LIVING WITH MCL

So far, this has been a lousy year. It started out with a cold in January, putting me out of commission for 10 days, followed by another cold in April, putting me out for another 10 days, and as if that wasn't enough, I needed (a slightly more than expected) minor surgery this past week which has now left me with a fear of excess exposure to the sun. On top of all that my mind has just been awash with so many other things as well, e.g. my wife , my spleen, health care, politics, etc. I can't seem to keep anything straight in my mind. My thoughts are all a jumble, and I have difficulty articulating them, even during conversations on things I'm passionate about. Then I spend all my time afterwards fretting over what I should have, but didn't say at the time. I thought retiring would be a lot more relaxing. No more dealing with the daily routine of work, and all the hassles that went along with it. Instead, I could just do whatever I wanted, whenever I chose to do it. But...

I can remember when I was a little kid, and my most pressing concern was not being able to touch the floor with my feet when I was sitting in a chair. I can also remember being in elementary school, and all I could think about was going to high school, then going to college. Then when I finally got to college, my only thoughts were about getting my first job, and then changing jobs, after which I couldn't wait till I was able to retire. Well, been there, done all that! My only question now is, what's next? Now that I've reached the penultimate goal of retirement, what's left to do? Sure I could travel some (and we are planning a 2 week barge cruise through Europe this coming May), but that's only two weeks. What am I going to do the other 50 weeks? Plus traveling is hard, i.e. there's the preparation, the getting through airport security, arranging for a house sitter to take care of the cats, even for just a weekend. (They wouldn't do good in a kennel.)  It...