September Plans - Better late than never

In contemplating how I want to approach this trip around the sun, I did decide that at this point in life I do better with "More/Less/Continue" and "To Do" lists than with goals or intentions. I think my theme for this year is “Exploration and Adventures” plus of course the usual get stuff done.

I let the month get off to a slow start including 2 days feeling very tired after getting a flu shot but I want every month of this trip around the sun to count. I did get started or complete a few things.

MORE LIST

More Consistent Healthy Habits
STARTED Eat more seasonally & locally via weekly farmer's market - went 9/7

STARTED Stretching exercises, Strength building exercises - muscle & bone, Foot & ankle exercises

More "Adventures & Exploring"

- Point Reyes day trip and/or Botanical garden visit
STARTED Family focused outings - took granddaughter to bookstore

More for Others

☑️ Monthly financial donations that help "local" people and organizations - local public tv/radio & county Meals on Wheels

- Continue to babysit older granddaughter monthly on parents' date night - scheduled for September 19th

- Dog focused outings (he loves to go places)

More Self Care

- Wardrobe Upgrade/Match to Climate & Current Lifestyle Better - Buy 5+ items of seasonal clothing from a list

- Start creating a Fall "personal curriculum"  around things I enjoy/would like to learn and that has some out & about components - use AI to help design it

Home To Do List

- Touch up paint on 3 outdoor benches or at least start!

- Fix DR hutch drawer that sticks or at least try!

 

Spring 2025 Intentions List

Let’s give this a try one more time shall we?  

Family & Pup

• Spend as much time with immediate family as I can. Includes dropping by swim lessons, family over or at their house, babysitting, etc. Also I need to make some phone calls or send notes to long distance family.
• We need “date” times by eating out or going on an outing
• Get pup used to teeth cleaning and tail grooming - I'm rubbing dog toothpaste on his teeth and gums as a first step.

Self Care - 

• Actually lose some of the 10 pounds I put on after our move by minimizing carbs and alcohol
• Up my exercise intensity and consistency by creating a plan and following it
• Buy some clothes I enjoy wearing for niece’s wedding

Home & Yard -

• Finish office and dining room deep cleans
• Clean and declutter kitchen cabinets
• Deal with flickering can light in kitchen
• Replace broken living room cellular blind and add one in upstairs bathroom
• Do touch up paint on outdoor benches 
• Dispose of old computer responsibly
• Prep garage for storing stuff for son’s family during their foundation replacement
• Finish last of old paperwork tasks (almost done!)

Fun & Friendship - 

• Go to library book club
• Attend one or more activities at rec center
• Go to lunch/coffee with at least one acquaintance 

Was February a pass or fail for my goals? Any goals for March?

As you can see there are some that weren’t done (reds) but many were done (greens) or partially done (yellow). I also ignored my reading challenge except for 3 books that met prompts.

I’m not making a list for March although clearly wedding attendance prep has to move along and I’d like to dispose of the old computer and accessories. Connection, fun and self care are going to be bigger priorities than house tasks.

FEBRUARY REVIEW 

Health & Self Care (goal: increase strength, lose weight, less stress)

Doctor appointments for physical and eye exam 

Continue building strength through Pilates

Try for healthy afternoon snacks

Each morning ask myself: How do I really feel today? What will I focus on? How can I be gentle with and helpful to myself and others today?

Room by Room project (goal: improve function and aesthetics with minimal spending)

Finish office project by 

• deep cleaning it 
• disposing of old computer responsibly after reformatting it 

Focus on dining room project by 

• deep cleaning it
• decluttering/maximizing space on storage part of hutch

Keep looking for good buys on just right art for office & bedroom and for placemats

Home improvement (goal: increase comfort, conserve energy, and improve safety as 

• Get at least one bid for first phase of work based on energy audit suggestions

Family, Friends, Fun (goal: build connections and happiness)

• Start dealing with logistics for attending lovely niece’s June 1st (summer formal Palm Springs) wedding including dog sitter, plane tickets, gift, clothes for both wedding and dinner night before
• Go to local history talk at community center - had a conflict 
• Family in town for a week - enjoy!
• 2 year old’s birthday party
• Lunch with friendly neighbor - she’s been out of town for 3 weeks
• Mark pup’s 3rd birthday and Valentines Day in some way

Mid month check in

I am making progress on what matters for the month.

