Hi, Poppy.
I too, am 63 and retired. Ain't it WONDERFUL!
I wanted to mention something here in addition to the excellent information you've already received about alignment. I found that as you're beginning, the best way to take off is to stand directly behind your aircraft, if at all possible. This will help immensely as you can quickly and immediately see the aircraft start to veer off one side or another and make a slight correction, before it gets too far. As a beginner, it's difficult to judge where the airplane is really headed if you stand to the side and try to take off. Also, if you have a digital tx, set up the rudder/nosewheel channel (#4) in the "exponential" mode. This mode, which can be applied to other control surfaces as well, is a great help, even for experienced flyers. One of the two choices this mode gives you is to make the first amount of stick movement act slower on the nosewheel. As you move the stick further, the movement speeds up, until the maximum stick movement brings the nosewheel to full travel. In essence, movements of the stick close to the neutral position, produces little movement of the nosewheel, while correcting for drift on takeoff, but the further you move the stick, the faster the nosewheel will respond with greater movement. This serves to de-sensitize the stick around neutral, so the wheel isn't so responsive. Gee, I hope I've explained this funtion so you can understand it.
Jackster