ZOMG. That is my husband! We have a cat sitter!!! Nope. He is always concerned that the cats are missing us! And he misses them - even when we are two states away for a long weekend. And forget about cruises. Norovirus!!! 
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Not gonna lie … the reason I encourage dh’s PT job is to get him out of my hair. He doesn’t have real friends or hobbies other than puttering in in the yard. If my dh asked me “what’s the plan?” all the time I would bean him on the head.
I feel kinda bad that I have a lunch scheduled with friends at least once a week and leave him here to watch TV and fend for himself, entertainment-wise. This morning, I scheduled a field trip for him – I took him to a friend’s new ADU. He said that he wanted to see it, so as we discuss downsizing it was fun to see my friend’s 390 sqft place. It’s in her sister’s back yard, and the sister’s house is less than 800 sqft. He said he could live in something that small; I pointed out how it works in part because of how uncluttered it is. I hope he got the hint!
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For better or worse (see what I did there) H and I have never relied on each other to keep busy. We’ve always had our own things. To a fault perhaps?
I think I will always do some volunteer work unless I am physically unable. Volunteering doesn’t have to be your thing but also it doesn’t have to tie you down!!
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After we lost our last two dogs, we decided that was probably it for us. The 3 pugs we had lived very long lives and We felt it would just put a damper on whatever retirement travel would be out there.
So, we have a grandpug. There are lots of visits and overnight (and longer) stays when D and SIL travel. When we go away there must be photos of her. Every so often the grandcats allow for a picture or two.
We are all going away this fall & the little darling needs a place to stay. A niece is supposed to do it; hoping it all works out. At some point, D will shed tears over missing our girl. It happens every time.
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I have been volunteering and working at my nonprofit since I started it. When we needed funds to pay our kids ed expenses, I chased and got grants. Since we don’t need it any more, I am mostly a volunteer and work as much or as little as I want. I also am a volunteer on a national board that is related to my nonprofit and do as much/little as I want not it as well. It has worked well for me.
H does hand woodworking and yard work. It keeps him busy and pretty happy most of the time. He is able to set his own schedule and make himself to-do lists and no one hassles him if it doesn’t get done. He’s also happy he is able to buy whatever he chooses with no input from me or anyone else. He stays happy and every once in awhile he finds someone to talk to about his woodworking. Several of the folks in my nonprofit have some experience in hand woodworking and he can talk to them about it as well, when we have our in person meetings & meals.
We do remind each other if we have activities for the day but otherwise plan our own schedules.
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I thought my H was the only retired guy who doesn’t want to leave his cats. Glad to know I’m not alone!
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This will sound terrible, but I’m looking forward to the day when our 2 cats have both moved on and passed away. I’ve been cleaning litter boxes for over 20 years and I want a break from dealing with pet stuff. Am looking forward to the day when I can take off on a trip somewhere and not have to worry about the cats at home.
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I don’t blame you! If we don’t have cats, little kid will be able to adopt a couple more… and we will just catsit them in our house when the kids travel. That’s the plan! For now, a senior indigenous cat and two senior naturalized feline citizens rule the house here.
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D wanted us to get some pets “to keep us company,” but H and I both said, “No thanks! We’ve raised you guys and now want to do what amuses us—travel, whatever and not have any dependents in our home.”
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I love dogs. We had dogs growing up. But ShawWife is allergic to dogs. So we haven’t had them, but ShawD and ShawSon are now both proud dog parents. (Not so crazy about cats but I never have had any).
But, we have seen friends in retirement shift their lives so that the dogs have become the dominant parts of their lives. Indeed, with one, it is hard for her to talk about anything else.
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So many people adopted dogs during the pandemic! I also see the pets as the focus of the lives of many, especially those without human children or whose kids have grown and flown.
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I take two art classes one in person one on line. I got involved in starting a Healthy Yards group in our town. It’s nice we organize garden tours, sponsor zoom lectures, work with the schools and usually have a table at various street fairs. You can be involved for as much or as little as you like.
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Dogs are relatively new in our life (didn’t have any pets for the first 30+ years of marriage. We have a dog. He is our 2nd. Either he goes on vacation with us or H stays home with him and I go (H is perfectly fine with that) or if we have to take a day trip my S/DIL will watch him.
H (and I really) would just not feel comfortable leaving him. Spoiled pup. And that’s ok!
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I don’t know where this originated but it made me laugh.
They say plants are the new pets, pets are the new children, and children are the new exotic animals (because you have to be a little rich, and a little crazy to have them).
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This morning was a great example of why it was worth pulling up roots after 60+ years and moving to be near D’s family. I got a text shortly after 8 asking if I would like to join D & her 2 little ones for story time in a few hours. Revamped my plans and hopped in when D came by to pick me up on the way to the bookstore. We got doughnut holes from Donut Den as we were early for story time and then went to hear The Day the Crayons Made Friends with a special appearance by the Blue Crayon. Both kids sat quietly in my lap at different times which made my day. I love these types of sweet moments so much more than holidays and birthday 
This is quality retirement time for me!
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Ah, yes, life is made up of such precious moments! I’m hoping to have some with any future grands too.
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I had dogs for 20 years, and they never went to a kennel. We always had “family dog-sitters.” Our cats usually stay home and we hire someone to take care of them daily. When we were gone a month we took our cat to stay with my son. Now we have a kitten and we are thinking just for the next trip or 2 we may pay someone to stay in our house. Once he’s a little older he won’t need as much attention/play time, but for now he’d likely be a real menace if he was left alone for multiple days.
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Our dog now almost 10 has been with the same Rover sitter at her house since a few months old. Her rating are really good and that’s how I found her.
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My neighbors all use TrustedHousesitters.com. You pay a fee to join, then you get a free carer and they get to stay for free
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Heading for a 17 day trip to Scottish and Paris at the end of July. We have a great retired friend coming from Charleston to San Diego to stay with our two cats. We live close to the beach and our friend is excited to be in San Diego versus Charleston in the height of the summer. Kitties will love having her here as she is a cat person.
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