…is pretty bleak, or should I say pretty YET bleak today.
Pardon the weirdness caused by my window screen but the journal prompt did say view from the window, which I didn’t feel like opening and removing said screen. Anywho, you get the general idea…
If I was still working, I’d be very unhappy with January in Southern Ontario, thus far in 2020. For the past 3 weekends, every Saturday has been some kind of weather event – ice storm, snow storm, rain/freezing rain, more snow – it’s like someone has a hate on for Saturdays!
However, I am not working (and still giddy about this!) – which means every day is Saturday and I can get out for a walk or hike just about any time I want. Except for actual Saturday, according to the January weather gods.
My blogging and IRL friend Joanne and I have come up with a schedule of Wednesday hikes and so far the weather has cooperated. Two hump day hikes under our belts so far, and hopefully 2 more before we fly off to our separate adventures in February. Here’s some views I wish I had from my window, taken from this past Hump Day Hike:
Winter sun peeking through the bare trees at Limehouse Conservation Area. Stream at Limehouse Conservation Area
When not gazing out my window or getting outside for a walk or hike, I find myself doing a lot of puttering around the house. Which is lovely. I am a huge fan of puttering. However it can seem like I am not getting much done because I flit from task to task, leaving most things in a state of progress rather than working any particular task to completion (like I was more inclined to do when I was still working). I think this is because I am revelling in all of my newfound time. And truth be told, it’s kinda bugging me. So I came up with a game plan for today, to see if I can account for my time a bit better. Behold the task list:
To Do list in my journal for today: to keep me on track: focused on certain tasks, and with less flitting about. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing but you know…in moderation!
So far I have shredded some papers in what used to be my office, worked on ye olde blogge, yoga-ed, and did 3 loads of laundry. My slow-cooked chicken carcass broth will be done soon and it will become the base for both a soup and a curry later on today. I also flitted departed from my task list to make my own less toxic household cleaner and used it to clean up my toilet and sink (more about this on another post!).
What’s left? I plan on playing with my GoPro, to relearn how to use it before I leave for Barbados in a couple of weeks. And since the January weather gods have relented and it seems not too terrible today, I am going to venture out for a walk to stretch my legs.
Bleak or not, the view from my window is calling to me.
Hope your Saturday is going well! How productive are you inclined to be today?
The 2nd of the journal prompts I am trying to follow this year is to “write about the place you call home”. Rather than write about a particular city or area or even a dwelling, I am choosing to write about the place I always feel at home…out in nature. Since I have retired at the beginning of this year, I have been making it a priority to get out in nature just about every day because my body and soul needs it – to feel complete, to connect and to recharge.
Only animals have been on this gorgeous winter footpath, before I arrived. This photo and the following three were taken 2 days ago across the river from my abode.This path is well-used.My kind of heaven.Red berries at the edge of the pond.
Just 2 retired gals hanging out in the woods and up to no good, as usual.Toasting our good fortune to be out in nature on such a glorious winter day. Joanne always brings the best hiking…er…snacks. Pretty sure it is illegal to drink in conservation areas. See “up to no good”, above. Hehehehe!Gorgeous bark and mossesLog with fungusJoanne snapping a pic of the pot hole.Hilton Falls – in fine winter form due to the heavy rains we experienced lately.Later on another part of the trail: Joanne spotting another waterfall at the end of the reservoir. Snack break, again. So important, on the trail. 😉
I hope you enjoyed the place I call home. I know I did.
It’s been a little over a week now that I have been untethered from full-time work, and friends: I have to say that it is pretty sweet. I know it’s early days but I seem to have taken to retirement life like a duck to water. When my SIL texted me to ask how I was liking being a lady of leisure, I replied immediately that I was born for this role.
I keep waiting to feel guilty for not being “productive” and it hasn’t hit me yet. I don’t think it will. I feel more like a marathon runner who has finally crossed the finish line, upright and smiling. I did it, everyone saw me do it, and no one can ever take my medal away.
