November Half Gone - and we are gone too + thankful

Fun, Experiences and Giving 

By the time this is posted we will be in the car with the pup and starting our 7 hour drive to Berkeley for our granddaughter's 6th birthday party. Fingers crossed pup doesn't go wild in the car or at their house. I am very thankful that we can go visit our family so easily.

Speaking of the pup, we are working on taking him new places so he has new experiences. In October we took him around Old Town Camarillo past restaurant outdoor seating and so on. We also went to the local Cal State campus and walked him around the big fountain, grassy areas and up to the library entrance & he watched pickleball and bocce ball games at our rec center. This month we have taken him to the groomer and vet (I don't think those count although he is ecstatically happy to greet everyone at both places). He also went with me to the pet store to pick up his new ID tag and enjoyed walking the aisles.

Forward Motion

Decluttered by donating prior dog's crate, other smaller dog items, a lap quilt, small rug, shoes, book, guitar. Recycled or trashed papers from files, an old garage light fixture, other garage items.

A fabulous club meeting and 2 more new members! That makes 4 in the last month. All are high energy and very interested in active involvement. Two even jumped in and helped wash dishes after lunch (very old building so no dishwasher). Two very interested guests too so at least one more new member soon I would think. We also raised some money with our Holiday Boutique sale which moves on to the district meeting later this month.

Engaging Project

It looks like we can afford to move even with the future scenario of income decreasing due to death of one of us. So now the question is do we want to make the leap? We will take a couple of hours to drive by houses currently for sale while we are visiting so we can get a clearer idea about neighborhoods.

Prudent Spending 

The new dishwasher is installed and is working great.

A rush trip to the vet did get the bee stinger out of pup’s paw and medication into his system to forestall worse reactions than the 6 bouts of vomiting that took us to the vet. Pup was fine the next day.

Frugal Things  

I bought a sleeveless top and two scarves from ThredUp and a short sleeve top from Goodwill. 

And a Random Odd Event  

I just happened to look outside at the moment when a termite swarm was resting on our patio. Glad I had stocked up on bug spray as we used a lot to try to eliminate all of them. It was better than when a swarm came in through our kitchen skylight a few years ago lol.

 

Mid October Update: fun, frugality and forward motion

Did I say I wanted more fun? Well fun certainly was had! Several lunches with friends, club monthly meeting which was a wonderful performance of Opera and Broadway songs by a professional performer, book club, a lovely dinner out with Hubby, dog park visits with the party pup, lots of books read and more.

I flew to Berkeley and spent a long weekend with my son, DIL and granddaughter. Good long talks with my son. Laughs with DIL. Swim lesson observation, working on puzzles, listening to beginner violin practice, picking garden produce, helping a large Amazon box become a “kitty (and child) castle and mail station”, baking a cake and more with granddaughter and family.

Yes, those are her mailbox creations. The sign on the front says Kitty as in Kitty Castle but the entry is a girl sized opening. Several hours spent with the 4 of us writing messages and getting them. Eventually the dog and cat got mailboxes set on the top of the box so they could be included.

Frugal Things: The usual day to day stuff. My big clothing expenditure was a 6 pack of no show socks from the Jockey outlet store. Used coupons and Von’s online app to increase our pantry which is pretty stocked now. I bought a few more emergency prep supplies (emergency blankets and headlamps). 

Our high temps are bouncing around mostly in the 70s with an occasional hotter day so little us of the AC which will hopefully lower the electric bill.

Several things do need repairing but hopefully not replacing. Problems with the dishwasher and one shower temp control. We have a good appliance repair person and I just asked for plumber recs so need to get it all booked. Holes from critters in the drip irrigation line but that is the HOA’s responsibility so they just need reminders to act on it.

It also turns out we are not going to make it through the pup's adolescence without some furniture destruction. This happened although we didn't witness it so don't know if he was chewing on a toy right next to it and just moved on over or if he went for it specifically. We'll wait a while and then figure out how to stain it.

Experiences and Giving: I spent freely to fly to Berkeley, take us all out to dinner, buy puzzles for my granddaughter, etc. In line with give freely, I bought raffle tickets at our club meeting and won a homemade pumpkin bread. It is quite tasty.

Forward motion includes decluttering now done in 10 to 15 minute bursts, planning a club sale at the November district meeting, shifting how I keep the house clean so there are smaller bursts of targeted cleaning instead of the dreaded cleaning day and so on. 

