Retirement Thoughts

I’ve been thinking about the blessings of retirement lately.  I read about people needing to work longer and then only barely scraping by and am so thankful that I had the education I needed to pursue a professional career that paid well. I was a hospital pharmacist and I loved it. It was interesting and challenging and I worked at a world renowned teaching hospital.  But by age 65, my body just couldn’t hold up to the stress of a long commute, a job where a mistake could mean someone’s life, and the usual pressure of home work.  Since I had no debts and a nice 403b, I was able to retire.  And it has, as they say, “exceeded expectations.”

It is such a relief not to have to leap out of bed, into the shower, and out the door.  Waking up slowly is an incomparable blessing. Then there is not having to deal with traffic and bad weather and wrecks on the freeway. 

Another blessing is being able to do my shopping and errands during the day when it is less crowded.   Lunch out during the week is less crowded and less expensive.  

Then there is time to read and quilt, time to go birding or butterflying, time to travel, time to take a nap.  

I had thought that maybe I would be bored or lonely once I retired but that has not been the case at all.  I love life in the slow lane.  

Plans for the Week of April 1 - 7, 2018

Personal
     Haircut! 
     Quarterly Financials 
     Quarterly Chores

Quilting
     Finish Quilt top
     Buy Backing
    Take quilt for machine quilting

Reading
      Grant by Ron Chernow 

     The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

     Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean

     The Case. Against Sugar by Gary Taubes

     At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider

Cooking
1.  Slow Cooker Chicken

2. Baked Fish, Potatoes, Coleslaw 

3. Schwan’s 

4. Steak, GMP, GB

5. Leftovers 

6. Out

Peanut Butter Cookies 

My heart is breaking

It is looking more and more like my beloved National Butterfly Center will be destroyed by the senseless border wall. Here is a link to an article about this travesty:
National Butterfly Center

Here are some of the beautiful butterflies we will lose:

March for Our Lives, Washington, DC

Joe and I are in Washington, DC this weekend for the March for Our Lives.  I am astounded by the numbers of people of all ages, all races, from all over the U.S.  I am inspired and uplifted by this great gathering.  

March Thoughts

My life is my message. Mahatma Gandhi

March Poetry

"Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year. 

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees."
-  Robert Frost, A Prayer in Spring

March Plans

Personal
     Trip to Washington, D.C.

Reading
     Grant by Ron Chernow

     Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton 

     Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

     Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan

Cooking
     17.  Corned Beef and Cabbage

     18.  Schwan’s 

     19. Shrimp Jambalaya 

     20. Chicken Tenders, GMP, GB

     21. Schwan’s 

     22. Travel

     23. Travel

     Peanut Butter Cookies 

     
Quilting — Finish quilt top