Congratulations!

Congratulations! Enjoy your time ahead. So exciting!!!!

Congratulations!. The big adventure awaits!

The sale of any business is a stressful time. Congratulations. Enjoy your new adventures!

Congratulations! Retirement is the best!

Congratulations!

So very happy for you and you hubby! If I may, I would like to share what I did on my first official day (actually week) of retirement that brought me so much joy. I set my alarm for the normal time I would have had to get up to get ready for work (5:30 - yikes!) and when the alarm went off, I had the pleasure of groping around, turning it off, rolling over and going back to sleep until my natural body rhythms woke me up. It was the best feeling and I highly recommend it to anyone who has just retired. It felt so good that I repeated that exercise for a week.

Now that I've been retired for a few years, my natural rhythm has settled into waking up between 7:30 - 8:00 and I have never felt so rested. :)

Congratulations!

Congrats and enjoy!

How exciting-—Congratulations!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations! Your plans sound wonderful. Enjoy retirement!

Great way to start a new year!

Wonderful - let the fun begin!!

Congratulations!

That first Sunday night when I didn't have to set the alarm...was absolutely luscious!

I still remember a few years ago, having this dream about work, where I was rushing between meetings and told I had to get to this other meeting which I didn't know anything about and wasn't at all prepared for, and I was supposed to meet someone who didn't show up...it was crazy! Then I woke up. In my have dazed state, was glad because it was only a bad dream and it was Saturday. Then as I became fully awake, I remembered that I was retired and didn't have any meetings any more!! That's when I broke out in a huge grin!

This is so exciting! Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures in this next stage.

3katz - what wonderful news and the timing seems just right. New year, new plans........and now I'm picturing you and Mr. 3katz waltzing around the living room. How exciting for both of you.

Congratulations on the sale. Sounds like you are off to a great start on your next adventure.

Congrats! Can't wait to hear about all the new adventures.

Adding my congratulations, and wishing you both many wonderful days ahead.

Congratulations!

So happy for you both!

@3katz4me No longer having to live by the clock or the calendar is the best feeling. Besides that, one of my favorite things about retirement is that no one is in charge of me except me. I love that I no longer have to answer to a boss, clients or anyone else. I get to decide what I a going to do, when I am going to do it and how I am going to do it. And, if I decide not to do it or do something entirely different, no explanation will be required and no one will yell at me. Ha!

I'm glad your husband is in such good spirits. :)

@Annie Deighnaugh For about a year after I retired I had a recurring dream/nightmare. Before retiring, I worked at a small K-8 elementary school. One of my tasks was to submit a report each month to the state of California detailing how many breakfasts, lunches and after school snacks had been served the previous month and break it down into free, reduced and full price categories. The state reimbursed the school x amount of dollars based on that report. If it wasn't submitted by the deadline the reimbursement wouldn't be paid and the school would forfeit it. It amounted to between $3,000 to $4,000 per month and was an important part of the cafeteria budget.

Well, after I retired, I started having this dream that the school year was nearing it's end and I realized that I hadn't submitted a single cafeteria report for the entire school year. I was in such a panic trying to figure out how I was going to explain that to the school superintendent or if there was a way to get the state to let me submit the reports late and still get reimbursed. I was sure I'd be fired. And, then I would wake up. It always took me a few minutes to realize that I no longer worked at the school and that those reports were no longer my responsibility. What a relief that was! :)

Congrats to 3katz and DH! I'm sure this is a huge relief. Maybe I'll see you in the Carolinas soon. :)

Congratulations to you both! Enjoy this next phase of life!

This is good news! Happy retirement!

Happy news!

Now on to the next adventure in your lives!

Wonderful news. Congratulations! Retirement is great!

First post retirement event - the neighborhood party tonight - very fun. DH will now be free to play golf with his retired neighborhood buddies. They were happy to hear that.

Congratulations to you and your DH 3katz4me!

I guess I'm not ready to retire as I feel a little bit of tightening at the throat whenever I think about completely quitting. Now if they gave me enough money haha..

Congratulations on the sale and to DH's retirement! On to the next chapter of yuor lives.

I remember the relief that came with each closing. With only one of four to an unknown person/company there wasn't much worry about it not taking place, but there was a lot for both of us to do in preperation. Meeting beforehand answered a lot of questions, but they still had questions for us afterwards. The "one" actually called a few weeks ago with a question for DH - six years later.