Engaging Project: We are once again seriously thinking about moving to the Berkeley area as we imagine our lives for the next 10 to 20 years and think we would like very much to be physically closer to family who indeed do want us closer. A big decision. It would give me a big project though!

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.

Late June and still here!

Just a quick update.

I just got back from a weekend trip to visit my granddaughter, son & DIL as they house sit while between selling their house and finding a new one in the very hot Berkeley housing market. A 1 1/2 year old is such fun and so exhausting at the same time. I found I do remember the words to the Eensy Weensy Spider song and she likes my out of tune singing a lot.

We are all healthy again and my FIL's diagnosis turned out to be a pre-cancerous esophageal lesion with little likelihood of spreading in time to cause him problems given his age (91) so no treatment required. He is anemic too so they are figuring out how to manage that but that is a minor issue and he will feel better once it is solved. Yeah!

I am really appreciating the new vet we switched to. He actually took the time to read and analyze her records from 6 years with the same vet in Atlanta and then asked questions. The first vet we had here asked for the records and never looked at them.

Wedding plans are almost finished for my older son and his long time sweetie. She wants me to go to the LA flower mart with her early one morning so we will schedule that soon and I'll sleep over the night before. I've always wanted to see it.

I had a fun outing with 2 new friends going to thrift shops and out to eat in Ventura. I like both of these women a lot and have met another woman through the Women's Club I joined so slowly building my local tribe. Hubby is doing the same through playing pickleball.

Hope you are kicking off the summer well too.

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.

I'll be back later in February & want more blogging ideas please

I've been busy exploring other parts of life with less time online and we are driving to Berkeley later this week to spend a 4 day weekend with our younger son, DIL and granddaughter. Lucky us to be able to hop in the car and do this now.

In the meantime please keep sharing what you would like me to blog about going forward.

During my break I've been:

1. Taking an art history class on American Art from colonization to the 20th century and another called Jazz Meet Country: A History of Western Swing.

2. Attending a Great Decisions foreign policy discussion group through AAUW.

3. Enjoying meals with friends old and new.

4. Starting the process of getting our legal lives up to date with California wills and POAs. Learned more about the benefits of setting up a revocable trust and agreed with attorney that she will subtract what we paid for the above from the cost of the trust when we are ready. Left it to her to draft what we need so we can get them signed.

5. Getting our taxes done for 2 states and the IRS by an accountant back in Georgia.

6. Trying to find a schedule for exercise with yoga/stretching and walking the rest of the time for now.

7. Taking a Raw Chocolate Making class with my older son's fiancee who is such fun and truly has been a daughter for so long (they have been together 20 years!). We also had lunch at a beach side cafe and talked about wedding decor ideas and dresses.

8. Starting to get refunds from our health insurance for our Medicare payments which will eventually totally $1200.

9. Cheering that the HOA finally took down the almost dead tree in front of our house! Looking good.

10. Hubby started the 9 month long process of replacing a real tooth with an implant. Step 1: Tooth is gone.

11. Focusing on what I actually want to do that makes me happy. I like practical problem solving so I remade a blouse that I bought from the consignment store. I liked the fabric, it fit in the shoulders and bust and the style was terrible for me. The problem solving required was fun and I like the way it turned out!

Before

Remade to suit me

 12. I also like to make soup, stews, quick breads and main dish salads so I have been cooking more of those.

13. I have decided to embrace my love of mindless cozy murder mysteries!

14. I went on a "blind date with a book". Right after reading this post, book blind date, I wandered into the Friends of the library bookstore and they were selling blind date books! Here is mine. What do you think it is?

November goals progress!

I'm slowly chipping away at my November goals and reshaping some habits.

* I've managed to exercise 4 days out of 7 for 3 weeks in a row! No weight loss though.

* The kitchen cabinets and drawers have all been cleaned inside and out. Found a total of 14 items to declutter and donate.

* I have been keeping up with yard work now that it has stopped raining all the time. Hubby pruned the ivy and finished the inside repair of our sun porch greenhouse window. The outside is still a work in progress. However, we have now had a small roof leak during a deluge of a downpour on Thursday evening. A roofer has been booked to investigate the source and we do have extra shingles in the shed.