In other words: Yup, these are my laurels and I’m gonna happily rest on them.
I’ve had one work dream (that I can remember) so far. I was dealing with a scheduling issue in my dream and when I woke up and realized I didn’t work anymore, I burst out laughing.
I considered my very first day of retirement to be January 2 as that is the first day I would have been back at work, in my old life. Instead, I went with my BIL and SIL to the McMichael Gallery. We had no idea what was being exhibited in addition to their permanent collection and I was literally screaming with delight when I saw who was being featured.
Beloved Nova Scotian folk artist, Maud Lewis (1903-1970). Her paintings (done with house paint, someone said) evoke a happy, simple life – even though Maud’s life was not that happy.
Another gallery I really enjoyed was the exhibit of miniatures by Quebec artist, Clarence Gagnon. I felt we really lucked out with our spontaneous visit to this beautiful gallery of Canadian art. A great way to start off retired life!
So, what else have I been doing with all my new-found free time you may be wondering. Well, the decluttering has begun. I am starting with my home office (I guess it’s my only office now, duh!).
The desk, the iMac and the chest of drawers have already gone to new homes. In their places are boxes I have been collecting, to fill with items bound for my new home out west.
I’ve also updated my LinkedIn profile. I find that website difficult to deal with, and there was no option to change my status to “Retired” so I had to get a bit creative. I marked the end date of my last position and created a new “job” for myself: CEO of Everything at Widow Badass Retirement Industries. The comments from my colleagues upon my “new role” have been heart-warming. I still get random people wanting to join my network though, so I don’t think everyone got the joke.
I suppose I just could have taken my profile down, but there are some friends that I only communicate with through LinkedIn so up it stays. For now.
In other news: I went for a mid-week lunch with a couple of retired friends last week, at a lovely bistro in Elora. We supped on roasted apple and brie soup and enjoyed fresh salads while we watched the snow fall with increasing ferocity outside. By the time lunch was finished I couldn’t see the opposing bank of the river through the flakes, so it was a good time to head back home in case the highway got closed due to whiteouts. Despite the weather, a gal could used to this kinda life! And I fully intend to.
Other than these activities, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and relaxing (including enjoying more time to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Crave TV)…and getting out almost every day for a hearty walk.
There’s beauty to be found in all seasons and all kinds of weather.
Keeping up the time-honoured tradition of stealing borrowing from other bloggers.
Now that I am retired from work I have no more excuses for not blogging regularly (or more regularly) due to lack of time, right? Yet the problem remains of not always knowing what to blog about. So in order to “prime the pump” as the saying goes, writing prompts are an excellent resource. AJ Blythe – a delightful Aussie writer and blogger I follow – recently posted a list of 52 writing prompts that I promptly stole borrowed, after she graciously told me “the more’s the merrier!”
Party on, Wayne! And this is how these things spread. So now I’ve told you about 52 Journal Prompts. Who’s gonna steal from me? 😉
My first prompt – What are you thankful for? – is very apropos and wasn’t even needed as I had planned for a first post-work life post on this very topic.
What am I thankful for? A better wording for me might be “what am I not thankful for?” For I am truly thankful for everything in my life that has brought me to this very day. Even the mistakes, missteps and sorrows have helped make me into the person I am today, and for that I am truly grateful and thankful.
I am fortunate that due to the privilege I was born into (white straight cis-gendered), hard work, and a little bit of luck, I am one of the lucky group of people that even GET to retire, let alone retire at age 60 and in good health.
I wake up every morning (as I did long before I retired) and express gratitude for my life and the people in it, before my feet hit the bedroom floor. That sets the perfect tone for me to start the day, no matter what else is going on or expected to go on that day.