Focus 1 - Being a supportive local grandparent is a priority for me as is enjoying the time spent with the girls as well as our son and DIL. I will focus on spending time with the granddaughters.

We had a good time during her Spring break. I will see them this weekend at son’s birthday family party.

Focus 2 - Celebrate our 43rd anniversary and our son’s 41st birthday in person as well as our older DIL’s birthday long distance plus make plans for celebrating son & DIL anniversary and Mother’s Day in May.

We went to a new to us Greek restaurant for lunch on our 43rd anniversary. We both would like to go to the restaurant again so we have a new one on our list for repeats. Sent a gift to DIL for her birthday and had a good chat on the day itself.

Focus 3 - Last month I deep cleaned, decluttered and reorganized the main bath and this month it will be the large bedroom and adjoins little room I use for exercise.

I looked at some items in the main bedroom and decided to let them go. I’m creating a free pile to put out May 18th which is citywide yard.

Then I deep cleaned both rooms plus the hallway. Cleaned the closet, vacuumed the floor and baseboards, dusted everything including door tops and so on, turned the mattress, and reorganized the bedside table to make the drawers less crowded. I still need to wash the floor.

Focus 4 - Lean into my Pilates exercises and walking for exercise in addition to walking the pup. No more talking myself out of doing that!

Still need to improve on this between scheduled weekly Pilates sessions.

Focus 5 - Enjoy our yard more by creating a spot for sitting for coffee, wine or a meal. That means some patio end tables and a larger table of some sort. Perhaps a patio coffee table, bistro table or a 6 person table?

We bought 4 outdoor patio tables that fold so they can be kept in the garage until the weather is good. Holding off on a larger table until we see if we really would use it.

"A House is a Hungry Thing" and our thoughts on living here

 We are now at the “best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” stage of living here and can’t blame it totally on the pandemic.

When we moved 5 years ago we thought we would likely be here three years or maybe a bit more and then move again after my FILs death. He died sooner sadly and we made an effort to find a place in the Berkeley area but didn’t work that out. Then the pandemic hit and we hunkered down here and that was ok as this was a nice place to get through that.

Now we are picking our heads up from pandemic inertia and realizing we have not made an intentional decision about where to live the next part of our lives. Also we are realizing that inertia is a powerful force when there is not a goal to move towards. We are chatting a bit about what we each want going forward but a long “think” is yet to come!

In the meantime any house and home does need maintenance and I’ve had a burst of energy in that area as the reality that we are still here and probably will be for some time has sunk in. So we have been checking off things that are easy to delay in the best of times and extremely easy to delay during a pandemic. Many years ago I had a co-worker who said her European MIL called a house a very hungry thing and I love that image because it is so apt! Houses eat up our time and money not to mention space in our brain.

As mentioned, we have converted 27 recessed ceiling lights to LEDs on dimmers plus put LED bulbs in the 4 of the 6 remaining recessed ceiling lights and about half the remaining lights and fixtures. That leaves more lights to do including odd ceiling fixtures, bathroom recessed lights, garage lights, closet lighting, etc. We have also considered installing solar panels but not seriously and will see how the new lights plus time of use billing plays out. We would also have to factor in when our roof is scheduled for routine replacement by the HOA and if our next car will be a hybrid that needs charging.

Our carpeted areas were pretty dirty between us and our dog these past two years. I had those cleaned plus the dog's favorite sofa and chair. More furniture could probably benefit from cleaning as could a large area rug but I only have so much interest in cleaning even if I’m not doing it!

We noticed the stucco at the base of our front door and entry walls was falling off and that is the HOAs responsibility. I turned in a maintenance request and they have shown up and fixed it! They have been very short staffed due to the pandemic and it wasn’t urgent so I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the work was done. It looks great.

So I’m on a roll with taking care of the house and have the next 2 or 3 priorities defined. We need to clean the windows and screens which is an annoying job but we do it ourselves. Just have to get started. Another high priority is replacing the cushion inserts in my favorite chair’s seat to restore its comfort level after 25 years of use.

I do think something more enjoyable also needs to be on the list though. I really enjoyed framing and hanging some of my art and one should enjoy their home not only have it working well. I will have to brainstorm on that.

Do you have any projects  lined up to help you enjoy where you are living?

Wellness Goals Update - Month 1

WELLNESS ALSO MEANS BEING KIND TO YOURSELF

AND

ADAPTING AS LIFE HAPPENS

It became clear in February with our old dog's death that I should have included being kind to myself as a goal and also realized that I couldn't start so much exercise at once.