* We are on schedule in preparing for our family to visit for Thanksgiving week. With the focus on that though I completely forgot that my husband's birthday is tomorrow! He was quite relaxed about it and said all he wanted was to go out for lunch at our favorite gourmet taco place. That I can do.

* So far I have managed to create outfits to wear this month without repeating. I think I will give myself a break from this the rest of the month though.

* I'm totally prepared for the Friends of the Library annual meeting on December 2nd. A new record of advanced preparation!

Making progress this past week

I'm slowly chipping away at my November goals and reshaping some habits.

* I managed to exercise 4 days out of 7 this past week. Not daily but an improvement. I also rearranged furniture in the study so I have room to do floor exercises. That way I can run my exercise DVD on the computer or use ones on Youtube and not be in the way or making too much noise early in the morning.

* The lower kitchen cabinets and drawers have all been cleaned inside so progress on the kitchen deep cleaning front. Found 9 items to declutter and donate.

* Our Paleo Thanksgiving menu has been set via the wonders of a shared Pinterest board and email. It not only will all be edible for our guests but also sounds really good and gourmet-ish to me. Not to hard to make either with 4 of us cooking and the pie and cranberry sauce done the day before. Our older son and DIL are such fun to be with and I am really looking forward to their visit Thanksgiving week.

- Shrimp cocktail
- Stuffed turkey breast - I leaned that the Whole Foods butcher will bone and flatten the meat for us making it easy to assemble this turkey roll
- Cranberry orange sauce - just substitute maple syrup for white sugar and we are good here
- Savory mashed sweet potato
- Green beans with lemon
- Apple pie with almond and cashew crust
- White wine

* Had a lovely long lunch out with a friend. We also tried a new restaurant and had a really great time catching up on each others lives.

* Made myself let go of some more clothing that I don't love at all. A donation to the animal rescue thrift shop.

I haven't made any progress on yard work as it has been raining a lot and our yard waste was not picked up on trash day. This is the first time in 18 1/2 years that the sanitation crew didn't finish the route or come back the next day. I did call but it is still sitting there. Hopefully it will be gone on this Monday.

Also no progress on cleaning the basement but that is simply procrastination LOL.

Month 5: Goal Progress Report for May

Here's my report of how I did in this past month.

I spent most of my free time during May focused on making sure I had a workable spring and summer wardrobe and doing some spring cleaning outside. I did lots of yard work: Sprayed for mosquitoes; cleaned the BBQ inside and out including the cover; cleaned the back patio doors, screen, stairs and bricks; cleaned 2 patio chairs and side table; moved geraniums from sun porch to back patio; weeded;  

May 2015

1. Eat to reduce bad cholesterol levels - not pastry/cookies out, less meat and even more vegetables. 

* Better; not perfect

2. Work out daily (modified goal: includes activities that are good exercise, walks, DVD/YouTube, gym/trainer sessions or classes)

* Enjoying my Pilates sessions and tried a stretch class. Using stretch dvd at home occasionally.

3. Buy the clothing needed to have a wardrobe I love to wear that fits my life right now.

* I had a great run of good finds at thrift stores: colored jeans and shorts as well as two pairs of capris, a dressy tank top, dressy 3/4 sleeve top and a $2 belt just the right color.
* Found this summer's sandals at a discount shoe store and purchased another pair on eBay.
* Let go of worn out, ill fitting or not flattering items

4. Go through all files, office supplies and my books and only keep what brings me happiness, is used regularly or will be used up over time. This has been expanded to include getting rid of other items as I encounter them and trying to only replace not add to our stuff.

* Gone: 3 books, 2 inches of paper

5. Disentangle from all of my volunteer roles for the Friends of the Library in preparation for moving in 2017.

* Nothing new this month as it is a book sale month. There is a new volunteer who wants to train to sort books though!!!

Then there are the mushier goals.

6. Love and be loved.

* Friends: Book club, visit to friend after her surgery, two coffees and a lunch out with a friend
* Family: Good phone chats with both sons and daughter-in-laws. Letter to my aunt and cards to Hubby's aunts for Mother's Day. We missed our Moms just a little less that way.
* Booked our next trip to CA to see family in July - yeah!

7. Have fun - and I'm adding, have adventures.

* Lovely dinners out with Hubby.
* Interesting sessions of Art in Havana class. I like my classmates too.

So, what's on deck for June?