I don’t know if I will continue to use one of these prompts per week for the whole of 2020, but I’d like to. Let’s not call this a resolution though, OK? 😉
Days left in this year and my career, that is! Holy cats, how did I get here so fast? It seemed like only yesterday I was starting out, working (at minimum wage) even before officially graduating with my sparkly Bachelor of Science degree, at my first full-time job.
As the sun sets on the year and my working life…Late December Sunset on the river that is a few steps from my home.
I was one of the lucky ones – actually working in my field, thanks to a part-time job in a lab I picked up while working on my undergrad…that morphed into a full-time position once my studies were ended. But enough reminiscing on that for now. Maybe I’ll do a retrospective (or two) on my working life at some point on ye olde blogge, but that’s not the focus for today.
Some of you may have noticed it’s been a while since my last post – 28 days, to be exact. Although I am not the most prolific of bloggers, I’ve been doing pretty well for the past couple of years, so this was a long hiatus for moi.
For 2 reasons, mainly.
Reason #1 – this last month of work has been waaaay more draining than I had anticipated. My successor took over officially on December 16th, and I’ve been very focused on giving her a smooth start (by performing some unpleasant tasks that needed doing, so she didn’t have to deal with them); and trying to organize/categorize/put into words all of the things that are the Lab Manager’s responsibility and that I have to deal with on any given day. Her comment on the first day of the job: “Wow, here I am dealing with at least 7 time-critical things at the same time.” Only 7? You’ll get used to it…hehehe!
I’ve been so involved with a successful handover that it’s infiltrating my dreams. A few days ago I woke up terribly tired because it seemed like all night I was going through my computer files in my sleep – finding an apparently vital statistics spreadsheet that I’d been keeping and needed to remember to share with the new Lab Manager. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember what this damned important file was all about so I figured my anxious brain just made it up for my dream.
The point is: I’ve been coming home exhausted and needing my free time to decompress, unwind and recover/restore myself for the next day/week.
Reason #2 – not feeling the Christmas at all this year. Could be related to Reason #1, but I don’t think so. I’ve fallen out of love with Christmas for many years and many reasons. But this season it was especially severe.
For the first year ever, I didn’t put up a tree. Even though I probably should have if only because it would have given me an opportunity to sort through my Christmas decor bin, prior to my mid-year move to the West Coast. No tree or other decor, no Christmas cards or letter to friends – no nothing.
So this kept me off the blog because who needs to listen to me rant about how I was am feeling like Christianity is the one of the biggest hammers in the Patriarchy toolbox and other such angelic thoughts as I have been having this month…HAH! Especially at one of the most celebratory times of the year, for most people, regardless of religious leaning. Consider it a public service that I’ve kept quiet. 😉
However, I have enjoyed living vicariously through other bloggers I follow as they posted about their Decembers, and their celebrations with family and friends, and tried to keep my bitter thoughts to myself. As one should.
I did take some time out to celebrate the winter solstice, despite everything else going on in my life and my mind. A reflective and solitary celebration of my gratitude for my life and for the natural world that hosts me – welcoming the longest night, and then the rising sun the next morning.
Welcoming back the light on December 22, from my kitchen window. The beginning of actual winter – the time of dreaming – and of beginning a new year and new life.
In closing this last post of mine for 2019, I’m going to take a moment to also thank YOU – all of the readers of ye olde blogge for being “here” for me. For taking the time to read and comment; for your encouragement and humour; for your insights and oh-so kind words. I do love this community so, and can’t wait to keep interacting with you all in the coming year when I will have much more time to do so!
Happy December everyone! I hope you have plenty of celebrations and family/friend time to look forward to, in this month of festivities.
For me the countdown to retirement is in its final push – work is busy as you can imagine, as I not only keep working away at my job, but also have to think and plan about handing it over to another. In 2 weeks my successor assumes my role, and I will spend my last 2 weeks educating her and making for a smooth handover. I feel just fantastic about all of this; my days are just flying by; people are saying nice things to me about me; I have absolutely no regrets or second thoughts about what I am doing.