Well I was kind to myself as I grieved and my body told me I could only increase my exercise so much over a short period of time so those happened naturally. Still, I feel ok about what I did overall towards my goals in February.

Check out how my friend Leslie at Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After is doing with her own wellness journey. She inspires me to push harder on exercise for sure!

Regain my Pilates and long walks body 

B+    Start Pilates again

I had a February goal of doing 8 online Pilates sessions with The Girl with a Pilates Mat and sent her a donation for 8. I did 6 and am happy with that. Already my ability to balance on one foot has increased . I enjoyed the Pilates classes and am going to focus doing more of them in March.

D     Take one or two Challenge Walks each week. Work on distance, speed and climbing (hills/stairs).

I managed to take 8 walks but no Challenge ones. 

I did go to the mall to try to do stairs and learned that during the pandemic they took out the stairs and put in escalators lol. Still looking for stairs in a public place where it won't be noticed if I go up and down a lot lol.

 B+    Cut way back on alcohol. 

Happy with this. A bonus is that Hubby also decided to do it. 

Have more mental stimulation and share it with others

A     Take full advantage of the local artists' studio and all their exhibits and events. 

We went to the current exhibit and joined the art center. I have also reserved our free member tickets for a concert in the gallery in mid-March.

 B+    Spend time making art again.

Drew one picture and made a recipe binder using a copy of one of my prior paintings.

B     Read what I really enjoy 

Reading a mystery series set in Regency England with side trips to Brussels, Vienna and Paris.

Sent a lot of books I didn't like back to the library without reading much of them. Yeah for libraries!

F     Figure out how to increase the types of friendship connections I crave. 

No heart for this in February. One of the new club members seems like a possibility though.

 

Wellness Sunday: Moving forward for health & happiness

MOVEMENT

Forward with a look back to find wellness destinations

I'm joining my friend Leslie who blogs at Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After to set and move forward on some priority Wellness Goals for the rest of the year. 

I asked for help finding a word for the year that fit and was meaningful. A great suggestion was "movement" and I am trying that out with these goals and with the image above which was taken years ago right before we took a hot air balloon ride in Aspen. The sensation of joyful movement I experienced on that ride is the type of emotional wellness I would like to recreate.

After my January insights about how my personality based habits were impacting my ability to move forward, I spent some time trying to think about it differently.

Then I spent some time listing what I liked about my wellness in the past in terms of physical, mental and emotional well being. The second step was brainstorming how I could regain some of those things in my current circumstances. So here goes!

____________________________________________________________

First up was that I liked having a Pilates body that was also shaped by walking hills and stairs a lot. The outdoor walks were in an interesting, beautiful area where there were things to see and/or destinations like a great coffee shop. It also truly was a case of walking uphill both ways due to the terrain, lots of stairs in our home and lots of very physical yard work. I let all that go after moving 5 years ago to a single story home with no yard in a flat area with no nearby interesting destinations, but this is not the first time I have had to remake my physical health and exercise habits. 

I broke it down with allowance for still recovering a bit from foot surgery, living in an uninspiring walking area (boredom reigns), and being both out of shape and heavier than I want to be. 

1. Start Pilates again. 

I can't work with a trainer at a studio (thanks COVID) but there are great resources online. I found a 25 minute standing beginner workout that is perfect for right now at The Girl with a Pilates Mat. I looked it up and two to three times a week is a good starting point. I'll send her a donation at the beginning of each month to pay for my classes.

2. Take one or two Challenge Walks each week. Work on distance, speed and climbing (hills/stairs).

I will walk where there are hills or stairs or balance challenges and drive to a starting point if needed. I brainstormed some ideas and came up with mall walking (stairs), a walk to the closest Starbucks or deli, a walk to a nearby park, and walking the very uneven Ventura pier. I'm going to see what may work for me. Then I'll look into any trails or other walking routes that may be nearby once I am more fit.

3. Cut way back on alcohol. 

I didn't drink at all for at least 2 years after coming back from a previous health crisis and then only very occasionally for several years after than. Like many, during the pandemic I have gotten in the habit of a drink before dinner basically every day. I don't need the calories and my liver and sleep patterns would certainly benefit from less imbibing. Starting with February being a very limited alcohol month.