- Lots of yard work
- Regular phone calls to family and getting out with friends
- Pilates sessions weekly
- Walks with and without dog

A typical week of retirement

I made it to the gym on Monday and had a great workout. Then I bent to do something totally normal - it was either emptying the dishwasher or feeding the dog - and I hurt my lower back. Yikes - no more gym this week, but if I move carefully I can carry on normally with some Ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation. Thankfully the dog hasn't been too insistent on walks in this cold weather so I have been helping her have a ball to chase by kicking it instead of throwing it. She must burn up her energy somehow. Today it feels much better but still tender in one spot so I am being careful.

I held a board meeting for my Friends of the Library group and did my library volunteer stint so I had some nice and varied social interaction. Unfortunately I will not attend lunch with former colleagues today as it is a long drive and my back still hurts.

Last week I ordered a pair of spring shoes and a pair of sandals but both didn't fit. They had free returns so they go back and I ordered two different pairs in hopes they will work. We'll see. Returned some other items that I had ordered that didn't fit and had to pay for those returns. Pretty much over ordering any clothing online that I have to pay to return.

We went out for Thai food at our favorite restaurant up the street on Sunday evening and it was a nice peaceful night to go out as it clearly isn't a date night LOL.

I also filled out tax forms using the pdf version available on the irs.gov website and our state tax website. You can save the form so you can change it if needed. We owe the IRS money - sigh - so I had better pay estimated taxes for 2015. I don't understand why the payroll withholding table always underestimates and we always owe the IRS if we don't pay estimated taxes. We will get a bit of a refund on state taxes as the payroll withholding table for them always take too much. The illogic of it all. Oh well, its not in my control except to pay the darn estimated taxes and probably have paid too much.

Since I will turn my full retirement age (66) this year, I reread some information about when to start your social security payments IF you can afford to wait. Clearly the longer I wait the better off I will be if I live as long as my Mom (93) or longer which is likely. Absolutely will wait until Hubby retires from full time work and perhaps a while longer to reach 70. We may decide for me to collect starting the year after he retires and have him collect the spousal benefit on my earnings until he reaches 70 since he is 3 years younger. That would ensure whoever lives the longest the highest SS income possible. More number crunching as retirement gets closer to figure this out.

My frugal wins this week were about salvaging what we already own. If you want to take a crack at fixing something of your own that you don't know how to approach, simply pull out or download the manual, look for a YouTube video on the subject, Google your problem, post a plea for help on Facebook or simply put on your thinking cap and try whatever pops into your mind. It's at least worth a try.

One of the handsets for our house phone wasn't working and we were afraid we might have to buy new ones. I checked everything listed in the manual with no luck. Then I thought of trying the battery from a handset that was working to see if we needed a new battery for some reason. The handset worked but more importantly when I put the original battery back in it also worked. It must have just jiggled loose.

The pocket in my purse had developed a hole and small items were falling inside the purse lining. A few stitches by hand and that is problem of the past.

A pajama top for warmer weather was just too dark of a purple and actually made me shudder when I looked at it, so I ran it through the washer with some bleach. The bleach took out some of the black undertone so now it is a lighter but still dark purple top I can tolerate wearing for lounging and sleep.

There was a hole in the pocket of a pair of knit pants - no longer a problem. So glad for all those 4-H lessons and sewing experience from my childhood.

I am totally resisting buying anything for this house that isn't essential. 27 months until my husband can retire and we are starting to figure out the logistics of our move back to California. This move will clearly include as little stuff as possible to reduce the cost. Still, we have to live here in the meantime and need to keep everything working for us and looking as good as possible.

We needed to buy a new bath rugs for both bathrooms as they are falling apart to the point of being un-washable. We found one for the downstairs bathroom but it made the colored towels look shabby so I decided to see what would happen if I bleached the towels and they came out a nice cream color and look almost brand new! Still looking for one to go with the upstairs bath décor and need to check out more stores now that the weather is cooperating again.

Today I will at least sign up for a beginning jewelry metalworking class, watch a session of a Craftsy class, do housework, run errands, walk the dog, call a friend or two, do some volunteer work online, start altering an old pair of capris and very gently stretch my back. Such is my life in retirement in winter.

Got a lot done today

Feeling productive now that the afternoon is done and it is time for a coffee break!

- Walked dog.
- Cleaned inside of antique vase from Mom's house - love the magic of baking soda and vinegar.

