I'm baaaaack!

I am absolutely mortified that I have not posted since last September! This being retired is tough! I had been working a bit more for The Oncology Group but things seem to be slowing down...of course the fact that I also broke my arm falling over my briefcase in a hotel room while checking out a snow storm has kept me a bit limited in my computer skills. And then of course, a major adverse event at my favorite hospital which caused me to have a second surgery to correct their error didn't help my mood much! Sooooo...I think I should start posting again if I can come up with some fun things to write.

We are heading to Florida soon with one of the grands and her parental units. We do this every year. Now that our son and his family are moving back to Tennessee, we are going to drag them down next year. It will be great to have everyone within just a few hours of us, but I will miss stopping off at Harrah's Cherokee on the way to NC...I could always rationalize that Woody couldn't drive all the way to Chapel Hill in one day...now I have to make a special trip to gamble and can't pretend it's just a way stop!

Now...what else do you need to know to catch up on our crazy life? We are not selling our house since the market hasn't quite returned enough to make it worth it so I've added granite in our master bath, redone the kitchen cabinets, subtracted and added some furniture and am trying to figure out what more I want to do. Now we really won't recoup our investment, but it sure looks pretty! Woody wrecked the RV in October when he blacked out...still don't have it back but we've been promised it soon. None of the doctors can figure out what happened so we're just hoping it was a one time event. Christmas was uneventful in 2012...as you recall in 2011 the entire family got sick! This time we just ate and had a ball with Savannah opening presents. We've also been to almost every Boomerangs' concert...and gleefully call ourselves groupies. Throw in lots of movies, a trip to the Egg Bowl in November (that's Ole MS vs. MS State and State lost and Woody was bummed and Jennifer was ecstatic since she's an Ole MS grad) followed by a long postponed trip to New Orleans...of course, there is a Harrah's Casino there! Oh and Woody had to drive me to work in South Bend, IN after the broken arm and before they would let me fly and we stopped at Harrah's Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, Indiana so we had a great trip. We've also had Savannah almost every weekend and have lots of fun memories with her, including planting flowers since she loves to garden! It's so much fun to have a grand close and we can't wait to get Riley closer too!

I'm sure there are tons of other things you should know to catch up on everything, but it's late and I'm tired! I'm still rehabbing the arm and shoulder...water aerobics and swimming....so now I'm tired AND sore but am regaining range of motion rapidly! I will try to do better...so my tip for this long delayed post is Don't get so caught up in day to day stuff, that you forget to do what you like to do...in my case, it's to write this blog!

Road Trip with Savannah and Random Stuff!

Road trip! This past weekend we headed to Chattanooga to take Miss Savannah to the Aquarium as a birthday present for her mommy! Libby and Led could party on and so could we! Libby gave us Marriott points for a room, so we spent the night. The Aquarium was incredible with two separate buildings...one for the Ocean and one for the River. Savannah had been there before but it was all new to us...it is fabulous. Savannah loved the penguins but wanted granddad to hold her when the sharks swam by! I think it's watching Nemo too much. She knows the sharks are not always your friend. We didn't realize that there were two separate buildings on the same ticket, so after finishing the ocean side, we came out and went to lunch at Friday's. Striking up a conversation with a family in the next booth, they asked us which we liked better. Pulling out our tickets, we realized after a leisurely lunch and a bit of a rest, we could go back and do the other side! After a nap back at the hotel, we went for a swim and then had dinner via the Marriott Bistro in our room! Savannah can float on her back...now we have to get the floaties off!

On Sunday, we took her to the Children's Discovery Museum. It is wonderful and we only did the first floor. The climbing area is better than our Children's Museum in Nashville as it was geared to a smaller size kiddo. Granddad had to carry her out kicking and screaming to head to other areas...she calmed down quickly when she realized we weren't leaving, just moving to a different fun thing. Chattanooga is the perfect distance for a trip as it's only about 100 miles from Murfreesboro where we picked up the kiddo.

