Stepping out of my comfort zone (& request for ideas)

I'm joining in with the Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone series started by the lovely Leslie of Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After

I've always loved learning, but tend to do it in a quiet on my own way or with one to a few others.

I was the kid that loved school, stayed in school through getting a Ph.D. and then for a career I gravitated toward one where I gather lots of information and synthesized it into meaningful and useful conclusions.

I like vacationing in new places rather than going back to the same place each time although we did repeat Yosemite a lot but then nature provides its own variety. We did go on some Road Scholar trips in Florida and enjoyed those.

I like going to plays and exhibitions that are new.

I do not tend to do a deep dive into a subject or develop a passion for a particular specific topic but in general enjoy the arts, science, the natural world and reading.

I had found my way in retirement in our former location but our move shook up all those solutions - in a good way but still I need to find new ones. Hence joining in in stepping out of my comfort zone.

I'm just starting to think about it so here are my observations and request for ideas.

1. I want a new big long term audacious project. Deciding to move across the country and to have a home ready to move into once we got there was about an 18 month audacious project that kept me engaged and busy. I need another one so time to put on my thinking cap and ask for ideas too. Have you had any in your life recently or right now?

2. Retirement has not provided as many ready made opportunities for learning as school or work did so my first learning is that I really need to work at making sure I have enough exciting learning opportunities in my life now. That will be part of my new big project going forward. Ideas?

3. I have met lots of very nice  people since we moved here. I am not that good at turning acquaintances into close friends as I am rather introverted. There must be specific steps I could take to speed up the process. Ideas?

4. When I volunteer or join a group it needs to be a situation where there is social interaction in smaller groups. I also gravitate towards having a leadership and/or planning role. So far I have only gotten involved in the Pet Club in my HOA community and became Treasurer. I'm looking into a nearby Women's Club and the local all volunteer theater. Other ideas?

5. Our family is lovely, loving and at times challenging especially in large groups. Hubby tends to pick out one person to chat with extensively at large family gatherings while I wander about and end up feeling alone and wishing I wasn't there. Hmmm. Time for a change there. Ideas?

Challenging friends and ourselves to step out of our comfort zones in order to try new activities and experiences in life.  To push the envelope!  Please link up similar posts below. Then take time to visit some of the other blogs linking-up for this series.

1. Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone, 03.2018

2. Natalie's Blog: A new whirl 2018.03 edition

3. Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone – Time to Break

4. Stepping out of my comfort zone request for help

The collection has closed. Let other people know about it through twitter.

Five for Friday and some favorites of the week

Family, preventive health care screening, home maintenance, exercise, finances and food prep for Easter fun. This week had it all.

1. Saturday evening we took a trek across the San Fernando Valley to attend Hubby's aunt's 90th birthday gathering. She had been looking forward to and talking about this milestone party for 2 years. It was a nice gathering and people came from far away to celebrate. Always lovely and encouraging to see the 20-something nieces, nephews and cousins doing so well.

2. My father had an abdominal aorta aneurysm that was found while they were trying to diagnose a back problem so he was able to have it fixed. He fell into the high risk category for this - white, male, smoker early in life. However although I am not male and never smoked since he had one I fall into the high risk category too and could get a free ultrasound scan to check once I was on Medicare. I went on Wednesday and had it done because it is fixable and potentially deadly if you have it and don't fix it. Thanks to Medicare and our secondary insurance it was no cost to me. The tech said "no need to worry but I didn't tell you anything". Still will get the results from the Dr's office.

3. I've vacuumed up all the dead termites I can find and the termite professional says we have to pull back the carpet along one wall in the living room. Then he will drill through the slab quite a ways into the soil and inject a pesticide to hopefully kill the subterranean termite colony. Price is just a little more than what we paid last Spring for a different treatment that worked in that it caused them to enter the house in a different location! We will probably have to get a carpet installer out to re-stretch the carpet, but we'll see how it looks once it is back in place. Home maintenance is endless isn't it?