- Placed 4 pieces of yard art from Mom's into flower beds
- Cleaned kitchen counters and windows.
- Made a healthy lunch out of vegetable leftovers ( half a sweet potato, green beans, broccoli, white bean salad) and a banana nut muffin with peanut butter.
- Shredded a pile of papers.
- Called about status of state tax refund but unable to tolerate indefinite hold to actually speak to someone LOL. It has been 13 weeks since we filed and no refund yet.
- Did 1 1/2 hours of yard work.

This evening I will start putting together a meal plan so I can be ready to grocery shop as usual on Wednesday.

Back on track with everyday life

Wow, these 4 weeks since my Mom died have gone by quickly and what with being out of town for 2 of them, etc. I am totally out of my normal routine. Add to that the fact that the week before she died was spent making and changing travel plans and it has been at least 5 weeks since I have followed my every day routines.

So a Monday is a good time to start getting back on track.

I went to the gym this morning for the first time in about 6 weeks and, trying to avoid being unable to move tomorrow, did a half workout. At least I went LOL. I do know my body needs to ease back into this even though I have been active doing other things.

Meal planning and grocery shopping has been improvisational for the same amount of time so that needs to get back on track too. The dog would like her regular walks again and the house sure could use cleaning now that most of the items I brought home are put away.

I'm starting with dog walking, kitchen cleaning and meal planning along with follow up phone calls related to financial matters. I'd also like to get a skirt cut out of some summery fabric I received for Christmas. I'll update later to see how far I got!

What are you up to today?

I think my brain froze along with the weather LOL

I haven't posted much of anything except photos this week because my brain feels a bit "frozen" along with the weather! It does get dull hanging around the house but I am such a weather wimp that I only went out to do what needed to be done. That means I only made it to the gym once so far this week and no long walks. That will also slow the brain down LOL.

Not much else happened either. I had my annual physical and left a bit of blood for analysis. Picked up a few groceries and got a haircut. A couple of very short walks for the dog. No social life until today when I am having lunch with friends. Usually I spend Thursday morning with a friend doing volunteer work but she had a doctor's appointment so I was there by myself too.

So as the weather eases I am also looking forward to doing more. I start a painting class next Tuesday and head to S. CA on next Friday. The usual volunteer work, gym and dog walks as well. I'm heading off to lunch shortly and the long drive will be worth it. Hope no one else has succumbed to the doldrums during this cold spell.

Let's make it a full week!

Let's see what I can get done this week! Here is a list of what I will try to do rather than spending time being on the computer of just hanging out LOL. To be honest, I don't expect to get all of this done - using it to motivate myself LOL.

I was going to start with raking some leaves this morning before the gym but woke up to rain. Plenty of other things to chose from though.

 UPDATE: I didn't get these things done but check below for everything that did get done.

- Buy last Christmas gift and write checks for those getting gift/check combos
- Complete Road Scholar forms for March/April trip to Key West
- Call one of my SILs and a friend in another state.
- Finish photos for home inventory. Back up both and send copy to my brother and oldest son.
- Finally clean up and back up old photo files on computer!!!!
- Finally learn how to use cloud backup for computer!!!!
- Finally set up Treasury Direct account to enable converting paper bonds to electronic ones. Send at least one bond to try it.
- WAITING UNTIL AFTER CHRISTMAS: Order Whole Foods discount gift cards and perhaps others.
- CANCELLED BY OTHERS: I have lunch plans for Friday with friends from a former job.
- SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK SO CAN GO WITH A FRIEND: I want to visit three thrift/consignment shops that are in the same area in my quest to find ones to shop as I need things next year. See if a friend will join me.
- QUICK LOOK SHOWED NOT NEEDED NOW: Clean out financial record paper files and shred.