From the countdown app on my phone, as I finish off this blog post…
I have been hearing about a couple of people I know, who will also be retiring shortly, that they seem to be struggling a bit with their decisions; backtracking and saying they want to continue to stay on and work part-time; seeming to be having trouble “letting go”. I don’t understand this, as they chose to retire – it was not asked of them, nor forced upon them in any way. These people are also men, and that may be part of the difference?
For me, work has always been something I do and never something I am. I would love to hear how others retirees felt as their work life ended – was it something you embraced wholeheartedly? Or did you have mixed emotions? Did you choose, or was it chosen for you?
The other thing I am most excited about (besides anticipating my new, retired life) is an online art journalling course I signed up for. A couple of years ago, I signed up for and wholeheartedly enjoyed a year-long course by the same artist, called Mandala Days. Julie Gibbons is an artist residing in Scotland who works primarily with mandalas. Please check out her website (linked, in her name) if interested!
In a few weeks (on December 21, the winter solstice), I will be beginning a new course of hers, called Mandala Magic: Alignment. This course again focuses on mandalas and art journalling, and tying the lessons into the 8 “seasons” – the solar cycle – of the ancient pagan wheel of the year. This is so up my alley, it isn’t even funny!
I love the word Alignment so much that it will be THE WORD for my life going forward into 2020. Yes, my word of the year! My big intention for 2020 (and beyond) is to bring my life better into Alignment with my values and my intentions for how I want to live, going forward. During the next few days, I am planning on drawing up a mind map using the word Alignment to further suss out what it means to me and how that will impact/guide/inform this next important phase of my life.
So that’s what I’ve been up to, lately. If you care to share your thoughts on retirement, goals and intentions for 2020, art, whatever – I’d love to hear from you!
Captured from the countdown app on my phone this morning.
My last day of work fast approacheth…and I have been busy both at work and outside of it, getting ready for this change. My successor has been chosen by my work and it’s the person I’ve been mentoring and grooming for this role for a few years now (Yay!). She officially takes over my position on December 16th, and I overlap with her for 2 weeks to make sure she settles in nicely (of which I have no doubt!). So that’s finalized and I feel great about it, and am already busy showing her what life as a lab manager is all about.
Also on the work front, I have been approached to consider working part-time – next door to my old lab – to assist for a few months in a project evaluating and validating a new technology. Like the proverbial old-timey fire horse that leaps from the stall when the fire bell rings, my mind immediately jumped to the positive possibilities (close to my successor should she have any questions; start-ups are fun; building labs are fun, etc.) and for 5 hot minutes I could see me doing this thing. Then I calmed down and realized that this will negatively impact the plans and goals for 2020 that I am looking so forward to diving into. Ye olde fire horse trotted calmly and thankfully back into the barn as I decided not to consider this offer any further.
Thus I passed this test! The test that says for me: do you really want to be retired? Answer: Hell, yes! Still yes!
On other retirement planning news, I settled on an extended health and benefit insurance plan to carry on into 2020 with me. An explanation for American friends that may not know our system: Canadians get free healthcare but still have to pay for drugs, dental care, and certain therapies (e.g. physiotherapy) out of pocket. Unless one’s employer offers a benefits package that takes care of this, as a job perk. Well, I have such a package that even includes travel insurance, accidental death etc., but obviously that is terminating along with my employment. So now, if I want to continue with these benefits, I have to seek out and pay for a plan on my own.
After several months of researching private plans and determining if it even makes sense for me to have such a plan (and in my opinion it does), I decided to purchase the plan offered by my company’s current provider of extended health and dental benefits. Manulife’s FollowMe plan ticked the most boxes for me.
But wait, it got better! When I called Manulife to set up my new plan effective January 1, I was informed of an additional health and wellness program called Vitality and did I wish to join? It would cost $5/month but save me 5% on my monthly premium and I would get an activity tracker – Garmin or Apple Watch. Since I am of a mind to get and stay healthy especially in retirement (and can do math, and am a lover of all things Apple) the only acceptable response from me was “shut up and take my money!”
