My husband asked me a terrifying question.  He asked, “What are you going to do when you retire?  Do you think you will garden?”  I was offended at first because sometimes, let’s be honest, that’s how I react to my husband.  I just knew he was making a dig (pardon the pun) on me not watering or weeding anything that is planted in our yard.  (My general belief in gardening is “fix it and forget it”.  I like to plant beautiful things and hope for the best, which translates to he takes care of it.)  Luckily, I didn’t act crazy-defensive, because he asked a follow-up, “how will you spend your time when you retire?  What are your hobbies going to be?”  

That question really stumped me.  I didn’t dream of sailing or quilting.  After retirement, I planned to get another job.  I’ve been in education for over 25 years.  I like work.  My hobby has always been work, so I planned on doing more of it.   In my defense, I dreamed of a different job – my new “hobby” was going to be a second career in something not PK-12 Public Education related.  My new “hobby” was going to be something really cool like Real Estate Agent or State Employee.  

Alright, alright… maybe I could try something new.  I Googled “hobbies”.  Most of the websites were for people in their 20’s or 30’s.  I guess I’m late to this existential crisis.  

Some of the things that I do regularly were not on any of the lists that I found.  

• Petting dogs is not a hobby.  It makes me happy and I like to waste my time doing it, but no, unfortunately, it wasn’t on the list.  
• Watching TV is not a hobby.  I would like to contest this.  Hobbies should be what you do in your spare time and spend your money on, right?  Wrong.  I spend a lot of money on streaming services and talk about shows a lot, but sadly, watching TV is not a hobby.  
• Parenting wasn’t on the list.  I think this was a big typo or mistake in editing.  Here’s the thing about parenting: not everyone does it; some people try it and abandon it altogether (shout out to single parents with deadbeat ex-lovers); and, some people are better at it than others.  

Good news!  Some things that I pass my time doing made the hobby list.  

• Reading – reading made the cut!  This made me feel really good.  I can’t remember titles, but I am barely without a book or three.  Libby and Kindle Unlimited are the best!
• Cooking – cooking made the cut.  I can read a recipe and have a few highly requested specialties for family gatherings and potlucks.  I don’t always enjoy it, but I practice this hobby regularly as we all have to eat.
• Travel and camping made the cut – I don’t do this as much as I would like to, but I like these two hobbies for sure.  Going on a trip to a 5 Star Resort or the backwoods?  Count me in!  

I will retire in December 2026.  This means that I have over two years to firm up my hobbies.  I have over two years to find an answer to “what are you going to do when you retire (other than get another job)?”.  For now, I am going to give blogging a try and maybe water a plant or two.