COMPLETED: (*'s are unplanned bonuses LOL)
- OH YES! Read some good books!
Monday
- Make pumpkin raisin muffins.
- Send out meeting reminder emails for meeting
- Gym to try Zumba class and it's not for me as my knee started hurting. Loved the music though.
- Clean inside, under and behind the frig
- Make a meal plan
- Half of laundry (linens and towels)
Tuesday
- Mom's gift package in mail
- Clean the pantry shelves and make a food inventory
- Walk dog
* Clean oven
- Decide if I am putting up any Christmas decorations this year - decided not to
- Finalize budget for 2014. Will have to update as increases in insurance, etc. are communicated
- Plan what to make for next Sunday's neighborhood holiday party potluck (green salad with oranges, dried cranberries, walnuts, goat cheese, etc.)
Wednesday
- Weight circuit at gym
- Walk dog
- Raked leaves - 7 barrels of very wet leaves; I'm tired!
- Laundry finished
- Addressed Christmas cars
Thursday
- Copied handouts for the Annual Meeting for my Friends of the Library group and confirmed room will be set up as needed, sent out membership renewal reminders, and did my morning of volunteer work as well.
- Bought the 5 things on my grocery list
- Made Christmas Eve dinner reservation.
Friday
- Gym & walk dog
- Cleared paperwork off my desk
- 4 more barrels of wet leaves raked
- Bought ingredients for Sunday's neighborhood holiday party potluck and a bit of produce & wine for us.
- Cleaned up and backed up documents file on computer
Saturday
- Cleaned 2/3 of upper kitchen cabinets
- Christmas cards prepared
* Had some fun - went to art museum with Hubby!

The week that was just fine

As I sit here on Sunday morning with both Hubby and Poodle Princess still asleep I have been reflecting on this past week. It was fine despite a day off sick. It was fine despite some rainy weather. It was fine despite nothing memorable.

So why was it fine? I did some non-routine volunteer work for the library which had me interacting with some different people (happiness points for spending time with others). I made it to the gym twice including trying an introductory yoga class (happiness points for exercise). I walked the dog almost every day (happiness points for time with a pet). I went out for dinner and shooting pool with Hubby (extra happiness points for date night). We finally figured out how to visit sons in both S. CA and N. CA by giving up on the idea of doing it in one trip and also picked our dates for a Road Scholar program in Key West (happiness points for something to look forward to).

And then there is something only problem solving, recycling environmentalist, budget happy people like me would find happiness in although cleaning floors is not high on my list! The internet told me I could find a replacement sponge/scrubber piece for our floor mop just up the street and it was less than ordering one through Amazon. Bonus points: it was hard to change out the old one but with teamwork and a few words we managed to do it (really engineers no one person could do this by themselves - you need to design things better).

There were other things - talking, or rather listening, to my 92 year old Mom who is having a really good week and was quite cheerfully chatty about books she was reading and other things. She wasn't well for many months so this is so uplifting. Finding out the Bob Dylan is a welder who makes gates out of scavenged metal parts and that my friends are going to book a welding workshop at there N GA lodge. I've always wanted to learn to weld as an art form so hopefully I will be in town that weekend and go to the workshop. I'm excited about that possibility!

Such an ordinary week that was perfectly fine. Today we are going to see The Dallas Buyer's Club and maybe stop for coffee afterwards. A good start for another fine week.

Is it writer's block or just life?

I've been busy with lots of things - just not any ideas of what to write about.

Remember that photo from last Monday? Lots of those leaves and many others have been raked. We took an 5 mile urban hike yesterday as it was a day of almost 70 degree warmth, brilliant blue sky and lots of leaf color. The dog has had a walk pretty much every day. I've been reading lots of books and your blogs. Volunteer work at the library.  The gym. Photos for our home inventory back up. Cooking.

No excuses - just life.

5 new things this week

We love to try new things; have new experiences so this week we took advantage of Hubby's furlough caused free time during the week to:

1. Have lunch at a Mexican cantina across the street from the main campus of the Centers for Disease Control. Lunch business is slow for all of the restaurants in this location as so many CDC employees are on furlough. No waiting to get a seat.

2. Go to the Museum of Design Atlanta to see an exhibit of furniture made from used and destined to be discarded wine barrels. Very interesting. Here's one although there were some others that were absolutely fabulous! We were the only visitors early on a Tuesday afternoon.


3. Walk on the eastside portion of the Atlanta Beltline to see outdoor art installations and enjoy this fabulous fall weather on a weekday morning. 4.5 miles round trip and it gave us a fabulous view or our neighborhood from the old rail right of way.

4. Watch a movie or TV show be filmed at a house up the street. Hubby was walking the dog and reports that the line being filmed that had the street blocked off and required the hard working landscapers nearby to stop work was spoken to a car sitting in the street and was "Yo, bring me back a burrito." He watched them do four takes of this short line and came home. LOL

5. Unrelated to the furlough, but still new for me is that I agreed to participate in a program that has "seniors" meet once a month during the school year with a first year medical or nursing student to talk about things like nutrition, health systems (Medicare, SS, aging economics, friendship, volunteering, function and relation to health, values, bucket list) to help them overcome their preconceived notions about seniors and provide better healthcare to them. I'm a year short of being old enough but they need some people to step into spots vacated due to illnesses, etc. of other volunteer. Should be interesting.