Our tips for road trips with grandkids is go somewhere close, take lots of snacks for the car and room including breakfast foods so you don't have to rush out to eat, take a portable DVD player, pick fun things to do and don't rush! Kids really enjoy some experiences and may run through others as boring. The more interactive the better. Let them set the pace. In our case, the butterfly exhibit was not exciting but she loved touching the rays and sturgeon. Take plenty of hand sanitizer!

Last weekend, Woody and I headed to Louisville for the Change of Command Ceremony for our neighbor Tom. He is moving from the Naval Reserve Center Command to become Flag Secretary for the VAdmiral of the Navy Reserve! It was tons of fun and quite impressive. And you know I always find a casino, so after the ceremony we headed to Elizabeth, IN to Horseshoe Casino...a Harrah's property which meant a free room for two nights, the Paula Deen Buffet and SLOTS! I actually won for the second time this summer.  I've said it before, but if you like to gamble, stay with one company and you can earn free rooms and other comps...just be sure you set a limit ahead of time!

This summer has been different in that we have taken lots of trips We did a week in Florida with Savannah and her parental units, a week in NC with Riley and Will along with a stop in Cherokee, NC, a trip to Paducah for the quilt museum and Metropolis for the casino, a trip to Louisville and Elizabeth, IN, and a trip to Chattanooga with Savannah...one more trip over Labor Day to Woody's family reunion and then home for a while. Whew! So one more tip...yes, two for one today...plan short trips around your home base! We have had a ball, haven't spent that much money, and still had a great time. We now are getting the RV squared away to head to Florida for two different months! That way we won't be gone too long from Savannah and still have our fun time in Florida.

Safe travels!

Making a List and Checking it Twice!

Did you think I had vanished? It's been a while since I've posted because we've been so busy. We hit the road a bit in the RV this summer and remembered why we love it so much. Sometimes you have to reactivate your feelings when you get old...that includes our use of the RV. As you age, things do tend to get a bit stale so you have to shake things up a bit. We tend to get into a rut and forget to try new things. When we decided to travel this summer, we sat down with the Atlas and figured out how to work a trip around the wedding of a dear friend, picking Mackinac Island and the UP of Michigan and northern Wisconsin since we hadn't been there. When you travel as much as we do, you tend to struggle to find new places. The last two years we've done cruises to both coasts of Canada and Alaska, but really didn't want to cruise again this year. The international instability is also a concern...when there are riots in London, you know things are in turmoil. This turmoil is a great reason to explore the U.S.! We spent Labor Day at a family reunion in East TN with the kiddos and grandkiddos followed by a quick trip to NC, leave soon for a weekend with a dear friend in Tunica, MS, and head to the Natchez, MS Fall Pilgrimage in October. We can't wait to tour the Antebellum Mansions!

The other compelling reason to stay closer to home is money! The stock market is fluctuating to the point that I'm dizzy. When you are retired, you don't have a lot of time for the market to rebound! I think that I also would prefer that my little dab of money be spent at home to help our faltering economy since our fearful leaders in DC don't seem to be doing anything. We have been so blessed to have traveled so much internationally over the years that if we never leave the U.S. again, we'll be fine. I still want to go to Ireland, but I still have a few more good years so hopefully I will get there some day!!

So your tip for the day...re-energize and shake things up a bit. Get out of your rut. Even if you can't afford the trip of a lifetime, look closer to home and see what the U.S. has to offer...it doesn't even have to be far from home. Most of our trips have been regional and we are having a ball. We have a nephew and his family that recently moved to Nashville and find more to do here than we even realized. Shakespeare in the Park, lots of local and neighborhood festivals, art gallery crawls and plays and programs at local colleges are all things they've discovered. We just forget to look and then complain that there is nothing to do! When I worked, I always had a "to do" list and plans for the upcoming month. Crack open your favorite beverage and sit down with your significant other and make a list of places you'd like to see and things you like to do.They don't have to be costly and, in fact, many local events are free. 

