Kicking Off the Holidays Early Retirement Style

One of the things I was most looking forward to in our dual early retirement was filling up our entire holiday calendar with fun and festive things to do. Prior to Mike joining me in retirement this past May, Fridays were iffy because of exhaustion and commute times, and I had to block off Sundays as rest and recovery days in preparation for another challenging week at work. But not any more! 

Between Thanksgiving and New Years, I've purchased half price tickets to see A Christmas Carol, The Winter Wonderettes (a funny and charming quartet of gals that sing songs from the late 50's and early 60's) and a combined Sunday brunch & musical performance show called A Song For Christmas. I've also purchased a couple of discounted dining deals, my favorite being a half price deal for four to a popular, normally very expensive, fondue restaurant called Simply Fondue.

We also have lots of fun, free things to do here in Southern California this month. Among my favorites are a visit to Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach to see dozens of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, going to one of the many holiday light boat parades around us, and enjoying a walk through a nearby neighborhood that puts up an absolutely amazing holiday light display.

We'll be attending and giving a whole lot more parties than usual, because we have a whole lot more time and energy with which to do both. I'm holding a cookie exchange party, plus a dessert and holiday light walk party here, and looking forward to attending parties being hosted by our running club, hiking club, book club, high tea club and OLLI. (The best way to stay socially engaged at the holidays would certainly appear to be by joining a club!)

I've got lots of baking, cooking, decorating and piano playing on my December agenda too. Mike and I are working on Christmas music duets to wow our family with on Christmas morning, and it's turning out to be a whole lot of fun for us both.

We'll be stealing away in our RV for a five day trip to San Elijo State Beach, which I'm looking forward to tremendously. Our trailer has been tucked away in our garage since mid-October, which is about two months too long for me!

We'll wrap up the holidays attending a New Years Eve party at our ballroom dance studio, always a fun event.

The one thing we won't be doing this season is heading out to the mall to go gift shopping. I loathe going into shopping malls in general, and most particularly in December. Instead, I'll be doing the bulk of my shopping online from the warmth and comfort of my home office.

And finally, I'm committed to keeping up my daily exercise routine in order to end the month either at or below my current weight, something I haven't managed to do in past years, so wish me luck!