I finally said it out loud - I'm retired from my consulting career

While talking with my younger son on Sunday afternoon I finally said it out loud - "I've decided to not do any more consulting work. I'm retired from that career." We were shooting pool on a rainy afternoon before he flew home to S. CA and it just popped out. He asked if I would want to do any more work in that area. I said not really. He then asked if I would be interested in joining his brother and himself and their sweeties in a business venture and I said yes.

What do they say about when one door closes another opens? It has been so hard for me to say I wasn't going to do anymore of the work I have done for 30+ years. I have asked Hubby if he was ok with me stopping the part time work I had been doing on a project basis for the last few years - and he is ok with that. Now I just have to tell my employer LOL. Saying I wasn't working on the spring project due to our son's wedding and my eye surgeries was one thing. Closing the door on future work is another. But I will do it and move on, as I am finally ready!

Friday gratitude

I am feeling very grateful right now and thought I would note a few of the reasons.

1. My vision in the eye that had cataract surgery is quite good. Reading is a bit of a struggle even with reading glasses but I can drive without glasses and that is great. All will be even better when the other eye is fixed. The entire team who treated me was very nice, kind and competent. My Hubby sat for hours during the whole thing so he could drive me home. He also came home from work and drove me to the follow up appointment the next day. I am very grateful for such care and the outcome.

2. My son who just got married is in town on business and staying with us for the weekend as well as last night. We took him out for dinner and had a good time. He planned ahead and asked us if we would like to go to a baseball game on Saturday and bought the tickets. I am very grateful for such love..

3. "Hotlanta" hasn't yet arrived as we continue to have gloriously nice Spring weather. I took the poodle princess for a walk and we both that the day was pretty great. I am grateful to be able to enjoy the outdoors (and not to be dripping in sweat yet, LOL).

4.  We purchased plane tickets for a 10 day vacation in July that will include a nephew's wedding in N. CA and visits to sons and more family in S. CA. I am very grateful to have the means to do this.

I could go on but health, family, enjoying the outdoors and having plans for the future are all things that fill me with gratitude and I am enjoying them a lot. I hope you are also finding things in your life that bring you happiness.

Well, if you want to be really depressed about healthcare costs in retirement ...

I just read this article and think I will go pound my head against a walll LOL.

Couples may need $220,000

Wow, the world is a different color than I've been seeing

So far the most surprising thing about having one cataract removed (the second will be in a month) is that everything is a different color than I thought it was. The painting I am working on is much more vibrant in color than I was aiming for. Here is an example of how things look with and without cataracts. Because of my glasses the world wasn't blurry with them on but the color difference was there I have now learned. This will take some getting used to!




The best thing so far though is having no pain at all after having surgery. I'm sure when the second eye if done I will find other things that are great but so far this is my experience the day after the first surgery.

If its Monday it must be cataract surgery day

I never look forward to surgery but I do look forward to the result. As I sit here with no coffee and no food with surgery not until 12:30 I am trying to stay focused on getting one eye fixed so I can see better. I'm trying not to focus on what happens to fix it LOL. The other eye isn't operated on until June 10th and I get new glasses after that has healed for a month. In the meantime lots of eye drops - but, hey, I'm getting good at getting them into my eye and not dripping down my face.

Everyone I've talked to who has had this surgery is delighted with having done it. That is a good thought as I wait around.

Hope your day goes well!

Post Surgery Update: It went well and now I am trying to figure out how to get by with one eye fixed and one not. I've increased the font size on my Kindle and that is working. My glasses don't work for the fixed eye so I may get some reading glasses to use for the next month. It was weird being awake for a surgery but my eye was so dilated that I only saw lights thank goodness.

The unpredictable cost of taking care of your health

Every article or book I have read about retirement planning mentions the two financial wild cards - health care and long term care costs. Both have been known to bankrupt retirees and younger folks as well. We aren't retired yet but do see the expense and unpredictability of health care costs in our own lives.

First up are my teeth. I have been paying off the braces I've had for 2+ years and will have my last payment this month. Lest you think this was a cost driven by vanity, having had braces as a teenager I had no desire to go through that again until I was told it was braces or I could count on having at least 2 teeth pulled in the near future and then would need something (implants, a bridge, etc.) to replace them. Since my teeth are healthy, I chose braces. Of course in the last few months one of those healthy teeth with an old filling has broken and I now need a crown which was not budgeted for.

Then there are my eyes. I was trying to hold off on cataract surgery until I had Medicare on top of employer health insurance. Less than 1 1/2 years to go for that but I am having great trouble driving safely under a number of conditions so I have the first cataract surgery this coming Monday. Yesterday I got a phone call telling me my copay would be at least $2800. When both eyes have been operated on and recovered I will need an eye exam and new glasses as well.

We are very fortunate; we can afford this. However because the broken tooth and eye surgery were not planned/expected for 2013 we did not max out our health savings account which allows us to pay for health care expenses with non-taxable dollars and thereby reduces the cost.

I dread to even imagine what our health care costs may run the rest of our lives as we develop more health problems. We both have had major health scares plus some necessary surgeries in the past 10 years that were very costly even with good insurance.

We do what we can by eating healthy food, exercising, managing stress, etc. Still it feels like a roll of the dice and all we can do is continue to try to increase our savings so we have the funds to pay for whatever turns up.

How are you handling the unpredictability of health care costs? Do you have a separated savings account for this purpose?

Vacation is definately over!

I should have realized yesterday that vacation was certainly over as I did laundry, dishes, cooked and caught up on email and Facebook. I think I was too tired to think though. This morning although pleasant was definitely not vacation! I went to the orthodontist who decided I hadn't needed to have come in, filled the car up, went to 3 grocery stores and CVS, unpacked and put all of that away and just finished lunch. I did buy a prepared salad at Trader Joe's to have for lunch and that was a treat.

It is a beautiful day however so I think Poodle Princess and I will go to the park for a nice long walk. She gets lots of walks and plays with other dogs and a cat when she is boarded so I need to keep up the exercise level for her better than I usually do!