. I could go do the things on Wednesday at 2pm or whatever, not so crowded 🙂

    Like

Comments are closed.