May the coming month pass as quickly as is pleasant for you; not so slow as to become irksome, nor so fast that it sparks apprehension.
It is way above my pay grade to ask whether you have considered keeping a diary in the closing month. Kind of like those confessionals they have on reality TV shows where each cast member confides private thoughts. As your scheduled departure date nears, does the concept of leaving w*rk become more strange or more comfortable? Do the days become longer? What last minute housekeeping or bureaucratic issues appeared? How is your family reacting? Not that I'm suggesting you should do this, but I think it might be a fascinating thread here. Just sayin'.
Anyway, good luck. I'm TMY behind you, so while I can't quite see it yet I know it's right over the horizon.
I figured I would give this a shot, if for no other reason than to get some of this down on “virtual” paper. I’m going to use separate posts in this thread to hit different pre-retirement topics, just to keep it manageable. But if you have specific questions, feel free to ask.
As I write this I am 3 days out. The concept of leaving work isn’t strange or uncomfortable. But the days at work do seem to be getting longer. We hired my replacement over 6 months ago and I gave my official notice at the beginning of the year. So as I’ve turned things over to him, I’ve had less and less to do. Trying to keep on the sidelines and let someone else take over has been a bit of a struggle. It is just not in my nature to not be directly involved. We’ll see how that affects me upon retiring.
The question I get asked a lot is “what are you going to do with yourself?” I’ve always been a planner, setting goals, making lists. It finally dawned on me that having specific goals for immediately after retirement would help. I’ve had a general idea, but not a formal plan.