As a teacher, I may have more of a hint into what retirement is like. After all, I have eight (unpaid) weeks off in the summer. This is definitely a nice work schedule.
When I'm not working, I do cook more, including complicated projects like making homemade cheese; and I do make homemade presents to save for Christmas. I sleep more, read more, go out to lunch more often.
When I'm working, I sometimes end up "shortchanging projects" and/or spending more because I lack time. I usually manage to keep a reasonable balance in this regard, but -- for a number of reasons -- work in December just kicked my butt, and I was behind in every way. The result was that some of our Christmas projects were lackluster -- by that, I don't necessarily mean gifts, but I ended up bringing veggie trays or meatballs-in-a-crockpot to gatherings, whereas I usually make incredible homemade cheesecakes with a choice of homemade sauces. In contrast, my mom brought my girls these fantastic homemade gifts, which they LOVED. I was definitely a little jealous that she'd had the time to turn out those lovely things.