Enjoying life requires a little effort on your part! Activities just don't drop in your lap...if you sit in front of the TV day in and day out, or do the same old things over and over, you may not shorten your life, but you'll certainly shorten your fun! So check the paper on Friday or Sunday for upcoming activities, check local and regional websites for festivals and celebrations, and don't forget your local colleges with theater departments who often offer plays very inexpensively! Be proactive and get out of the house! You'll be glad you did.

Trip Planning!

It's time to hit the road again! As you know we stayed home this winter rather than leave our beautiful granddaughter! But now that she's a year old, we might be able to leave for a few weeks without having withdrawal. First trip though will be to the beach with the baby and the kiddos! This will be our first family vacation in a while...in fact...the last one I can remember was our Christmas cruise with Libby and Chris. So first stop...Panama City Beach because they have more things for Savannah to do.  Then we head out in the motor home to Brown County, Indiana, South Bend, Indiana for a wedding, then up the Lake Michigan coast...finally to Mackinac Island! We've wanted to go there for about 100 years but just never got it together. Then to Sault St. Marie and on to Door County, Green Bay and then? We haven't figured out where to go next....that's the fun of being retired and owning an RV. Of course....gas is the highest since we went to Montana for 6 months when it hit $4.50 a gallon! We just can't start a road trip without gas going up. As always there is a tip embedded here....if you shop at Kroger, you can earn big discounts on gas. We are Publix people and they just ran a promotion that gave us a $50 Shell card for $40! I think it was to compete with Kroger. So watch for specials on gas and compare pricing between stations. We have a 5-8 cent swing just in our little town.

I just scanned through about 200 channels on TV and can't find a thing to watch..it may be time to down size my Comcast subscription! It must be bad because I'm watching the Kardashian's...I am embarrassed! So I think I'll scan on to something else. How about music videos? Not a bad choice. So second tip...how many of the channels that you pay for do you really watch? I did just save about $20 on my cell phone by changing my plan a bit. So that's at least one dinner out a month at Cracker Barrel or anywhere I have a coupon. I have a purse full of dining coupons...can't remember coupons for the grocery, but I always have one or two for meals.  I guess it's the little things that will add up over time. Like making coffee at home rather than Starbucks! Or if I just have to have Starbucks, getting regular coffee with room for milk instead of a Latte.

Can you believe the floods we're having...and storms...and earthquakes...and demonstrations across the world? I am beginning to wonder if the Mayans had it right that 2012 might be all we get. Our weather here in H'ville has been weird...in the 90's one day and a high of 58 the next. My sinuses are going crazy. Our world is really in a tizzy right now...Nostradamus may be on to something. So...final tip for tonight...never go to bed angry...hug your family and tell them you love them...be kind to others...do random acts of kindness even when no one is looking...and have a little fun along the way! Have a wonderful week peeps!


  

Let's Bring You Up to Date

For those of you who didn't get a chance to read about my road to retirement, let's bring you up to date. Two years ago I decided that I wanted to consider retirement! I knew that I needed help in order to maintain what little sanity I had left! I really didn't know where to begin planning for retirement so I started my first blog. For almost two years I posted some of my progress toward retirement and I'll share a few here. My husband said I needed a hobby...I considered travel, boating, soap making, photography, writing, gardening...well you get the picture. Finally, it's photography (look at www.yessy.com/patedens) and writing (www.tranquilityfound.com) and a little consulting (www.globaloncology.com) and sold a few things on eBay. I also queried my friends about how will I know when it is time. One wise woman told me I'd just know...boy was she right! We've had a few life changing experiences the past two years. We sold our boat and bought two RV's in six months! Once we decided to retire for sure, the first RV wasn't big enough for extended trips so we traded up to a Winnebago Itasca Sunrise! (www.winnebagoind.com/products/itasca/sunrise/) A most fabulous RV. In fact our first extended trip was to Florida for six weeks and it was heaven.

The one thing that concerns me is that I seem to have less time in retirement than I had working! There is so much to do and so little time...I'm still not sure if I'll look back on my early retirement at some point and say I should have stayed in the workplace longer. I'm still not sure if I can keep myself entertained. Have I done the right thing? We'll just have to see!