Yes, yes, I know. “Big Brother” Manulife is wanting my data. And I am OK with that. Because Big Brother needs to know if anything happens to my health, or else Big Brother will have a reason to cancel my policy. Besides, people with nothing to hide hide nothing. Plus anybody living in today’s society who thinks they have any kind of privacy anymore is kidding themselves, anyway.
Then I had to wait to get my welcome package (snail mail…ugh) and sign on to the website once I got my new ID number (enclosed within paper package).
So, here is the deal with the activity tracker(s): I could (and did) get the Garmin Vivofit tracker sent to me for free. I could also decide to get either an Apple Watch Series 3 or 5, and pay a portion plus the tax towards the watch. Here’s the bribe part: if you earn points per month on the Vitality website by living a healthy life, your monthly payment towards the remainder of the watch cost is either discounted or brought entirely down to zero dollars, depending on your total points. Points are earned for daily physical activities (and a half-price membership to GoodLife Fitness is another perk offered by Vitality) and other healthy habits such as getting a flu shot, mammogram, colon cancer check, and going for a dental checkup. STUFF I DO ALREADY WITHOUT NEEDING TO BE BRIBED.
What do you think I did, gentle reader? Hint below:
Photo taken while waiting at Shoppers Drug Mart for my flu shot…I plan to pay not a penny more towards this beauty by doing all the healthy things I should be doing regardless.
I think this plan is just fantastic. After all, everyone (including Manulife, obvs!) knows an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to health.
What I can’t understand is why I only learned of it after I contacted Manulife to purchase my post-work life benefits package. Why was it not mentioned in any of the FollowMe health plan information I was sent by email initially? It would have made my decision to go with FollowMe even easier. Perhaps it is very new?
So now I am even more pleased with my selection of this provider. And I am loving my new Apple watch and busy learning all that it can do. Including unlocking my laptop for me! And guessing that I am working out and what type of workout it is. Crazy, I know…I love living in today’s world (most of the time)!
Last week I travelled to Dallas, Texas for my last-ever North American Lab Managers meeting. Over the past 14 years I have been able to travel to places like California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Minnesota, New York and Maine to meet up with my fellow lab managers to discuss various topics related to our jobs testing milk for the purpose of dairy herd improvement.
The usual suspects appear at these meetings year-after-year and you get to know and respect them soon enough and look forward to catching up with them at this annual conference. So this last meeting was bittersweet, for me.
I was pleased to hear from so many of my colleagues that I will be missed. A couple of my partners-in-crime at this meeting have promised to drop in on me at my new home on Vancouver Island. I may wake up one day to find an RV full of these rascals parked in my driveway. Which would be way cool, as they are a fun bunch, and we had a lotta laughs after the first day’s very full agenda of speakers and discussions, when we headed to the hotel bar to kick back and shoot the you-know-what. 😉
The second day of this 2-day conference is always a tour day. I didn’t know where we were going until the day before, so had low to no expectations as to what we were going to be treated to. The agenda said we would first tour a Federal Milk Marketing Order lab (always cool to see someone else’s facility), then after lunch we would visit the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and then the Fort Worth Stockyards before having dinner in Fort Worth. (George W. Bush was not exactly my favourite American president and I had no idea what we would see at the stockyards so my expectations remained low.)
Imposing entrance. It’s presidential, after all!
I was very pleasantly surprised and impressed at the quality of exhibits at this museum, and I would encourage anyone visiting the Dallas area to take the time to visit. (I didn’t have time to check out the library portion so can’t comment on that.)
There was of course a large part of the museum dedicated to 9/11 artifacts, as this occurred during Dubya’s presidency. It was very moving to see this, especially as we visited on September 10 – one day before the 18th anniversary of this horrific day.
