I returned to childhood today, spending a couple of hours trading baseball cards with a friend. He lured me to his home with the promise of a unique item involving my baseball hero, Sherman Lollar of the Chicago White Sox. I dropped our two dogs off for grooming and spent time with him, looking through cards and websites for missing pieces of my collection. Baseball cards have become an unexpected retirement hobby, as is also the case with genealogy. In fact, just three years ago, I was worried about finding interesting things to do after I turned 65 and could afford to retire. In retrospect, hiring a therapist was probably unnecessary, but she helped me focus on looking ahead, as I began to “practice for retirement.” (See Poetic Post #8).

Today, I didn’t even think about having lunch. I ran my usual 5k, did some shopping errands, stopped at McDonald’s for a Diet Coke boost, got gas then a haircut, organized the baseball cards that I bought, and before I knew it the doggy spa was calling for pick-up. Two trips downtown were without much hassle and even the drive to Gladstone went quickly. Once I got the dogs home, it was time to put the pre-cooked Austin brisket that we bought in the oven for an hour-and-a-half. Tomorrow, George Morlan Plumbing is coming to install our new tank-less water heater. While they are working in the garage, I’ll do some vacuuming and dusting. “Date Night” is preempted by an American Heart Association Board Meeting that my wife is required to attend. It will give me more time to catch-up on my writing. I have put all my volunteer commitments on hold until I get tired of “my time.” (See Poetic Post #30). The subjects of “retirement practice,” “alone time,” and “redefining days of the week” were key topics when I first started writing this blog. It feels good to reflect back on those early days of retirement, knowing that I can easily keep busy. As the sign on my home office desk emphasizes, “IT’S NOT EASY – pretending to work this hard all day long.” It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

I just watched the Cubs get the “W” and continue to replay episodes of Ozark, searching for a few missing details that I must have overlooked the first time through. I didn’t even have time today to get to the library to pick-up the Ken Burns documentary I have on hold. That will be next week’s project before we head to Chicago. I also got a reminder from our travel agent about a flight change for next year’s 10-day trip to Thailand. Travel planning has obviously been a big part of my retirement gig with 70 nights away from home already this year, and another 20 scheduled before the new year. This will exceed my original 80/20 plan (See Post #323).

I’ve completed 5 items on my list of “67 Things to Do Before I’m 68” with more than 11 months to go. (See Post #642). Plus, I’m still excited to go to the mailbox each day, searching for hidden treasure. Today, it was nothing but junk mail, but yesterday there were 401k updates, travel guides, and packages of baseball cards that I ordered. Each package takes me back to the delivery of my Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, footlocker of army soldiers, and other over-hyped childish premiums that took forever to get here and were often disappointing once they arrived. I ordered a few more coveted items today for my Sherm Lollar memorabilia notebook, and may have found a fellow collector through an on-line trading post. My “card dealer” friend this morning presented me with a 1963 White Sox ticket stub from Sherm Lollar’s last game. It was every bit as exciting to me as a decoder ring delivered by the postman, or the model Edsel that I never got for Christmas, but bought for myself just a few years ago. To each their own, when it comes to collecting and other retirement projects!