Even though I made the decision to work part time several months ago, today really feels like “it”. As of this week, I am working 4 days a week, mostly Monday through Thursday with three-day weekends. Today is the beginning of that first three day weekend.
Ahhhhhhh. So what am I going to do with that extra free day?
As I've been warned by many other people who have retired or started working part-time, those extra days seem to fill up with activities pretty quickly.
Knitting, spinning, dyeing, reading, writing, flute playing, blogging, baking. Perhaps even get to the gym now and then.
Let's start with baking, shall we? I used to bake bread quite frequently, but it has gotten so sporadic that some of my bread ingredients have gone past their “use by” date. Here's what's going on in the bread machine today.
As usual, I sort of made this up on the fly. Here's an ingredient list:
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 1/2 cup unbleached white bread floor
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup seed/grain blend
I get most of my bread ingredients from King Arthur Flour. Any decent supermarket should carry their basic flours, I buy the other stuff from their online store. The vital wheat gluten helps lighten up whole wheat or rye breads. I use Saf Red label instant yeast, which has never failed me. The Harvest seed blend is from their store as well.
A photo of the finished bread will follow later. I make this up in my bread machine and then bake it in the oven. Bread machine-baked bread is OK, but I like the texture better when it's baked in the oven.
One last photo for the day.
Our peonies are near the end of their blooming, but there are still a few out there!
I'm off to plan the rest of my day!
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Congratulations – so happy that you are getting the extra time – I have always been an advocate for the 4 day workweek 😉 but so far, I haven’t had much luck convincing anyone yet! I bet you’ll fill up the time quickly and retirement will become necessary to free up more time 🙂
My time filled up quickly when I retired, but I still had a daughter in high school when I retired. Now she’s off to college in September, but I have a feeling the newly-discovered free time will fill up as well. You’re already finding fun things to do on your extra day, with the bonus of warm bread from the oven….yummy!
Well, that bread smells good through the computer!
Enjoy your lightened work schedule. I am jealous, but really glad for you.
Have a good long weekend!
I find way too many things that fill up my free time these days. Sometimes, I feel like I am spinning my wheels. Momma needs to focus!
Good for you! Enjoy your newly found free time. I’m always amazed how much younger my co-workers look in a month when they retire from our hospital. I am sure a free day a week will be wonderful.