Just one thing

I gave formal notice of my retirement a week or so ago. It feels good. Mostly. Other than when I'm overcome by doubt and anxiety, that is. I realized this week that I'm not worried about having too little to do. In fact, it's the opposite. I've been adding to my list of "things to do when I retire" for so long now it's become overwhelming. Even if I were to jump out of bed every morning at dawn and work 10 to 12 hours a day, it would take decades to get through the whole list. The answer, I think, is simply to set priorities, create a plan, and be gentle with myself when life intervenes, as it almost certainly will. From past experience, I know that the plan will need to include a little of this and a little of that, with plenty of white space for procrastinating and daydreaming, if I'm ever going to stick to it. So, for the first few months, I'll try to ensure every day includes at least 30-60 minutes of exercise, quality time with family ...

We got a Jack Russell Terrier about a year and a half ago. Her name is Jackie Blue ("Sausage", for short) and she's a great little dog - cute, good-natured, energetic and intelligent. She's also stubborn as hell. And lately she's started having allergy symptoms, which makes looking after her a full-time job. If we don't keep a sharp eye on her, she'll sneak off and lick her paws raw while we're not looking. It's frustrating and exhausting for everyone. We finally broke down and bought a "cone of shame" so we can leave her unattended for a few hours at a time, but she hates it so we use it as little as possible. The frustrating thing about allergies is that it's so tough to identify the source of the problem. Is it something in her food, something in the environment, or some combination of the two? Our vet's best guess is that it's environmental but we're limiting her diet too in case it's a food allergy - which i...