It must be spring! I’ve officially changed my retirement uniform from  long-sleeved Columbia shirts to short-sleeved styles. The jeans are still the same, but I do wash them on occasion. One pair has a hole in the knee to distinguish them from the other. It’s great to no longer have to lay-out fancy work outfits the night before. There was a time when I’d iron all my shirt, suit & tie combinations while polishing my shoes for the entire week on Sunday nights. This was when I was really career motivated. I’d also wear French cuffs, collar-bars, cuff-links, suspenders, and a pocket scarf to make me even more of a dandy. Any more, it’s just a matter of a clean shirt and jeans to start the day. I may even switch to shorts soon. On “Date Night” I will change into a fancier button-down shirt. However, with all restaurants closed of late I haven’t taken the trouble to upgrade for just “Take-Out.”

It’s been a full month since we’ve been in a movie theater, having wasted a month of our annual passes. Hopefully, Regal Theaters will  give us an extension. Our last sit-down in a restaurant was three weeks ago and I haven’t had a cocktail since. Life has changed and social behavior will probably never resort back to handshakes and hugs. They were always such awkward gestures of affection anyway, trying to decide who expected or rejected the formality. Elbow and fist bumps for everyone! 

I had to make a Diet Coke run yesterday – my guilty little pleasure while snacking on bottomless cookies and bags on cheap chocolate bars. To fight the waistline bulge, I’ve tried to get in at least one lengthy walk in the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine that I don’t get much of on my sunrise runs. Other than that I’m at my desk most of the day. My car has not left its parking spot for weeks, although my wife has taken her car on a couple of grocery outings. Gas is cheaper because its been unnecessary. Fortunately, we’re not stuck in the suburbs, there’s always a lot going on in our downtown neighborhood, but apartment life leaves little to do – just call maintenance. 

It’s “Good Friday” – like there ever is a bad one! Even in retirement, it remains a special day of the week, only because it was so anticipated all those years on the job. “Working for the Weekend,” by Loverboy would come to mind. In fact, even though every day is now a Friday, there’s nothing better than the actual day. Some people might prefer a Saturday, but many have that day off, so in my mind it’s not quite as appealing. We’ll do “Take-Out” tonight in support of our Chinese restaurant neighbors. Thai was our ultimate choice for date night carry-out earlier this week, just a few blocks away, contributing to our hodge podge of left-overs. 

Easter cards arrived for the grand-kids, and I got my very first “Thank You, Pa..pa” from my son’s adorable one-year old baby girl. She was prompted by her 10-year old sister, who sent me the video. Their teenage brother also got his $20 reward. I remember when my grandparents would send me holiday cards with cash, a tradition that I have continued. I can recall the excitement of receiving a $1 bill – the card never really mattered. If my math is correct, these kids still have five grandpas and six grandmas, another sign of modern times to go along with gift inflation. At least, maybe I’ll be remembered for my Andrew Jackson’s.

As part of today’s hodge podge of comments, my wife bought us a couple of 1,000 piece jig-saw puzzles, and enticingly spread the pieces of one out on our dining room table. It’s yet to be touched! Her intent was to give me something else to do, drawing me out of my office. When we would go to her sister’s for Christmas, there would always be a puzzle that I was “expected” to do. It was simply a way to escape from the masses, and sat in their game room long after I left. Often times, they were so difficult that the puzzle would remain incomplete until the following year, waiting for my return. These modern day puzzles come complete with an actual-sized mat of the design and numbers on the back of each piece to ease construction. If I do go to work on it, I won’t be cheating with these shortcuts. Hopefully, it won’t still be on the table when we get ready to move next spring.