Twisted, heat-damaged steel beams from the World Trade Center in front of a wall with the names of every victim and some of the stories from that awful time.
There were many exhibits (including short videos) on the Bush presidency – all aspects of their lives and the initiatives undertaken by the Bushes – as well as a recreation of the Oval Office, as it existed during that time.
Clothes worn by the Bushes along with place settings used at state dinners. First Dog, Spot
Like I said earlier, I was not a fan of Dubya. Although after seeing the projects he and Mrs. Bush championed during his terms, and contrasting and comparing that to who is in charge now, I’ve decided he wasn’t really all that bad. In fact, he seems like a bit of a moral and mental giant to me now, considering…a-hem! 😉
An American I was with at the time said much the same to me as we walked through the halls of the museum. Said he’d like to shake Bush’s hand NOW as he didn’t realize at the time how much worse things could get. See, all you need to be remembered kindly is to have someone come later who’s a complete villain/moron.
Gosh, part of me very selfishly hopes the next lab manager makes people remember me fondly too! 😉
After seeing these artifacts, and an exhibit across the hall on presidential retreats (also hella interesting – so interesting I forgot to take pics, sorry!), it was “Back on the bus, people!” to get to the Fort Worth stockyards just in time for a CATTLE DRIVE!
Twice a day Texas longhorn cattle are driven down the street in a recreation of the time when these animals were herded from the natural pastures of Fort Worth along the Chisholm Trail to railheads in Kansas. “C’mon cows!”, the cowboys sang out as they passed. (Although even a city slicker like me could tell they were mostly steers, not cows.)
I flew home on September 11. Didn’t notice any heightened security or anything like that, and at the airports it was just another day. As it should be.
Then on September 12 – the day I had been eagerly anticipating for weeks – I went to Thrive Studios to meet with Angela McDonald to get a major piece inked onto my forearm. My first large black and grey tattoo!
My “Mucha Mermaid”, freshly inked. Took a little over 2 hours. I am beyond pleased with Angela’s artistry in realizing my vision for this piece. 48 hours later. Still healing. Sorry about the poor light. I have it heavily moisturized and there was a glare on my arm if I was in better light.
This piece has multiple meanings for me. One is that is symbolizes my future, surrounded by the ocean on Vancouver Island.
The other, larger meaning is that it is in honour of my mother (mostly) and representative of my family. My mother (the mermaid) loved the water, loved to swim, was a lifeguard, taught water aerobics and supervised a therapy pool at a retirement home before she retired. My dad (the damaged anchor) was also in love with the sea and worked for a bit for the Dutch Merchant Marine as a young man. He would have kept with it, but the papers came through for immigration to Canada soon after joining, so that ended that dream for him. The cracks in the anchor speak to the demons that plagued him (and that the family bore the brunt of), especially as he got older. The three little fish are me and my two sisters. When I mentioned to my daughter the tattoo she reminded me that this was initially her idea for a tattoo many years ago, minus the cracks in the anchor and the little sister fishies. I had forgotten about this and obviously had stolen (unknowingly) her idea. Sorry, kiddo!
Speaking of stealing others’ good ideas – just before I left for Dallas, I received an order from Vistaprint of “business” cards, for handing out to friends and such once I am retired. (Really, what do you call these damn things when you aren’t working anymore??? They need a better name than business cards!)
I know of several retired people who have gotten cards done for this purpose, and I was especially inspired by Janis of Retirementally Challenged, who designed a beautiful card with a quote on it! So once again I stole (knowingly, this time). Behold:
What you can’t see is that I ordered a pearlescent sheen on these cards. Oh, I be so FANCY. This quote sums up just about everything I’d love to be/have/do in my retirement. Well, plus family, and assorted adventures with plenty of “shenanigans” involved. Yeah, I want it all.
I’m back to “normal life” for the next couple of weeks until Joanne and I hit the road for a weekend adventure. Sixteen weeks left at my work. Time is flying now.
