Last night, late, I finished the borders on Margie’s quilt . . though you can’t see them in the picture.
Vince has been off all week and will not go back to work til after New Year’s. I suppose when husbands retire, the wife has to find a whole new normal. It’s not like he bothers me or is in my way but life is just different without the routine of going to work. We stay up later because we don’t have to get up so early. Then we sleep later and then I sit around in my pajamas way too long and then . . the morning is halfway over and then I have to hurry to get the chores done and then there’s some place to go or something to do and then it’s time to fix dinner and then . . I haven’t gotten any sewing done and after dinner I go to the sewing room and sew a few hours and then . . I’m up too late again and that’s how the days go when Vince is home.
I know that every wife who has a retired husband at home is laughing at me right now. I’ll figure it all out . . I have a few more years before Vince retires and getting through a few weeks vacation is easy enough . . I suppose.
CJ Tinkle says
The top is beautiful, Margie will love it and Nicole will be so pleased that you did this.
When Jim is home, it totally screws up whatever routine I have. I love having him home, but it’s hard to get anything done!
Diana Glasspool says
Coping with the Christmas holidays with hubby home is one thing, but he retires [early] in February so I am expecting some changes around here, hopefully for the better. I already have a mass of jobs for him to do !
Debbie Rhodes says
Mine retired a couple years ago.. He was at home for about 9 months before he started driving himself crazy… and our health insurance took a big leap in price so he has another job now., for his sanity, my sanity and health insurance. I never did figure out a routine, so hope he keeps working a while.
Linda in TX says
Mine retired almost exactly a year ago. For the three years prior, I was enjoying MY retirement with 10 hour days in the sewing room, getting all the ‘have to’ stuff done by 6:00 a.m. (and loving it!), and being back in the kitchen at 5:00 to get dinner going. Life has changed! Dramatically! After a year of some real struggles for both of us (he didn’t know what to do without work and I didn’t know what to do with him home all day), I think we’ve worked it out pretty well. But ladies – it’s a BIG adjustment for all!
Sandy in IL says
The top is beautiful! I love the blue and yellow combination.
My husband retired the day after he turned 55 and I love having him home. We spend winters in Texas ( I’m from Illinois) and DH is always finding interesting quilt stores for me in our travels. I can’t imagine being alone all day now after 10 years of having him home. Everyday is an adventure to enjoy!
Julie - Me & My Stitches says
I’m chuckling at your post. My mom always says that when Dad retires, she is going to work!
Karen Sutton says
Welcome to my world! Eventually you come to a routine that works for you both. Consider vacations a practice run.
Denise :) says
Todd’s a fire fighter and works 24 hours shifts. Twenty-four hours on, forty-eight off…so every third day. What kills *my* routine is when he doesn’t work that third day, or takes off early (or goes in late). Especially if I don’t have advance warning! Conversely, it was me ‘retiring’ that through his days off … he used to have those two off days at home alone during work hours … not so much anymore! He’s had to make a big adjustment to that! 🙂
Denise :) says
Oh good gravy, I meant to also tell you that the quilt top is marvelous! I love blue and yellow together, and the smaller square trails are particularly attractive to me! 🙂
Linda in NE says
DH was home for the weekend & Mon. & Tues. OY!! He’ll be retired by the end of next year so I’m giving the subject some thought. I’ve decided that both halves of the couple have to realize that they both had schedules before the retirement and that they still each need to do their own thing for a good share of the time. The one retiring needs to realize that the other one won’t be happy if he/she has to drop everything they’ve been doing for full-time togetherness. And the one who has been home all along or has been retired for a while needs to get used to having another person around all the time. Our issue will be the fact that DH thinks he has to eat at exactly 12 & 6 and that someone (me) should drop everything and fix it for him. I’m more of a eat breakfast, have lunch when I’m hungry and then make supper kind of person. He’s definitely got an adjustment coming there because I AM NOT cooking two full meals and doing all the included clean-up every day.
Jevne says
You’re too funny, Judy, that’s partly what keeps us reading your blog! I’m waiting for the day that DH retires, but when he has two or three days off he doesn’t know what to do with himself whereas Vince always has a project. The blue and yellow quilt is lovely.
Patsy Seay says
My DH is home all day – I know what all of you are talking about! It’s just something that has to be worked out when it happens. lol I much less time than I did before his retirement.
Angie says
“Then we sleep later and then I sit around in my pajamas way too long and then . . the morning is halfway over and then I have to hurry to get the chores done and then there’s some place to go or something to do and then it’s time to fix dinner and then . . I haven’t gotten any sewing done “—Judy.
Welcome to my world! Bill retired at 55.
Kathleen says
My dh retired over 2 years ago, but I still work. When I come home, he’s ready to talk, talk, talk about whatever he’s been thinking about all day. I need transition time. Love him dearly, but sometimes have to tune him out!
Michelle says
Whenever DH changes from working days to working evenings it takes an adjustment. I love having him home, but tend to not get as much done when routine is interrupted
. I suppose when he retires we will develop a routine, but that is several years down the road. He will retire this year from his Postal job if he can find another job. He’s often said he doesn’t really ever want to stop working.
The quilt is wonderful!
Lee says
Beautiful blue & yellow!
You are so right about a ‘new normal’ when the hubs is home, whether retired or extended time off work. Mine used to work from home on Fridays – just didn’t seem right and though all he did was sit in his chair at his computer, it was just plain different and ‘interfering’ with my day. Mine’s also home until after the 1st, and our son is out of school until the 8th, so lots to ‘work around’.