4. I'm 7 days into my 21 day walking challenge and haven't missed a day yet. My legs are feeling tired at night!

5. Remember my complaining about shopping online? I took advantage of a one month free offer to get 10% off and a $10 return cost rebate for the dress I bought in 3 different sizes before I got one that fit right. I made sure to cancel the membership before the monthly fee kicked in.

Bonus: I only took a year to get this one hung up. A hand painted memento of our time in Atlanta. I used a photo of a flower on our own magnolia tree as the model.

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This week's favorites?

Meals out: We tried to go out for pizza and beer at the local Institution Ale brewery but it was packed with an event in progress so we went to The Curry Leaf for Indian food. That led to a discussion of how many Camarillo restaurants we have found are ones we return to. Add in Bandit's Grill and Mama Hummus and there is the list LOL. We are still searching for favorite Mexican and Thai restaurants.

Dinner at home: Pan fried tilapia with mixed veggies and rice.

Outfits: Apparently it was blue and ivory week!

Naming

I recently read a fun and interesting post over at Sizzling Toward Sixty about why parents give a particular name to a child and go to thinking about the naming of people, objects, experiences and feelings in general.

Take my own first name for example. It is Juhlin and I do know why I have that name. My maternal grandmother died when my Mom was about 5 after being in a TB sanitarium for several years. Her name was Sophie Juhlin Anderson Duncan, but she went by Juhlin which was her mother's maiden name and is Swedish. With me so far? So I was named Juhlin after her with the middle name of Mary after my Mom's beloved stepmother's middle name. The reasons are loving, but my name has caused confusion most of my life.

I didn't even know that was my fist name until I entered junior high! I was called Juli which had little connection spelling wise but still had to be spelled as it wasn't Julie. Eventually I changed it to Juhli to make it easier to explain since I always had to spell it anyway! I used to receive mail addressed to Mr. back when people who didn't know you still tried to guess. It doesn't happen anymore of course as those titles aren't used by strangers.

Interestingly last names weren't even consistent in Sweden until a 1901 law required people to pick a last name to be passed on to future generations. Before that they were a variation of your father's first name, a reference to where you lived or your occupation or perhaps a nickname. People could and did change their last name during their life. It sure make genealogical research a challenge.

My first name isn't a common last name in Sweden though. However, as a side note, when I lived in Seattle there were several people in the phone book with the last name of Juhlin. In addition, my freshman year roommate's father was of Danish heritage and his first name was Julin which was a random coincidence. He had only met one other person with a similar first name and it had some 3rd spelling variation. I can't find any information about what Juhlin means but apparently it is most common as a last name in Sweden, Denmark and the US.

Not surprisingly, I gave my sons simple one syllable first names! My granddaughter though has a first name that is usually a boy's name so the cycle continues.

That 16 month old granddaughter is at the stage of language development where she wants to know the names of objects. I remember that stage with my own children. The frequent "what's that?" barely intelligible question in a tiny little voice accompanied by pointing or actually carrying the object over to ask about it. We have been told she is carrying things to her day care teachers and asking for the name. Vocabulary building in action. She understands a lot as a result but isn't saying much yet. Her most consistent naming so far is "baba" for bottle and "daaaa" for dog. She sure has dogs figured out and tries to pet ours through the phone when we Facetime with her. Absolutely much more interested when we show the dog's face than when we show our own LOL.

But in general naming seems to really help us cognitively and socially. The tricky part comes when we feel we have accurately named our experience or feelings. Those words often tend to mean something different to other people and thus the ongoing challenge of communication.

The Bucket List is Back for Spring

I was overwhelmed with to do lists for a while and stopped doing these seasonal bucket lists, but since they really did help me have more fun and get more done I've decided to give it another whirl!

Spring in our coastal part of Southern California is not that different from Winter, but the temps do warm up a bit which will make being more active easier. We also have both acknowledged that we are a bit bored and need to find more activities we enjoy. Add in some adventures and lots of family time and we should have a happy Spring.

Spend Easter weekend with family: This event is why I was asking for help with coffee cake recipes. We are going to spend the weekend with our local son and his fiancee. Dogs included and thank goodness they are friends. Hopefully a field trip to see the fall wedding venue too.

