A Year!

It was my birthday the other day (had a lovely time, thanks to everyone for the cards and gifts) and that meant that I have now been retired for a year! I can hardly believe it, it's flown by. Most of that year has been brilliant, lots of travelling, lots of U2, lots of time to do what I really want to do. I honestly wonder how I fitted everything in and worked as well, but that's what people do don't they?

The hardest thing about stopping work has been to adjust to living on less money, but I am managing. Don't get me wrong, I know I am very lucky to be able to retire at a relatively young age and still get a thrill when my work pension appears in my account and I haven't worked for it! But then, I earned it over 30 years for it really.....

Another thing that was surprisingly hard for me was to stop being a nurse, I hadn't realised just how much nursing had become a part of me. It was a stronger part of my identity than I ever thought. I had to renew my yearly nursing registration just before I retired and that registration ran out at the end of August. Part of me wanted to renew it so I was still, legally, a nurse, yet part of me knew I had to move on and leave that part of my life behind. And that's what I did, so now I cannot practice as a qualified nurse.

After my year off I am ready to find a part time job now. I'm not really bothered what, but I'm ready to move on to something new, so I'm out there looking.....

Adaptation

It's a while since I've written in my blog. since returning from Dublin it's been a time of adaptation for me, adapting to being retired. Initially after the holiday I had a "Well, what do I do now?" phase, I was a little at a loose end for a while. I knew watching daytime TV was not going to be a good way to fill my time! But gradually, things have changed. Firstly I've started sorting improvements to my apartment and that is keeping me very busy. It's really good that I have the time to start something and really keep at it until it's finished without having work to slow the process down.

Secondly I've started catching up with all my friends and see them regularly. I've lost the social side to working so getting together with people is all the more important - as well as very enjoyable! I'm finding now that I sometimes can't fit things in my diary which can only be a good thing. I also hope to start classes in the New Year and I'll probably get to know new people who are in the same position as me that way as well.

I'll be honest, I do miss aspects of my job. I miss some of the people I worked with and I miss the caring side of my work. The latter has surprised me but it shouldn't have really, I nursed for 30 years, it's a part of me and I miss that. I have a couple of holidays to look forward to in the next few weeks, but after them I am going to do some kind of voluntary work which will be an outlet for the "nursey" side of me.

So, here I am five weeks after my last working day, still adapting to this new life, but I can truly say that, for me, the pros of retirement have outweighed the cons and I'm enjoying being a "lady who lunches." Cappuccino anyone?!

A Night of Surprises!

September 20th, my birthday and official retirement day, and I was in my favourite city Dublin. I was there with my three friends Debbi, Dianne and Julie for this celebration and also for a week's holiday.

A lot of subterfuge had been going on since our arrival in Dublin, whisperings behind my back, conversations stopping when I went into the room. My friends had told me that they were treating me to a night out and to dress nicely for the evening, I could even wear high heels as we would only be walking from a taxi to the building. I did not know what they had lined up for me, though I had an idea of where we may be going.

In the evening we all got dressed up to go out and I must say we looked really lovely - we are getting good at this dressing up lark nowadays! I came through to the living room and there were my presents and cards along with an "enthusiastic" rendition of Happy Birthday. I got fantastic presents, a silver necklace with a key on it (the key to a new life), a lovely handbag, a purple stone necklace and a beautiful bracelet which had a charm on it that symbolised nursing. Their cards were special too - and they even had a huge card made from the photo of Bono and me from when we met him last year! What great, thoughtful friends I have.

The taxi drew up outside our accommodation in Dublin and Debbi ran out to tell the driver where to go without me hearing. We piled in and drove into the city centre and headed for the place I thought we might go - The Clarence Hotel. We went in and Debbi got a bit furtive and hung back and told us to go down the corridor, Dianne, Julie and I moved on and kind of hovered, then Debbi called us back and we were ushered into The Study. On the table there were four Cosmopolitan cocktails and nibbles. That was such a big surprise, only residents are normally allowed to go into that room, so we were really honoured to be able to go in, Debbi had arranged that with a member of staff from the hotel.

The bar manager, a pleasant young man called Jordan, came in to see if everything was ok. He said he'd mixed the drinks himself, we said they were perfect, (as they were) just the way we like them.

We sat in The Study for about an hour chatting and drinking our cocktails which went straight to our heads as we had eaten very little that day! We tottered through to The Tea Room Restaurant at 8pm (not an easy task when you are tipsy, unused to high heels and are walking on slippy wooden floors!) We got there without any undignified stumbles or trips and were seated at the same table we had last year when we dined there when we stayed in the Clarence Penthouse (when got champagne and drinks from Bono!) we all sat in the same seats as well.

We all had the tuna starter which was rather salty but ok. I had the duck for the main course and it was delicious, so tender. After a break we got the menus to order our desserts, I chose mine but the others were taking their time. I asked if everyone was ready to order but they weren't, they seemed a bit distracted, but I said nothing, after all we weren't in a rush. Then the head waiter came across to Debbi and she said something to him quietly. Big mouth me asked, "What did you say to him?" and she said that it was that we'd just like to wait another ten minutes before ordering. I then noticed Debbi and Dianne take out their cameras and realised something was up!

