Its just about a year since I left work, so time for the annual update. I left on 6 months long service leave, hoping to be able not to return due to being very close to my number, but not knowing whether that was going to be possible. As events turned out, I retired.
Quick recap:
- on my last day of work I got a phone call from my 91 year old mother to say she was sick. Within a month she had died :(. One of my hopes for my LSL was to spend more time helping her out, but it was not to be.
- this left my brother and I with the long term family home to sort out: full of 60 years worth of stuff. We removed > half a ton ( 500kg) of paper alone. We decided to clean it up and sell it: by March the deed was done. Since we both live at a distance it was a bit of a saga.
- renovations on the flip house were largely completed on the inside, but the DA to subdivide it off foundered, largely due to being on fire prone land, and the red tape this involves.
- not having the DA through meant in theory I had to go back to work since I would need the cashflow to pay for ongoing reports/works etc, but unfortunately due to mother's death, my share of the proceeds of family home meant I was able to retire. Bitter sweet, retirement by inheritance.
-still working on sorting/donating removing stuff from mother's house, relocated to mine in a hurry.
- went on 2 fabulous trips : one for 2 weeks to Tasmania, and one for 2 months to Northern Canada with my travelling buddy
@deborah. The Canada trip is chronicled in my journal more or less. A visit to Nunavut, Tuk and the Dempster highway have been on my bucket list for 15 years.
- lost weight (13kg or 2 stone or 28lbs) and got fitter...joined a gym, started swimming again, and was gifted a kayak. Saw a physio, followed advice and the achilles tendonitis that has got worse and worse over the last decade, is nearly gone. It got to the point I was shuffling like and old person and I thought I would never be able to hike again. Completed a 7km "run" at a walking pace. I will go again next year and see how much I have improved.
- acquired 4 miniature goats to help keep the weeds at bay on the property. Still learning about goat-keeping.
- some progress in my garden, but not as much as I would have liked. Still finding and clearing about rubbish around the place.
- bought a ute as a work horse around the place, and joined a 4WD club as a side interest. Drove the most amazing tracks on the induction weekend.
- found it harder that I thought to finally terminate my medical registration...a bit of a surprise to me.
- had a fabulous time at CM*TO, meeting internet friends and a few others too.
So a roller-coaster of a year....but on balance: Life is good.