Throw a party to celebrate one year back in California: We moved in to this house on April 19th although we owned it starting March 22nd. We are thinking a snacks and drinks kind of event to which we will invite DHs pickle ball friends, my Pet Club friends, a few other people we have met or reconnected with, and family. That is a lot of people. Ideas for menus and how to stage this???

Celebrate our anniversary: April 12th it will be 37 years. We will probably go out to eat.

Three 21 day challenges: If you can do something for 21 days it comes close to being a habit that you miss if you stop. Not sure that applies to not drinking wine but I went 3 years without drinking back when I had heart problems so I know I could do that too if motivated. Challenge 1: Walking. Challenge 2: Stretching/flexibility. Challenge 3: Lose the sugar/snacks.

Try out a book club: There are two book clubs at my local library. I've got the Tuesday morning one on my calendar for April. I'm also going to research a nearby women's club that has lots of interesting activities.

Visit a tide pool: We keep talking about this and simply need to find out when is a good time to do it and if we can join a ranger walk one day. Leo Carrillo State Beach here we come.

Go to a play: I bought the tickets so April 15th we will try out the local, all volunteer playhouse. It could provide me with a volunteering option so will be looking at that too.

Go to Ghengis Khan exhibit at the Reagan Library: May of June will be the target for this. I have a long time friend who live near it so we will see if she wants to join us.

Five for Friday

Another week:

1. Despite my moaning about online clothes shopping I did order some more items but this time from Macy's so I can return them in store as needed. I'm keeping one pair of capris. I also finally found new Asics walking/athletic shoes that are comfortable and kept both white and silver pairs. Thanks Amazon for the free return policy.

2. I bought tickets for a play at a small theatre in town so we can try it out.

3. We found out that the Reagan Library has a big Genghis Khan exhibit going on until mid-August so we will pick a time to go.  I went there once long ago when my younger son was in elementary school and had to write a report on a President. It was generally interesting as a lot of the exhibit was about the presidency and its history in general and then there is the chance to step into a decommissioned Air Force One.

4. We finally bought 2 desk chairs. It is like the Mama and Papa bear chairs in that we each chose a different one that was really comfortable for us. Much better than our extra dining room chairs!

5. Just when we thought we had our home repairs under control we got a termite swarm. Termite guy coming on Tuesday morning!

Spring?

We are in the second of two very rainy days which would be unremarkable if we still lived in Atlanta. But here in S. Cal it is remarkable although very much needed due to the ongoing drought in our area. I am finding that instead of feeling like Spring rain it instead is cold and damp in our house and outside.

If we were still in Atlanta it wouldn't stop us from doing anything but as it is so rare here we are avoiding the roads as much as possible. However Hubby is off driving quite a way to take my FIL to the funeral of a dear friend of his. I imagine it is quite hard to be 91 and have your age mates funerals to attend.

Anyway, this Spring rain made me think about some of the sayings that have Spring in them and thought I would list a few for your entertainment (and mine).

- A spring in one's step
- I'm no spring chicken
- Hope springs eternal
and most baffling to me
- One swallow does not a spring make

Recipe suggestions please for Easter brunch coffee cake

Does anyone have a great, tasty, not too unhealthy recipe for a delicious coffee cake for an Easter brunch?

The ones that captured the eye of the hostess were a sour cream crumb cake with mega calories and a huge number of servings - we both agree that was out. Another was a banana cake roll up that looked challenging to make.

Help!

Five on Friday

I was busy with appointments and meetings this week but we had fun too.

1. Last Friday night we went to a Beatles tribute band concert in our 55+ community. It was quite good but did not fill all the seats like the Beach Boys tribute band did previously. $5 a person and 2 hours of good music = fun.

2. Last minute invite to join FIL, great aunt and a cousin for brunch at his assisted living facility. Despite having eaten late breakfasts due to the time change we both managed to eat a full meal LOL.

3. Pet club meeting on Monday evening was for the cat lovers. Have you heard of cat cafes? There is one nearby. The cats are all from the Camarillo shelter and up for adoption. Not my thing but it is clearly fun for others.