5 good things

The skies are clearing after last night's rainstorm and it is going to be a beautiful day. As a result I thought I would list 5 good things that have happened recently.

1. The 18ft broken branch caught up in our tree was going to cost $300 to be removed by a pruning crew. Last night's storm and gravity brought it down and laid it where it did no harm. Hubby, being locked out of his Federal job, had time to cut it up an put it out in the street for pickup. Yeah!

2. After my gym time I tried out a Kroger store in the same strip mall. It is fabulous compared to the one near me and will be my go to store. There is a Publix in the same strip mall and I will try it after gym on Wednesday. If it works out that will save me a drive every week to the one I have been going to.

3. Our son and DIL are moving. DIL is friendly and met some people at a home improvement store who just had moved and wanted to get rid of their moving boxes. Score!

4. It looks like Federal employees will eventually receive pay for the period they are locked out.

5. My friend who broke her leg so badly that she needed surgery looked pretty chipper when I visited her at the hospital yesterday. She moves to rehab today so that will speed recovery and she will make a full recovery. I asked her what she really wanted that she couldn't get in the hospital and was told a Diet Coke with lots of ice so that was my get well gift!

As a bonus, the dog asked to be in my lap while I was typing this LOL.

Goodbye September - Hello October

Wow, September went by quickly! It is still summer clothes weather here in Atlanta with highs predicted in the low 80's. The mornings are cooler though and some leaves are starting to fall so it feels a bit like fall.

September was pretty good on the mini-goals front:

Technology
1. FAIL - Pick a computer back up system and install it - Skydrive, lockbox or flash drive & how to change settings to allow to click on links
2. Pick a genealogy program and install it
3. Finish learning cell phone features
Health
4. Gym 3 days a week except when out of town. Try a class for one day each week.
5. Make annual physical appointment for after 10/31
6. FAIL - No cookies/cupcakes - sigh
Finances
8. Summarize info from retirement planning seminar attended in August in a decision tree format
9. PROGRESS - Complete home inventory
Educational/Fun activities
10. FAIL - Work on painting
11. Make Thanksgiving dinner reservation
12. Host Friends of the Library board celebration and make some fun hor dourves
13. Go to beach with book club and take some good food for my contribution 
* Sign up for continuing education classes
House/Yard
14. Clean kitchen cupboards
15. PROGRESS - Decide on plan for fixing shower and identify tradesmen
16. PROGRESS - Prune & weed rest of yard
17. Spray for bugs

Onward to October with lots of fun goals!

Technology
1. Pick a computer back up system and install it - Skydrive, lockbox or flash drive
2. Find out how to change settings to allow to click on links
Health
3. Get flu shot
4. Gym 2 days a week minimum.
5. No cookies/cupcakes – eat fruit or yogurt instead
Finances
6. Complete home inventory
7. Find out how to convert paper bonds to electronic ones
8. Set up electronic banking for my Mom's checking account (I'm a trustee)
Educational/Fun/Family activities
9. Work on painting
10. Play and lunch with friends
11. Go to Museum of Design
12. Book club mountain get away
13. Hike at state park or on Beltline
14. Book flight to go see sons and help younger son pack for move
15. Send Mom 2 funny cards
16. Email/write 2 members of extended family
17. Attend all OLLI classes
House/Yard
18. Clean kitchen cupboards
19. Purchase items for fixing shower and schedule tradesmen
19. Prune & weed rest of yard

Whew!!!!

 

Off on a family visit

 

I'm heading north today to NH - land of Boston burbs, the northern Appalachian mountains, distant cousin to Vermont, and my birthplace and home for all of 6 months. My brother moved back as an adult and then my parents decided to retire there so it has been a location for many visits in the last 30 years.

I'll visit my Mom, brother and SIL with the possibility of seeing and aunt and cousin or 2 thrown in. I'll be back with photos on Tuesday although it is too early for fall color I'm told!

Poodle princess and Hubby will keep each other company while I'm gone. The dog knows something is up - she was eyeing my suitcase not particularly happily so she will be happy to have company.