And a new chapter begins
Yesterday was my first official work day where I didn’t go into eBay. The last two nights have been odd for me because I usually sleep really well but on 12/31 I dreamed all night about work and on 1/1 I didn’t so much dream as was just restless. Last night was much better. 
So, yesterday I made some new resolutions. For one, I’m going to think of this as me retiring from eBay and work to put this in a longer term perspective. I need to find the right next job and can afford to take some time to get the right one. Second, I’m going to spend some time fixing some things that have been wrong with my life the last (n) years. I know that big changes rarely stick so I’m not committing to running marathons or writing the next great novel but I am going to get up every morning and walk a few miles to a starbucks, take a paper or book with me and do some focused reading that doesn’t involve blogs or news feeds. (Ok, this might change to being online reading too but for now I’m going unplugged.)
I did wake up yesterday, answered a bunch of personal email, got dressed and walked a couple miles to the closest starbucks that doesn’t blare music so I could sit and just read for a bit. Then I met Carol and Jason for lunch at Baja Fresh (love the bare burrito) followed by a quick jaunt home, a 30 min nap, then a shower and some errands (our Comcast bill jumped like mad so my first task was to call and get that fixed) and then I got to visit with Alice when she got home. It was a Wednesday so we had our weekly dinner at the Counter even though Heidema is off doing God knows what in Asia for his sabbatical.
Then it was home to watch some TV and then I crashed around 11 to read and was asleep by 12.
It was a good, simple first day of retirement.