Important Dates

1982 
After 6 years of higher education and training, I began my professional career working my way up to  become an owner manager in my own business in partnership with others

1987
I married Mister E

1991 onwards
I had 2 children, took very limited periods of maternity leave, and acquired a  menagerie of guinea pigs and hamsters, 

2011
I retired from my business and took up a consultancy arrangement with another firm, reducing my hours with the aim of retiring once my youngest ceased secondary education

December 2013
I decided to aim for a retirement date of 30th June 2014

28 March 2014
I forwarded my notice to Head Office, expiring at close of business on 30th June

2 May 2014
Mister E retired

17 June 2014
My retirement party, organised by the team I work with

18 June 2014
My last day at work as a result of accrued holiday

30 June 2014
My official retirement date

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  Who would have thought it?  Yesterday, according to my Fitbit app, I walked more than 5 miles without leaving the house; most of it was between wardrobes and the bed where robe contents were displaced and sorted. Now in the course of  the motivational training sessions, I was warned that one wardrobe and a time limit of 4 hours were desirable. However, when Mister E expressed interest in getting his hanging rails decluttered too, it seemed opportune to keep going. After all when the man who cannot even bear to throw away a cardboard box, admits his closets need a good tidy up and needs help to do this, who could possibly refuse? To be fair, he took to the process with a great deal more realism and less sentimentality than I did. In the end the hangers on his rails move freely whereas mine are still a trifle squeezed. Looking at the number of empty coat hangers we produced, I'm ashamed to say we must have jettisoned at least a hundred items between us, most of which were old work
Read more