Sure enough shortly afterwards the waiter brought across a gorgeous cake and put it in front of me. It was chocolate and had Happy Birthday Sue and Enjoy Your Retirement written onto a scroll of white chocolate on the top. They kindly only put three candles on it so it wasn't too many to blow out! Also mercifully the girls didn't sing Happy Birthday for a second time either! (Sorry girls!)

The cake was such a work of art it seemed a shame to eat it! But that didn't stop us for long and we were soon tucking into it. It was as delicious to eat as it was beautiful to look at. It was a chocolate mousse on a base of thin pastry. There was an occasional crunchy bit in the mousse and the cream around the base was violet flavoured - all the tastes and textures went together so well!

We couldn't have eaten another thing after the cake, and just sat and relaxed and chatted. It was quite late when we decided to leave (along with the rest of the cake) and as we passed The Study to order a taxi from reception Debbi and I saw Edge in there with some other people. It was only a fleeting glance but we were both pretty sure it was him. There were two large security types hovering at the door so thought that Edge probably was with some VIP in there as I doubt the security would be there for him. Pity he hadn't come in there earlier!

It had been a wonderful evening. I can honestly say that it was the best Birthday I've had, no one has ever gone to such lengths to make it such a special occasion for me before, I loved it and felt so special. I couldn't ask for more wonderful friends and thank you girls for helping me start my retirement in style and for the most brilliant Birthday ever!

Me, Debbi, Dianne and Julie in The Tea Room Restaurant at the Clarence Hotel in Dublin

That's It - I'm Officially Retired!

So, finally, I've worked my last day as a Community Psychiatric Nurse. It was very emotional saying goodbye to my workmates. They are special, caring people who all do their best for their clients. They have huge caseloads and limited resources available, yet they do a brilliant job. It was especially hard to say goodbye to my dear friend Margo. We've worked together for ten years now and shared good and bad times. Of course I'll still see Margo as a friend, but I'll miss working with her as well.

I'll miss being a nurse, I've dedicated 31 years to doing that job in various places and areas of speciality. I've enjoyed most of those years, only recently it has become less enjoyable because of staff cuts and the resulting larger caseloads and increase of stress. I feel i've done something useful with my working life, it's more than just a job, I've assisted people through difficult times and helped them get their lives back to normal.

I know this is the right tiem for me to leave psychiatric nursing, though rewarding, it is also very stressful at times and I'm ready to leave that behind now. So now I've closed the door on one part of my life and from today am opening the door on next part, it's all quite exciting!

Leaving Lunch

It's my last working day tomorrow before my (early!) retirement. Yesterday there was a leaving lunch held for me at work. I had been quite nervous about it as I don't really like being the centre of attention, but it turned out that I really enjoyed it! My present colleagues were there and so were a lot of people I'd worked with in the past over the years. It was lovely to catch up with them again and I really appreciated them coming.

There was a magnificent array of food, for someone like me who has been on a diet for months it was heaven to splurge out and tuck in! One of the admin staff made a gorgeous cake with Happy Retirement Sue on it, it tasted lovely too.

My manager Kath gave a lovely speech before giving me my gifts which were, a Radley bag (I've always wanted one but they are rather expensive), vouchers for my favourite beauty salon and a fabulous bunch of flowers. I was really touched by my colleagues' generosity. I gave a little speech, but can't really remember what I said!

I know my dear friend Margo (who works with me) was the one who got the gifts and did all the organising for this day, and boy did she do a good job, she'd make a great PA! I'm a lucky woman to have friends like that and I'll really miss not seeing her every working day. But she's retiring too next year and we can be "ladies that lunch" together then!

12 Working Days.....

12 working days is all I have until I retire! Yikes! I can't believe that day is so close. I'm ready to leave my very stressful job, but I also have very ambivalent feelings. I feel excited, nervous, happy, scared. The thought of all the things I will at last have time to do is great, as is the freedom and not getting up early on crap winter mornings! But I've worked all my adult life and know I'll miss aspects of it, one of the main things I'll miss I think is the fact I feel I am doing something useful with my life in my work as a psychiatric community nurse. To me that is important, and I enjoy helping people get their lives together once more. I'll miss a lot of my colleagues who do a brilliant job in often difficult circumstances.

On a personal note, I also am a bit worried about the reduction in income and how I'll manage - but then I can always get a little job for extra money if that happens. Somewhere like B & Q that takes a lot of older people on! LOL!

On a positve note, I do appreciate that I am very lucky to be able to retire relatively young on a full pension. It's going to be a massive change in my life that's for sure, but I think the pros will outnumber the cons in the end.

The First Step .....

I started a life changing process today - I sent off the forms to start off the procedure for my early retirement. It's always seemed so far off, yet now it's only just over three months until until I finish work as a Staff Nurse in mental health - after 31 years! Those years have gone really fast and I've enjoyed most of them and feel I have done something useful in my working life and have helped people get their lives back on track.

But now I am ready to leave, it can be very stressful work and it's time for me to move on from that. So, though the thought of not being a working person anymore and having less money is a bit scary, the main feeling I have about my retirement is one of excitement about moving on to a whole new life.