Checking in for the New Year

I suppose one of the dangers of sharing a blog space with other retirees is that as young, busy retirees we have places to go, people to see, things to do, other than write for this blog. I recall mentioning this to Wayne when we first conceived the idea - that either we would find nothing about our lives worth writing about or would simply drop the ball, relying on the other person(s) to provide content.

Well, it's the new year, 2010, and I'm recommitting myself. I'm still unsure I have much of value to share, but I'll share it regardless. This is my status check:

I am still a young retired person. I see young retirement, maybe more so than later retirement, as an opportunity to accumulate credentials, whether to better position ourselves for if/when we decide to come out of retirement, or merely for enrichment. Heck, maybe even just to confirm that we still indeed are as smart as we were when we left the work force. In this spirit, I recently took the patent bar and applied for admission to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For the most part it was for the first reason. Not so much for the second reason, since I already knew most of the material from six years of practice as a patent litigation attorney with a penchant for the patent and scientific aspect of it (as opposed to the litigation aspect). But I'll admit the third reason applied, if only a little. I'm generally confident in my abilities, and have a fairly realistic view of my intelligence level and other abilities, but even so, I craved some reassurance.

What's in store for this year? Maybe a teaching credential, too, or maybe I'll get started on that first novel. Unlike Wayne, who already has the first third of his 2010 planned, and an exciting one at that, my 2010 is wide open. Either way, it's a beautiful thing, this being a young retiree. I wish the rest of you young retirees the same excitement and opportunity. Happy New Year!