My working wife is working extra hours this week. This means that I’ve been relinquished of any stressful cooking responsibilities tomorrow night. She’ll be dining out while I’ll be eating frozen dinners. I love a good chicken pot pie, and it’s just what I need in retirement – less responsibilities. I’m down to running, stretching, sleeping, writing, genealogy, banking/bills, maintenance, trash, personal hygiene, vacuuming, mail, dusting, kitty litter, laundry, dog walking, reading, and TV watching, with very little overtime. This week I’ll include tax and will preparation. Even I can handle that much of a “work” load!

Last night’s Super Bowl was boring, but the baked wings and iced football cookies were great. Congrats to Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots…again. I’m still riding high on the I.U. basketball victory at Michigan State. It made my weekend a 10. We went out to dinner Friday night and saw the movie The Favourite, another must on my wife’s Academy Awards list. It’s a bizarre production, but true in many ways. My wife also rented Roma, but I was busy in “Banister World.” It’s my own little soap opera, based on my true life story of adoption. In the process, I found a few more DNA matches on my massive Ancestry.com Tree.

This Friday marks the 20th anniversary of our first “date.” It’s also the 18th birthday of our cat Frankie, with blue eyes like Sinatra. Two causes for celebration before we head to Phoenix next week. There’s snow flurries in the forecast for this afternoon, so some Arizona heat will be a welcome relief. I have to get some sun before we spend a week on the Thailand coast of the Andaman Sea. It’s just six weeks away! I like my routine at home, but travel is what I really want in retirement. Plus, my wife needs a break from research projects and budget meetings that keep her working extra hours. It makes me feel guilty about being older and enjoying retirement.