Enjoy your neighborhood party and golf trips. Are you going to the Robert Trent courses in AL? In every house we lived in there, a nice golf course was always nearby. Pretty to drive by for us non golfers. LOL

@Allison0704 - Well this sale was not to a known party and they were working through a broker with all kinds of expertise and we were not - just our attorney, an accountant and me with whatever M&A expertise I picked up during my career. They were in such a hurry they said closing by end of September and then dragged on and on until a big rush in the last day when our attorney still didn't have everything she needed from theirs. Ugghh....so glad it's done.

Yes we are going to Muscle Shoals and RTJ in April - that's been planned for a while. The extra bonus for me is I get to meet @OutsidePlaying 😀

Congratulations!!!! I retired several years ago, right into a second part-time career in a related field. Enjoy the freedom.

@DawnInCal - I have to say not having to set an alarm and get up in the dark (at least in the winter) is one of my greatest retirement joys.

This for me too. I also take perverse pleasure in glancing at the traffic news for what used to be my one hour each way commute. Since I retired at the beginning of Covid, my first couple retirement years did not pan out as expected but am slowly getting back into a more active retirement.

BIG Congratulations!!!! Been there and know what a stressful time it is getting a business sold and a DH retired. I’m really happy for you both!

The real only post-retirement problem we had was my DH then wanting to take over a lot of the cooking. He is a great cook but makes a HUGE mess that I then had to clean up! And, he started becoming a know-it-all authority telling me what he thought I was doing wrong. I ended up banning HIM from the kitchen!

Lynn, banning him or banning yourself?

DH is doing well with retirement though he's had a bit of cabin fever since he retired in January. We've made a few warm weather trips this winter to visit friends, play golf and otherwise enjoy the outdoors so that's helped.

I'm in no danger of my DH invading the kitchen. He's a capable cook but no interest in anything other than manning the grill which I do love. I have a couple friends who must do the grilling, along with all the rest of the meal preparation, as the man of the house has no interest. We're having our first grilled meal of the spring tonight - neighbor coming over for cedar plank salmon, herb basmati rice and asparagus salad. Yippee!! And wine of course - she has a wine cellar and is far more wine savvy than me so when we get together we enjoy wonderful wine.

I have a couple friends who must do the grilling, along with all the rest of the meal preparation, as the man of the house has no interest.

Oh my, I would not be happy. I do not know how to grill. I have never done it even once. Just doesn't interest me.

Me either, mtn. (Although I once grilled peaches on the grill that were delish. )

I love grilled peaches and grilled pineapple for dessert .. a little dollop of creme fraiche, some cookie crumbs sprinkled on top... sigh. I still make DH do that.

Congrats! That is huge! My first attempt at grilling all by myself was steaks. I like them pretty rare and I must say they turned out to be perfect!! You can do it!!

Congrats! I hope this next chapter is wonderful! My British hubby grew up in rain so no clue how to grill It is always my job. Honestly, it is so easy even a guy can do it ;)

When my husband says "I'll make dinner, I'll bbq" that means that he will throw the protein that I have prepared on the bbq and I'll make all the sides...

My DH knows enough not to say he’s making dinner when he grills something. He knows he’s just making the centerpiece around which will be my side dishes. We don’t have gas grills so I think it requires more skill to get it right.

Definitely. The gas grill is easy. We do have a small charcoal bbq and a smoker. Those are 100% his domain. Even when he's using the gas grill though, I oversee because his "One more minute" turns into 10 quite easily if we have company. He's a terrific guy in a lot of ways, but we are not the most compatible cooks!

3Katz I am happy to hear that you and your DH are enjoying more frequent trips to warmer weather now that you are both retired. The responsibility of owning a business with employees is something I was very happy to leave behind— you have so much more mental space for fun 😎 And entertaining is definitely easier when you have a helper!

We live in grilling and barbeque country but oddly neither of us has any interest in grilling food, so when we moved here we did not replace our grill. And don’t miss it, since we only used it a time or two each year. But our friends all love cookouts so we enjoy them at their houses.

agreeing with roarah - grilling isn't too difficult once you learn how. I used to do a lot of grilling - over coals, not gas, and I used to be much better at it than Hubby, but he's gotten pretty good at it, and I don't miss the mess and getting all hot and sweaty, so he always does it now.

Lynn, I hear you - even just cooking something for himself means a mess for ME to clean up. Hubby will claim he was going to do it, or that he didn't see the spills 😄

My new SIL is a dear but a bit of an absent-minded professor. He offers to cook elaborate meals and clean up and then gives their kitchen a lick and a promise. DD finally told him that I love that you enjoy cooking for us but when I go in the kitchen after dinner I want it to look like you were never there. Haha.