____________________________________________________________

Secondly, I really liked having more mental stimulation and sharing it with people with whom I could be fully myself. This one is much harder for me to visualize and operationalize.

We used to go to a world class art museum, lots of small live theater, outdoor art shows or walks. We went out to eat regularly with Thai food being one of our favorites. I was a member of a very interesting book club that also had parties and took weekend trips together. I took lots of art classes. I had a close friend with whom I could talk about anything. 

Then we moved to a very suburban area where I had no connections and just as I was finding some of these things the pandemic hit. I do have some nice local friends who I enjoy and who are great emotional support, but not that feel free to bare your soul type of best friend one. 

I am determined though that staying healthy and getting stimulation can't be mutually exclusive despite the challenges of COVID.

1. Take full advantage of the local artists' studio and all their exhibits and events. 

Look into becoming a member and perhaps volunteering in some way. Find any other art exhibits in the area.

2. Find a way to spend time making art again.

Try drawing a series of pictures with a theme. Perhaps try a class with one of the artists from the art studios. I know there is a figure drawing workshop, glass art and I'm sure many others.

3. Read what I really enjoy and write reviews of it. 

Period or other location mysteries anyone? Victorian, WWI or WWII. Paris, London, etc. Go to the small local bookstore and see what they have. 

4. Figuring out how to increase the types of friendship connections I crave. 

Who might I have met or meet who could be a kindred spirit? How can I get together with people to deepen connections during this endless pandemic? 

August Priorities

The first week of August has seen me do very little as I continue to mostly sit with my foot elevated and struggle to do basic chores or carry anything while using the knee walker. The cast is supposed to be traded in for a walking boot on August 13th but I am assuming I still won’t be able to walk around without using a walker or crutches until at least September. So my top priorities are getting more mobile and finally being able to take a shower instead of a sponge bath!

What else goes on the list?

Getting everything in place for and publicizing my club’s first general meeting in September 

Finishing phone calls to club members

Doing a bit of meal prep

Getting outside for a short walk and doing some safe exercising to build up my arm and leg strength 

Hopefully being able to take the dog out for quick potty breaks to take some of the load off Hubby

And that is it!

What are you hoping to get done this month?

Out of the gate - Busy start to 2019 in first half of January

A busy first half of January in terms of meetings, prep time and socializing. I'm realizing that the 2 groups I am involved with have all their activities in the first half of each month and then nothing. Looks like I need to make plans with friends and family for the second half of each month so I have something to look forward to!

I've spent a lot of time on our finances. Balancing everything for the end of 2018, making the 2019 budget, thinking about what to do with our inheritance and if we move again what that will cost. We had quite a few occasional payments due and other action items, so I made a chart by month for those periodic bills and things like appointments to make, birthdays, etc. and it is helping.

I've also decided to focus on being even more conscious of my/our optional spending more from a minimal impact and not adding more stuff to our lives perspective (rather than financial) - see the new tab at the top of the blog.

So I am summarizing how I've done on my 2019 Intentions twice a month for now as a reminder to focus on them. I did pretty good!

2019 Dreams, Aspirations and Hopes (No goals here) - January 1 to 14

SORTA 1. Make exercise a do-able habit - Focused on stretching and walking. Did my stretch DVD 3 times so far this month and walked 8 times. Need to work on stretching more!

YES 2. Lots of family time - Lovely time with all immediate family on New Year's Day at the Rose Parade and then half of them at our house that night and the next day. Out to lunch with Hubby. Called great-aunt to invite her to lunch but she was ill so will make that happen later.

YES 3. Be active socially - The first half of the month was busy. Women's club board, book discussion group and monthly meeting. Pet Club meeting. Scheduled lunches with two friends for later in the month and a group outing in February.

YES 4. Dream and evaluate location and lifestyle options - Had an initial discussion re options and timing of potential move to the Berkeley area. Looked at our investments to see how and when we could have the cash to buy a new place before selling this one.

SORTA 5. Read with a purpose - Went to book discussion group. Have requested several memoirs from the library.

6. Refresh my wardrobe in my style and colors - This has taken an interesting turn as I have decided to do a Not Buying New Challenge for a while. If something wears out or if I have a specific need for which there is nothing in my closet I can buy it but otherwise it is thrifted or nothing.