And how are you all making out as we head into Autumn? Do tell!
…I’d have taken better care of myself. “- Eubie Blake
This week I got some news that I’d been waiting for – my health traits analysis, from My Heritage. They were able to pull this information from the sample I had submitted last year, for my genetic makeup.
I was absolutely sure that I would be told I was at increased risk for cardiac disease, given my history with TIAs, and my family history (father dying at 63 from a massive heart attack, younger sister experiencing a heart attack, other relatives with coronary artery disease). However, I am only at average risk for this and other biggies that people don’t want to know about – like Alzheimers and Parkinsons. My Heritage warns you before they give you the data that this information is in there, and asks you to assent that you actually do want to see your genetic propensity for these devastating diseases. Of course, I clicked a resounding YES. Information is power, people. If I am at an elevated risk for Alzheimers, damn straight I want to know about it so I can plan accordingly!
Long story short – I am at average risk for heart disease, various cancers, Crohn’s disease, some stuff I never heard of, and the aforementioned Alzheimers and Parkinsons. Whew!
I am slightly increased risk for Celiac disease. Hmmm…perhaps this explains my heartburn when I eat wheat, currently under control thanks to modern medicine?
And last but certainly not least, my health report states I am at significantly decreased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration – this is a relief, especially for someone with plans to play a lot with paint in retirement!
So now that it looks like I might live a lot longer than I had anticipated, maybe it’s time to take better care of myself. I’ve noticed I’ve been in a gradual decline of energy this summer.
I’ve been severely anemic before, and this is starting to feel a lot like that. Brain fog, overall fatigue and lack of stamina, lack of focus, falling asleep whenever I am “quiet”. I couldn’t even whip up the energy to make it to Riverfest Elora last weekend so there went the $99 I spent last August on a weekend pass for this year’s festival…ah well, that water is so far under the bridge, it’s already made it to the ocean. 🙂
This is so not me.
I did save my energy so I could go see P!nk on Sunday night though – the ticket was a birthday gift from a good friend of mine!
P!nk performing Just Like Fire. Guess who forgot her good camera at home, and had to rely on ye olde iPhonne? See aforementioned brain fog…sigh.So What? She’s still a rock star, and she flew all around the arena in that harness. While singing. And doing all sorts of acrobatic maneuvers. BADASS.
OK, where was I? Ah yes. Feeling anemic. I mentioned in a comment to Donna, of Retirement Reflections, that I was needing an iron supplement to keep up with the schedule of things I have lined up. She thought I was joking. I was not, Donna! Behold:
This wonder elixir made me feel 20 years younger when I was anemic, years ago. One week after taking this liquid, I felt restored, and back to my old go-get ’em self again. Something months of swallowing iron tablets failed to do.
I purchased a bottle this week and will be taking it faithfully. My iron levels are on the low side of normal at the best of times, but I feel they may have slipped even further as I haven’t been eating a lot of red meat for many months now (and I’ve started really craving beef – another sign from my body that iron is needed). If this doesn’t pep me up, I’ll be making a visit to the doc for a thorough checkup.
Also on the self-care theme: I splashed out today on a Philips Sonicare toothbrush. My faithful Oral B toothbrush is showing signs of imminent battery failure, as it needs to be charged every other day now…and I am on my last brush head before needing to buy more. So it was definitely time to fish or cut bait as I’ve been dithering about what to do next for the past few months of watching my Oral B steadily go downhill.
This was a pretty expensive purchase. What to do? Get another Oral B, go back to a regular toothbrush, check out the Sonicare…Ultimately I decided on the latter. These were the thoughts that were going through my head:
I’ll be retired in a matter of months and won’t be able to afford it as easily then. (Already I am having these fearful thoughts about no more paycheques…shit!)
What’s the most environmentally friendly option? (Probably rubbing at your teeth with a twig…sigh. Moving on…)
I spent 6 grand on my smile these past 2 years (hello, Invisalign!); an electric toothbrush is protecting my investment.