4. Appointments galore: vet for monthly Addison's disease shot, haircut, massage plus last art history class for a while.

5. Went to the local brewery with a cousin and enjoyed pizza and beer plus a good visit.


My attempts to add carefully to my wardrobe resulted in lots of returns this week. A top supposed to be exactly like on that fits well was probably 2 sized smaller, the hunt for new athletic shoes may have produced a pair (white but I don't care at this point!), and a skirt I had hoped might work for the wedding BBQ was really crummy material. Sigh.

Any one else hating the advent of mostly online clothes shopping coupled with an abundance of clothes that no one seems to want or gaps in sizing stock in the traditional stores?

Five on Friday

A nice week overall!

1. Our older son's fiancee stayed overnight to make it easier to get to an early business meeting near us and got to help us try out a recipe from one of my Christmas presents - Smitten Kitchen Everyday. I made pork tenderloin agrodolce with butternut squash instead of acorn squash as that is what I had at home.  It was delicious! This website has the recipe if you don't want to get the book (recipe). I'm definitely going to make more recipes from this cookbook. In fact there is a banana cake roll that just might appear for Easter brunch.

2. We took advantage of being retired and drove to Ventura to walk the boardwalk and have tacos for lunch on the pier. It was very windy with the water very choppy. Always different at the ocean.

3. I had my annual blood test and got all 3 prescriptions refilled. Happily the quite expensive one was less than half of what I paid before we switched insurances.

4. I walked 1.5 to 2.5 miles each day for the last 5 days. That is my baseline for exercise I think.

5. I bought 2 tops and a pair of capris which I happened upon at Macy's and a dress that I had ordered a second time in a smaller size.

I was shopping for a dress for my son's wedding picnic & BBQ in September but this may not be casual enough. Or it may simply be too hot to wear it. There will be a pub crawl the night before and brunch at Santa Anita the next morning so more shopping to round out my wardrobe for my new lifestyle and family events. I do like the versatility of this dress with toppers I already own.

What made you happy this past week?

Exercising fail and other laments

I didn't think the exercise program I laid out for the week was that ambitious but my mind and body thought otherwise so I only accomplished exercising 4 days out of 7. I did make it to a yoga class as I have decided I have to stick with that no matter my desires or not.

I also didn't make the phone calls or send texts to schedule a massage or gym orientation or get the name of a good PT for our files. Nor did I buy new exercise clothing.

I didn't have any problem going out to lunch twice and meeting up for coffee once as well as dinner out with Hubby and some wine and beer drinking. Priorities you know.

Well it is a new week and my more realistic exercise plan for this week is to exercise every other day.

Sunday, Thursday & Saturday - stretch DVD, walk and/or hand weights
Tuesday - yoga class

Better to plan for 4 days and hopefully exceed it than feel guilty about not exercising every day.

On the other hand I did finally have my annual physical and Welcome to Medicare appointment. The doctor was nice but nice isn't enough. Once I extract my prescription renewals from this apparently understaffed and low on technology practice as well as the referral for an abdominal aorta aneurysm screening we are going to see if we can find a larger, more efficient medical practice. BTW, I am having the aneurysm screening because when you start Medicare you can have one for free if you are in a risk category which I am because my Dad had one and had surgery to repair it. Usually it is white males who smoked that are at risk and can get screened.

I also think I need to find a better vet.

After singing the praises of the local OLLI program we both decided we weren't excited enough about any of this coming sessions classes to sign up. Darn.

Enough lamenting. Back to a can do, it will all work out approach.

Books for children

I had absolutely no idea that Dolly Parton's Imagination Library was such a huge program.

Coincidentally my DIL had just last weekend shared with me that our granddaughter was signed up to receive books monthly. She said the most interesting thing so far was how well the books reflected the real life diversity of Americans. That is not something you typically find in children's books.

The other interesting thing to me is that there is no requirement for signing up your child except that your community needs to be in the program and your child between 0 and 5. Local funding is required to support the costs of mailing the books. I just looked and my community doesn't have a program sponsor but Berkeley obviously does.

What a marvelous legacy she has created.