The Last Day

Photo credit: Laurel Martin

A few weeks ago -- before our Internet provider left us hanging -- I started a countdown post for Steve's retirement. I wrote:

We've been talking about Steve's retirement for the past four years. We knew, when we moved back to Ottawa from Colorado, that this would be our last posting. 

It was in the back of our minds as we went house-hunting. It coloured my job-hunting, and factored into our financial planning. Now, here we are, mere days away from Steve's last day in uniform.

Well, here we are. When he walks in the door today, he will be ALL MINE! (Mwah ha ha ha ha!)

It's Steve's last day as an active member of the Canadian Air Force.

(I can't say it's his "last day in uniform" because he went to work in mufti today, since he knew he would be handing in all his identification this morning.)

This will be, perhaps, the biggest life change we've had since our first child was born. I expect we'll encounter some difficult adjustments as well as some that will just slide into place like a well-meshed gear.

I told Steve that he probably won't feel really retired until his time at home exceeds his longest vacation. That would be about mid-August, but I think it will really only kick in after the weather cools in September.

For my part, I am beyond excited to spend more time with Stephen. He's my best friend and favourite person in the world. I cannot think of a single other person I would rather spend time with, or be more at ease doing so.

A trip to the grocery store is a pleasure with him, never mind a fancy dinner.

But I will also admit that I have some concerns.

What if he sees how lazy I really am?  

Or what if I become even lazier because I can ask Steve to take on tasks that don't interest me? 

What if he gets bored with me?

We also both have concerns about finances as we've gone from two-income to single-income to reduced-single-income in the space of six months. The loss of my income was surprisingly manageable, at least in the short term.

But we have dreams, of course, of travelling while we still can. We talk of potential home renovations or landscaping projects. And we still have children at home and in school. All these things take money.

This is the beginning. Ready. Set. Go!