I began counting down workday Mondays about 35 weeks ago. I loved my job as a science writer for Wisconsin Sea Grant, but I disliked waking up earlier than my body wanted on Mondays. Well, as of last week, there will be no more work Mondays for me—unless I get a parttime job, but I don’t think that will be the same.

However, I’m not officially retired yet. I’m on pre-retirement vacation, or as I like to think of it, “permanent vacation.” But I may as well call myself retired, right? I feel very fortunate to be retiring while I’m still functional.

I’ve experienced two days of this permanent vacation and it’s been stressful. There are so many things I want to do! These are things that I’ve put off due to work commitments or new things I want to try. I’ve been keeping a “Things I want to do When I Retire” list for years, and it’s large. I feel like I want to do all of them at the same time! Plus, I had an unexpected one-day deadline come up for some book promo text during my first day off, and that added to the stress.

It’s also taking time for me to adjust to the idea that I can grocery shop during the day instead of the evenings, and that I can run errands without hurrying back to my desk to check work emails.

I don’t really feel retired yet. I wonder how long it will take for that to kick in? We’re hosting a celebration in a few weeks. I hope after that, this will all feel more real. But at least for now, my body is definitely liking waking up at 8 or 9 a.m. vs 7 a.m. Let’s hear it for no more Mondays!

Retired folks out there, how long does it take to actually feel retired?

As an added bonus, here’s a poem I wrote a few years ago about my career. It’s been published in a couple of places.

Lake Superior Auntie

Today, someone called me
one of the Aunties of Lake Superior.
It must be
my gray hair.
I am now venerable,
aged, historic, learned.
No Babe of Lake Superior
anymore.

For twenty-seven years
I’ve worked along its shores,
pouring my female energy
into water issues,
drinking asbestos fibers from the tap,
preserving wilderness,
explaining research,
discovering the secret of paralyzed gulls,
and the mystery of tapioca beads washing ashore—
leftover casings from the zooplankton
Holopedium gibberum.

I’ve promoted the consumption of the lake’s fish,
promoted consumption of the lake’s lamprey
(they’re a delicacy in Portugal, you know),
encouraged boaters to rid their craft of
invasive zebra mussels and plants,
and studied the lake’s wolves and plovers.
Then there’s all the stories, fact sheets,
DVDs, CDs, videos and radio shows….

“Aunties” confers a plethora.
No Grandmother am I, one of only two.
I have been too busy living my small life,
raising sons, skipping rocks, writing words—
watching pink and orange wash from the sky.