7. Healthier food all the time - Well, no.

YES 8. House ready to sell or enjoy even more - Deep cleaned the front bedroom. I wanted to buy something to store racquets and balls that were on the closet floor, but found a sturdy box to use instead. Enlisted Hubby to dust the ceiling fan blades and high closet shelf. Made a list of bedding replacements desired, but am not shopping for a while as I decide which are the top priorities for replacement/upgrading household items.

9. Push my creativity - Hmmm.

YES 10. Learn - I'm participating in a beta test of a new online program and learning a lot. I read an interesting book by Stephen Talty, "Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Pirate Army" and another by Shaun Bythel, "The Diary of a Bookseller".

YES 11. Do more enjoyable things - Attended a performance of an opera medley. It was very interesting and enjoyable. A group of us then bought tickets for a table at the February performance of Tales of Hoffman by the same local opera company.

One month down - 11 goals for 11 months

GOALS – YOGA, FAMILY, HEALTHY EATS

I have some things to accomplish before I turn 70 on September 1, 2019 - 11 goals for 11 months

October saw some progress.

HEALTH: Get off my butt - or at least off the computer!

4 yoga & 2 stretch sessions

·       Stretch DVD - 10/2, 6

·       Yoga class – 10/12, 16, 22, 29

GROW ME: More experiences!

·       Volunteering more is not turning out as planned. No one else would take on being the President of the Pet Club so I said I would do it for the rest of the year. Now need to find someone to take over 3 officer roles and go back to being Treasurer only.

·       Brainstorming vacation options: We decided to plan a trip to Santa Fe/Taos.

·       Live theater - “Into the Woods”.

·       Movie – “A Star is Born”

·       Agreed to research selling women’s club piano to help fund AC for building.

LOVE: Love and be loved!

·       Had dinner w. FIL & great aunt 2x; lunch w. FIL, BIL, nieces, nephew; lunch/wedding photo viewing with son & DIL, agreed to host Thanksgiving dinner

·       Spent time with friends at book discussion group, Women’s Club meeting, lunch with friends,

JUST DO IT: Get more done!

·       Made a monthly chart of irregular medical & vet appointments, car servicing, bills, etc.

·       Bought a down comforter to replace one that no longer is in good shape. Still trying to figure out what to do with the old unusable one.

·       Bought a cushion for the car passenger seat to help avoid pain on long trips.

My 69th September - Goals

I've already blown my resolution for my 69th year of becoming more fit by not eating donuts/cookies at the library cafe or drinking wine. But a happy break of a resolution it was.

I do want to get more fit after finding it hard to keep up with the 30-somethings walking speed and the up and down stairs of taking public transportation in the Bay Area. This is wedding month for my older son and a visit from my brother and SIL too so it will be busy.

So to the goals:

1. Swim at least 6 times, stretch/yoga at least 8 times, gym at least 4 times

2. Be a cheerful, sociable participant in the 3 day wedding festivities.

3. Plan some fun activities for the post-wedding visit by brother and SIL. So great that they are coming across the country for the wedding.

4. Read 4 books.

5. Start a Fall wardrobe challenge.

6. Participate in Women's Club activities of book discussion and monthly meeting as well as Pet Club raffle ticket sales and monthly meeting.

7. Do something for each close family member to show my love for them. Start by sending granddaughter some mail!

May Goals - A Baker's Dozen

I've got so many challenge lists going that I'm losing track! Thought I'd simply pull together what I want to accomplish this month.

Health
1. Stretching/flexibility 21 day challenge - yoga 2x a week OR stretch DVD

2. Schedule gym orientation

3. Go swimming (out of my comfort zone!)

4. Double check that I have the printed results of recent physical lab tests

Social/Family
5. Plan Mother's Day weekend at our house including cleaning and staging patio

6. Go to Women's Club monthly meeting and library book club monthly meeting

7. Plan trip to see granddaughter

Clothes and Shopping
8. Wear a different outfit combination every day - actually going to try for 100 days and then thin out what I don't wear or is uncomfortable

9. Buy only a pair of shoes, new down comforter and possibly 2 bed pillows

Other
10. Address adding Hubby to a CD that is in my name only

11. Learn how to download apps by putting Lyftt and Uber on my phone (out of my comfort zone!)

12. Try Pandora to get music back in my life (out of my comfort zone!)

13. Try a new recipe each week and a new to us restaurant

September goals update & moving on to October

I tried to keep my September goals reasonable but once again overestimated my ability willingness to focus lol.

