So here's some of what I've been doing with my retirement:
Family
My grandparents, an uncle, and my oldest sister (Emmy) and her family came out for graduation. It was wonderful to see all of them. There was a joint birthday party for my mom, niece, and nephew.
My nephew was really excited about the page of biology notes my dad found at Costco. 
A couple weeks later, my parents and I went out to Sacramento for what we thought was going to be my nephew's baby blessing. Instead, it turned out that my sister ended up in the hospital, and I got some bonding time with my sweet 20-month-old niece and newborn nephew. (You can read the whole story and see some battle wounds on Dagny's blog.)
We did have a fun day before the adventures started.
My dad can fly kites! I've never really been successful--even when he got it up and flying like this and handed me the line. I still couldn't keep it up. 
Here my niece and I are playing hide-behind-the-door-then-run-out-and-get-tickled. She was sad when we left, which actually made me feel really good. 
My mom and I are going out to San Diego tomorrow to get some more time with Emmy, Brad, and their cute kids.
Books
I've had time to read, which has been so nice. A good book makes the gym ten times better, too. Here are some that I've finished since retiring:
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
I was proud of myself for finally buying David Sedaris' new book. But then I realized the copyright is 2008, and that he's already on tour for his next project. Oh well.
Waiting for the Light to Change by Annette Haws
El Diario de Greg 3: ¡Esto es el colmo! by Jeff Kinney
Our neighbour, Annette Haws, wrote this book. And it's addictive.
Our local library has a tiny Spanish section, but this was fun and quick to read (more satisfying than slogging through Unamuno...). I felt like I was getting a peek inside the head of a 12-ish-year-old. Junior high, here we come.
This book made me grateful to Civilization 201 for explaining the traditional classical education--CS Lewis got the same schooling that little Roman boys did.
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Kim
I haven't finished this one yet. But I love it.
A friend who also went to Korea on a mission introduced me to the Korean TV show Secret Garden. Again, addictive.
Garden
The other day, I was thinking about how I missed Korean fruit: mandarin oranges, giant pears and huge apples, sweet strawberries, huge chewy grapes that need to be peeled. And this Korean melon, which was one of my favorites.
This lead me to an internet search for Asian seeds. Come August, I should have some lovely melons (hopefully!) along with some Asian-style cucumbers and carrots.
