"To be, or not to be…"

My questions are not nearly as profound as those Shakespeare wrote for Hamlet, nor do they require the deep probing for answers that Hamlet must have been seeking. Mine are on the lines of:

To retire or wait? I retired! Now, I have a terrible case of “senioritis.” Not the senior citizen type, but the high school type; instead of counting down the days to graduation, I’m counting the days until I am no longer tethered to my company email and phone. How many days until February 2? Do I count every day or just the business days?

My decision to retire brought on a whole new slew of questions:

•Which Medicare Plan? Which drug plan? Advantage Plan? HMO, POS, PPO? My head is spinning. And I’m in the insurance business.

•Potential insurers asked, “Will your doctor take your chosen plan?” I don’t know.

•I guess the real question is who my doctor is. They’re all in Los Angeles right now, so it’s time to ask friends and neighbors for recommendations on local providers.

Without client calls and emails to answer, what will I do all day:

•Tennis can only fill so many hours, so I will probably take some community college classes, but which ones?

•Not a lot of gardening right now (see below.)

•No more expense account dinners with clients. (boohoo, I will miss those.)

•No more trips to Los Angeles to meet with clients, which had been a good excuse for tennis with friends, good fish, and occasionally a much-needed break from cold weather.

This unseasonably warm December has generated some garden questions as well:

•To rake or not to rake? I thought the heavy lifting was done, but the lawn was laden with dead leaves. I saw everyone raking, so I figured it was necessary to help achieve a good spring garden. Garden lemming that I am, I raked, cut dead branches and flowers, and dug up a few weeds. I remain a follower and learner when it comes to gardens.

•Raking has led to some new questions after seeing tulips blooming beneath the leaves. I even saw some daffodils popping out as well. Does that mean they are used up and won’t bloom in Spring?

Questions I won’t have to ponder, as I am no longer officially tied to Los Angeles:

•Botox? The answer for me anywhere is “NO.”

•Which freeway to take? Or is it better to just use surface streets?

Is there parking?

•Do I need to carpool?

Without work-related guilt, I must decide what I like to watch on TV. My first movie choices:

•“Maestro,” which was fabulous.

•I tried to watch “Barbie,” but to quote Anthony Lane in a NY Times review: “Watching the first half-hour of this movie is like being waterboarded with Pepto-Bismol.” I didn’t watch the rest. Should I give it another try?

My not-so-profound questions are finished for now, but there will be more by my first official day of retirement.