Spring has Sprung!

 Spring is defined in many ways; by the Julian calendar, by the vernal equinox, by when the first crocuses bloom, by the last frost, and so on. Whichever way you measure it, for most of us it is when the weather becomes sufficiently warm enough to allow one to shed the heavy coat of winter and venture forth without mittens and hats. Here in Michigan, we often get a "false Spring", a day that tricks you into believing it just might be the end of winter and then the next day the temps plummet and a surprise snowfall greets you instead. 

This spring we had a few of those false starts, but as of today it feels like it just might really stick around. The sun is shining brightly, the plants are waking up in the garden. And the big tell... the LILACS are blooming on the large bush at the corner of my house! I absolutely did run out and snag a few blossoms to perfume my dining room! They have such a glorious scent. 

The other reliable indicator of spring is my own personal activity. I finally feel like walking the dog every morning instead of just letting him out into the backyard on his own. We have a dog that loves to walk... he would go for 3 walks a day if we would take him. Truthfully, we probably should take him more than once a day; it would benefit us even more than him. Now that Spring seems willing to stick around, my dog will be a happier hound, and my step counter will log more activity.

The upshot of all this is, we made it! The long Winter is over and it's time to get out an enjoy every beautiful day we have before us. Happy Spring!

Well, Now that we're Here - Where Exactly ARE We?

 

This blog has had quite a rest since my previous post back in 2019. Not going to even attempt to "catch you up" dear readers... Instead, I will start with observations from this side of the the Working vs. Retirement fence.

We will mark our first 5 years of retirement in just a couple months on June 21st, and while it has largely been a very positive experience, there have been some surprises along the way. Here are a few discoveries we've made along the way; 

1.  Age is relative when it comes to friendships. We have made many new friends in our new community in our first years as retirees. Some are our age, but many are much older or much younger than we are. While that made logical sense in our working lives, it has been almost surprising in our new post-working life. We have found many vibrant new friends who are further into their "golden years" than we are. This has been fun and a good thing. It's only tricky when it comes to finding doctors. We generally want doctors who are younger than we are... a good deal younger if possible. 
2. Unlimited free time isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe this one is a hazard particularly for former teachers who spent most of their working lives with very little discretionary time during the work day. In my first year of retirement, I promised myself 6 months before I made any long term commitments. I was tired, SO very tired. I wanted to read, relax, and do just about nothing. That lasted a very short time. We moved just a few weeks after our official retirement because our home in Missouri sold so quickly (less than two weeks!). This meant all the fix-ups we wanted to do on our new residence in Michigan had to be done after we moved in instead of before we made our move. We got tons of stuff accomplished and added a full guest suite to our lower level. It kept us hopping from late June until mid October when we finally declared we were finished. THEN when we stopped, we were suddenly "bored". How could that be?? We decided it was a result of not knowing how to pace ourselves, but boredom does indeed lurk in the retirement world. The solution? Commitments! 
3. Doing for others with others makes for a great life. Enter the time of "joining" things again. Church, Lions Club, Community Theater, Library Trustees, Soccer Coaching, Set building, Choir, Book Club, Fellowship groups... we got busy again. Our kids tell us we're busier now than when we were working. I don't think it is quite true, but we have found ways to fill our days. When we recently celebrated our 50th we decided to (in Ed's words) "pitch a big one" and invited all our new friends to share an evening of food and dancing with us. We quickly discovered we had nearly 90 folks to invite and 86 of them were able to come! That felt amazingly good. We may have to do it again every five years or so. Partying with the new friends you've made is amaziing. Your friends seem to inter-connect in the most surprising ways. Our church, theater, Lions, and neighborhood pals are amazing and so fun to be around! And we loved having our kids get to meet them all!
4. You visit the doctor more than you ever imagined you would. The only negative thing so far in retirement is how much harder you have to work to remain healthy. I used to see a doctor only once or twice in an entire year. Now it has become a monthly or bimonthly visit to one of several medical folks who keep Ed and I doing well. You have primary care, eye care, dental care, skin care, cardiology care, oncology care (Ed, not me and doing fine), sleep doctor care, knee doctor, physical therapists, etc etc. All these folks are wonderful, and we appreciate them greatly. However, they fill up more space in our calendar than we ever expected they would! Getting older is not for the faint of heart in terms of health. 

That's where I will stop for today.... and hopefully, I will be back before 6 more years have scampered by.

Staude's out!

Hello Again! Still Here!

I am ashamed to admit that nearly two years have elapsed, well actually one year and 10 months, since my last post.  In that time, besides getting older, I have been trying to limit my social media and use what I need to and not much more.

No excuses really beyond that so much of what I read and see on the web is frankly depressing. We are thankfully halfway through the reign of insanity that is our current administration and I for one am hoping the time passes swiftly and that he is trounced out of the White House.

Personally, life is going well. Still working, still traveling to the Lake House we love so much in Michigan every chance we get. Grandkids are busy, healthy, and doing well at all their studies and activities. Life is good.

Ed turned 65 this past February and is basically working till I reach the “magic number” when I can join him. We both still enjoy our days with the high school students we teach. And our school is doing well and is expanding.

I have done a great deal of reading thus far in the year. Completed my 42nd book and hope to crack open several more before summer’s end. Am reading widely and ranging into wherever my interests take me. A little classics, a few mysteries, some YA Lit, and quite a bit of non-fiction. It’s been fun meandering through the pages. I received a pair of AirPods for my birthday and the result is a dive into audio books which are great while walking the dog, knitting, painting, and road trips when Pandora is starting to repeat itself.

As I write this, I am sitting in the cool breezes blowing in off Lake Michigan and thinking about what a joy it is to have summertime for reflection and rejuvenation. These are the “halcyon days” that sailors used to speak of, the calm and beautiful days of summer. Hope your summer is going beautifully too! ❣️

A weekend in the North

We zipped away to the cooler North this first weekend in October... and visited Katie, Nathan, and the grandmunchkins! What a beautiful time! We celebrated Rhylah's upcoming first birthday just a few days early and just RELAXAED! I will be posting her birthday pics on the actual day of her birthday (Oct. 8th) but I couldn't resist posting just a few. In many of these she's wearing the new sweater that I made her. She looks so cute in it!

We also got to visit with Uncle Carl. He's Ed's bachelor uncle who has been such an important part of the family for over 80 years. He came for dinner on Saturday night and he and Rhylah had a great time chatting with each other.

Rhylah models her new cardigan.
I absolutely LOVE knitting for my grandkids!

Working the remote... 1 year old style.

The Harrmanns by their fireplace.

A sweet smile while swinging in her baby swing.

Rhy and Uncle Carl share some conversation and smiles.