I did really well with family and friends related goals. Met up with my cousins as they traveled through California, had a long chat with an elderly aunt, talked to my close friend in my former location and emailed too, talked to my brother and FIL and sons, wrote 2 cousins and my aunt but the latter was returned so I know have her current address and will try again. Did decide I was too worn out to make a brief trip up north to see the grandbaby so I'm going to lose my SW Airlines credit but I would have had to spend more to make the trip. Sent

I made progress on my personal goals too. I have upped my exercise with about an 80% of days results, got my flu shot and signed up for a yoga fundamentals class to try a new teacher. I worked on meeting potential friends as I joined AAUW locally, volunteered for a fundraising event for the county animal shelter, and attended my OLLI class faithfully. I picked out a potential cross body purse pattern but that is as far as I went with sewing.

I really want to finish our cross country move related tasks but alas I didn't. I did schedule the handyman service for 10/6, ordered shutters for the relevant windows after Hubby finished painting, bought some more items for our emergency supplies and hung a few pictures. I still need to update our wills, etc. and finish purchasing the emergency supplies.

On the retirement related front: Hubby signed up for Medicare Parts A & B and has finished his paid working days since he is required to take the final 2 days of September as vacation since he did not want to make one more trip back to Atlanta!

Not perfect but not shabby.

October will be the first month we are both retired and living on retirement income. I will receive my first SS payment and be fully on Medicare. We will be dog sitting for my son and DIL's dog for 2 1/2 weeks while they take a 20th anniversary trip abroad. I've never had 2 dogs at once much less when I have to take them out on a leash. Thank goodness he is a sweetie and the dogs get along well.I will keep going to my OLLI class, exercising and attending activities. We might even get the last of the pictures hung and figure out what to do with the ones that don't suit this house. That plus family time, some recreation and normal day to day life should pretty much fill up the month.

Summer bucket list - Final report

I'm joining in with the summer bucket list challenge wrap up! Please share your summer plans - I love getting ideas from others. Check out all the interesting blogs that have linked up by scrolling to the bottom of this post.

What is working out well is spending time with family, completing many house repairs and getting furnishings, and a moderate level of exercise. As is usual for me I set too many goals but I think what I do get done tells me what I am really interested in spending my time on!

Family & Friends - Lots of success here! I've seen more of my immediate and extended family this summer than in years. Lots of fun, some opportunities to be of assistance and just building stronger connections after 20 years of geographic distance.

A+ See and play with my baby granddaughter for the weekend at least twice - so much fun!

A+ See my local son, DIL & FIL at least 3 times each plus make the aunt, uncle, cousin rounds - Yes!

B Schedule visits with 2 long term local friends/couples - we got together with one couple
C Invite new neighbors/acquaintances out or over 
F Plan and hold a "next generation cousins" get together for my sons' generation of family.

Exercise - I am exercising more than I was except I do miss Pilates and have to decide if I am going to find an instructor again

A+ Take the dog for a long walk each day to help her relax in her new surroundings - since we have no yard this is happening and she is doing much better

C Go to the community based yoga class or use stretch DVD at home at least twice a week when I am in town 
F Use the pool in my community each week! Swim, do water aerobics or just float around. - Don't know why I haven't done this.

F Take a hike on a trail nearby. 

Food - Clearly too ambitious with this set of goals!

A Eat at the beach! - Does the harbor count? Last day of the challenge but we went out to eat there.

B Try three new to us restaurants in our new hometown - had dinner at two

B Go to the local Farmer's Market - we have been a few times 
D Try 3 recipes in my new cookbook, "America's Test Kitchen: The Best Mexican Recipes" - just one and it was delicious

D 3 new summer main dish salads - just one

D Eat on our patio - We did sit out and enjoy a glass of wine 

F Test and decide on 3 large group dishes/menus for future entertaining.

F Try a new cocktail to make at home

Fun & Exploration - I'd count this area as a success

A+ Celebrate my 68th birthday! Been a few trips around the sun since this one. - fun weekend with family.

A+ Go to the nearest art museum and one or more galleries - I am really enjoying the local artist collective gallery

A+ See summer blockbuster movie - Wonderwoman!

A+ Get massages (a change from Get a pedicure and fun nail polish)  - great masseuse 
B  Go to a local event, fun store or attraction each month - Two so far; music and food trucks and then magic and cocktails

D Read at least one five books from Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Summer Reading Guide - found I didn't enjoy her selections so just read one.