Debbie says
Oh boy, do I hear you on this one, Judy. My husband is home this week also and life has been less than normal for sure! Today, we have snow and we took down all the Christmas decorations.before all the snow cleanup begins. It is like it wasn’t even Christmas 2 days ago!!!! My husband can’t sit still. I’m tired! 🙂
Pam says
Another winning quilt.
Mike retired six months before I did. I worked nights. It was okay to sleep during the day when he was away at work but not while he was off and playing.
He tells everyone that it was the best six months!
It has been six that we are retired. We have adapted well. Plus he has friends that call for him to go fishing, hunting, shopping, or helping out with a project.
Retirement is good.
Terri says
We’re not retired but my husband and I have both worked from home since 1995, most of that in a 12 x 11 foot room. It’s a LOT of togetherness, but we’ve managed it well. After nearly 40 years of marriage there’s not much we disagree on any more and we laugh a lot together.
Nicole’s mom is going to love that quilt. It’s beautiful!
Charlene says
my retired father was kicked out of mothers kitchen when he put the spice shelves in alphabetical order!!!
Josie says
Margies quilt is awesome ..my two cents is men arrange
things differently than women .. not sure what their
method is but very different than mine.. lOL
Pat Hathaway says
The only thing you didn’t include after retirement is the depression the hubby goes through when he realizes he doesn’t have anyone to boss around any more. My hubby retired at 62 a few years ago in the fall, and at Christmas time he had a little too much to drink. I sent our son with him when he wanted to walk the dogs and while they were alone he told him, “I used to have 30 women who had to do what I told them to do, they had to listen to me!” I guess I wasn’t being obedient enough. LOL Then he fell in love with our grand kids and had a new purpose in life. Now he says he is so glad he retired when he did, he wouldn’t have missed being a grandfather for anything.
A friend’s hubby was an engineer and when he retired he started doing things like drawing diagrams of how she should do her cake decorating. She just about went ballistic!
I’m sure Vince will at least have enough outside interests and hobbies to keep him busy. But he will probably want you to go shopping with him All the time. LOL
Teresa in Music City says
I have the same problem Judy! My husband has a few more years before retirement, and every time he is off for vacation it drives me crazy. Like your husband, he’s not really in my way or asks anything of me, but it’s just *different*!!! I keep telling him that when he retires, I may have to go to work :*D
CindyM says
It’s an issue, isnt’ it ladies? In March, I went to reduced time, taking off every Monday and still taking off my every other Friday.. Mondays were my blissful day…no one around, nothing to do to get ready for the weekend. Some were productive and some not, but that was okay… it was my day to choose what I did. Then, Bronco football started, and my husband started going into the office on Bronco Sundays (he’s the sports editor of the Denver newspaper), so he announced he’d take Mondays off. YIKES!!!!!! Couldn’t he take some other day? Nope. So I’d look forward to when they were playing on Monday night, or Thursday night, so he wouldn’t be home on Mondays. At least football season is coming to a close and I’ll have my Mondays back to myself!!!!
Sherry Moran says
We’ve been retired 10 years and I still don’t have a routine!!
You’re so right about the day passing so fast when you get up
so late – I keep telling myself to get up by 7, but it’s usually closer to 9 and then I go to Curves for about 45 min. and next thing I know, it’s afternoon! Let me know if you figure it out!
Sherry in Carrollton, TX.
Sue in Scottsdale, AZ says
I love this quilt. You’ve created another winner! My husband is semi-retired and when he is home I don’t seem to get anything done. He always wants me to be with him running around with him all the time shopping for things I am not interested in – car parts he doesn’t need and “stuff” at the hardware store. May days I just really want and need to be by myself to do my “thing”. I do love my DH but I am really dreading the day he completely retires and is home more often. I know exactly what you are going through.
Peg H says
ROFL – Thanks for that laugh, Judy! Better Half has been working from home since December 24th, and informed me this evening that he won’t go back to the office until January 2nd. 2013. NEXT YEAR. BAH!!! (Okay. I know it’s only a few more days. But seriously – it’s NEXT YEAR.)
As you said, it’s not that I don’t want him around, but my schedule is not my own when he’s here. I’m very strict about my work schedule (I work full time from home), and that means no TV, no radio (unless I’m in the shop), a set time for lunch – and for a certain amount of time – just as if I were going to an office every day. He can’t “concentrate” without the TV on; I can’t concentrate with that noise in the background. I go downstairs to work in the shop; he has to follow me down there to see what I’m doing or tell me about some article he just read or see if I want to go OUT for lunch …. well, you know. If I have orders to take to the post office he wants to know why they can’t be picked up the next day. (Because our policy is same-day shipping on in-stock items! It’s WRITTEN ON THE WEBSITE. [The emphasis is for HIM.]) It’s crazy, but I know on January 2nd I’ll be feeling a bit lost and lonely …. 😀
Linda says
O.K., I’m laughing again! Judy, Judy, Judy!, I can hardly wait for Vince to retire so I can hear about all the funny things he does and his projects. I love you guys! And you are so organized – you will survive. Just don’t let him involve you in his projects like most men try to do, unless, of course, you want to get involved.
Sharon says
We were lucky enough to both be able to retire at a fairly young age – retirement wise. After fifteen years, we are still enjoying it. I always thought it was kind of insane that we spent most of our time at work with people we didn’t always necessarily like that much, instead of with the person we specifically chose to spend the rest of our life with. We live on a small timber acreage, so there’s always plenty to keep us busy outside.
Margie’s quilt is very pretty. Blue and yellow is a favorite color combination.