I’ll have to pay for dental benefits once I retire and my coverage might not be as good as when I was employed; I’d better take the best care possible of my teeth. (More fearful thoughts! Double shit!!)
So, this is what’s going on with me at the moment – trying to get back some energy, and trying to keep my mouth healthy. And realizing that I am worrying already, about finances post-work life. Even though I have done the math over and over again. And my head knows I WILL BE FINE.
What about you, recent retirees or old hands at it? Did you have fearful thoughts about finances when contemplating your retirement? Do tell…
Even though my impending move is still many months away, I am already consumed with THOUGHTS and FEELINGS about it. So I created a special place to put them in – this 18 month Moleskin journal:
I found a package of stickers at Michaels that seemed appropriate. And went appropriately to town on the cover. The fact that the fountain pen ink is reddish and looks kinda like I am writing in blood may or may not hold appeal for me. Just sayin’.
So, as can be seen from this journal entry (made in early July), my plan is was to rent for a bit (up to a year) while I search for a new property to buy on the Island. I say “was”, because I had a bit of revelation this week.
I realized I was quietly stressing about the whole “renting for a bit” idea and decided to dig deeper on those feelings this week when I was at home recuperating from heat exhaustion – earned on my birthday, at WTFest.
(I still got to enjoy most of the festival but had to lie down in the shade during The Beaches’ set so I wouldn’t pass out, from overheating. 1 alcoholic drink and no food all afternoon/evening. What a rock n’ roller, eh? 😉 From badass to candyass in one afternoon – that’s me alright!)
I recovered enough to see these guys (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker aka USS) put on a lengthy, satisfying set of all their great songs – they were the main attraction for me, at WTFest.
During a conversation with my daughter she brought up a concern that she may have to move around the island for work as she is at the start of her career, and didn’t want us to end up too far apart. I said: no worries, gonna rent at first anyways but that got me thinking. And with thinking came a bunch of fears and assumptions that needed deeper exploration.
I was raised by homeowners – people who believed 100% in the wisdom of investing in property vs. renting space. My goal as an adult was to rent the cheapest place possible until I had saved enough for a downpayment and could afford to take the plunge into home ownership myself. Why pay my landlord’s mortgage when I could be paying my own – was my rationale. Renting was a stop gap; something you did until you could do “better”.
I soon realized I was actually kinda scared of going back to renting again. It brought up all kinds of fears about: “wasting” money on rent; living in “suboptimal” conditions (when did I get so fucking bougie???); hating (already!) not being able to improve/decorate the living quarters I was paying for, to my satisfaction. And it brought back all my feelings about some of the yucky places I lived in over the years, with no money to fix them up. And how much I love the space I am living in currently, that I designed and decorated to my satisfaction (finally!!!)…A whole lot of feelings going on, yessirree.
Friends of mine recently went from homeowners to renters and spoke positively of freedom that comes from renting but I wasn’t convinced…I needed more information. Hard numbers, facts, figures!
As one does, I hit the interwebs looking for articles on renting in retirement. One especially spoke to (the MBA in) me – this enlightening article and embedded video, is worth a read/watch. Take your time. I’ll be here when you get back.
Long story short, I have a whole ‘nother attitude about renting. In fact, it is not out of the realm of possibility that I may never own a home again. Instead of tying up (and tying myself down with) funds in another property, I will invest what I clear from the sale of my current abode. What I earn from this could be applied to rent – against those pesky unrecoverable costs – leaving more of my capital intact, for a future home/hippy van/trip around the world/whatever else might strike my fancy purchase.
My friends were right. Renting can be freeing.
You know, I figured these anticipated life changes (retirement, moving) were going to spark some revelations for me. But I didn’t think it was going to happen quite this quickly. Or be quite so HUGE.
What about you? Thoughts on renting vs. owning, especially in retirement?