Settling In - Progress but not finished yet

B  Figure out how to have music playing in house - still need to buy a stereo cabinet and get set up

B Regularly attend one social and/or service group - I signed up for a senior university (OLLI) class that I am really enjoying and also have been attending a yoga class about every other week. 

B  Finish furnishing and decorating our new home. We need den furniture and shelves for displaying decorative items and/or photos - all that is left is to finish hanging pictures and buy a stereo cabinet and display shelves perhaps.

B  Finish repairs on home inspection punch list - we are close on this

C Finish creating earthquake/emergency supply stockpile - lots of water and canned goods plus additional first aid supplies so far
F Create a succulent patio garden - NOT enough sun to do this 
F Volunteer for a role in at least one group.

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm weary!

I'm blaming the marathon of moving being over and the letdown that accompanies the end of sustained effort. Or it could be that I'm trying to increase my exercise level but haven't decreased the caffeine intake. Maybe it is that glass of wine each night or the lack of full, interesting days. Perhaps the lingering effect of the recent flu shot

Don't know but I'm just plain tired right now. We went out to eat last night at a no effort restaurant and I lounged on the couch another night while Hubby made dinner. I'm doing one major household chore a day rather than a day of chores. Took a nap one day. Hopefully this will pass soon.

My usual response is to up my activity level and try to power through it unless I can see that I am actually ill in which case I take to the couch or bed if possible. This time I am considering whether or not to do optional things and only doing them if they are energizing me.

So I'm making progress on my September goal list but cutting back on it too. Phone calls instead of travel for example. 

Family and Friends Related

√ Meet up with cousins during their vacation

·        Go to visit granddaughter using credit with Southwest plus some more

√ Have lunch with elderly aunt and uncle – we had a long phone call instead

·        Arrange to get together with another cousin and an old friend

√ Write aunt and a cousin

Call friend in former location to hear about her vacation in Italy

Personal

√ Pick out a pattern to make a small cross body purse

       ·        and get fabric

So far so good - Keep promise to myself by stretching and exercising daily starting 9/9

·        Add one more weekly activity to my yoga class and OLLI class (sewing group, genealogy, music & motion?)

√ Get flu shot

Cross Country Move Related

Came by to see what needs to be done & hope to get bit and appointment soon - Schedule handyman service for:

-        Recirculating pump installed and outlet under sink removed

-        Holes in attic firewall between garage and living area repaired

-        Back door threshold repair

√ Shutters for family room window ordered

·        Update wills, power of attorney, health care power of attorney, living trust

·        Identify items needed for earthquake/emergency supplies & bug out kits for home & car; start purchasing

√ Purchased additional first aid items; started a backpack for car with shoes, flashlight, survival blanket, some first aid supplies, bottles of water

Retirement Related

√ Hubby sign up for Medicare Parts A & B

Others Added

Welcome to Medicare appointment

DDS appointment and insurance

September Goals and Fabulous Family Time

Wow, that was fun! We had both sons, DILs, their dogs and our baby granddaughter at our house for Labor Day (aka my birthday weekend) and it was so much fun!

Here is the precious one.

They are all back  home and ready to work again now and we and our dog are catching up on our sleep.

Today I have been thinking about what I want to accomplish in September and trying to focus on the most important things. My list of goals - dreams perhaps?

I am so excited that one of my East coast cousins and her husband are in California on vacation and it looks like we can meet up.

SEPTEMBER GOALS

Family and Friends Related

·        Meet up with cousins during their vacation

·        Go to visit granddaughter using credit with Southwest plus some more

·        Have lunch with elderly aunt and uncle

·        Arrange to get together with another cousin and an old friend

·        Write aunt and a cousin

·        Call friend in former location to hear about her vacation in Italy

Personal:

·        Pick out a pattern to make a small cross body purse and get fabric

·        Keep promise to myself by stretching and exercising daily

·        Add one more weekly activity to my yoga class and OLLI class

·        Get flu shot

Cross Country Move Related:

·        Schedule handyman service for:

-        Recirculating pump installed and outlet under sink removed

-        Holes in attic firewall between garage and living area repaired

-        Back door threshold repair

·        Shutters for family room window ordered

·        Update wills, power of attorney, health care power of attorney, living trust

·        Identify items needed for earthquake/emergency supplies & bug out kits for home & car; start purchasing

Retirement Related:

·        Hubby sign up for Medicare Parts A & B