Saturday, May 19, 2012

Just Over the Horizon

During a dinner with several co-workers this week the topic of retirement came up, due to the fact that one of  the Colonels I work for is retiring from the Air Force in a few months.  This has had me thinking a bit about the fact that I will be retirement eligible in 4 years, and what I want to do when I grow up.  Or at least when my time of serving my country in the military comes to a close.

Granted, 4 years is a long time, as I learned when I joined the Army (don't worry mom, it's only 4 years!  Oh, how long those 4 years were).  But time has a way of slipping by quickly.  The idea that the next time we have a presidential election after this fall I could be a full-time Starbucks customer is hard to wrap my head around.  I have contemplated everything from teaching to small business owner, and I really don't feel any closer to figuring out what I want to do with my time.  I may need to buy a magic 8 ball to help with my decision when the time comes.

Add to that the fact that Heather and I have to figure out where we want to live, and it gets even more complicated.  If we don't have to relocate due to a particular job, the canvas of where to reside is a big blank.  We've been mulling around living somewhere in the Northeast, along the lines of New Hampshire or Pennsylvania.  I definitely want to live somewhere with significantly less human beings than San Antonio.  It's not that I don't lie people, I just like them in small doses.  When there's a hundred of them in cars and trucks parked behind a red light in front of me I find that less than desirable.  I realized recently that coming from a tiny town has molded me with a preference for more rural settings, and fortunately Heather shares my love of nature over concrete.

What I look forward to the most is having more free time though.  One day this week I actually got excited and did a fist pump as I was driving away from the office and thinking "Yes, I'm actually getting out of here at a decent time!"  Upon realizing that it was just after 6 pm, I concluded I've let my standards drop considerably.  Although I don't mind working long hours when the work is rewarding, which is why I don't mind the hours I'm currently putting in, there's something alluring about every day being like a weekend.  Wearing jeans and a t-shirt all day would be pretty awesome as well. Pretty awesome indeed.