Take care of your health!

We've had a rough week! One of our dear friends has been in and out of the hospital with a variety of problems. Hopefully he is on the mend now. It's a reminder that you need to take care of your health. Start with annual visits to your really good primary care doctor. Ours is Dr. Lewis Johnson at the Frist Clinic. We just went this week and got a great report including the fact that we've both lost a little weight! Be sure that you do your routine screenings including mammography, colonoscopy, prostate exam and PSA, and Pap smear as appropriate. You can't enjoy retirement unless you have your health!
Woody and I also swear by supplements. Now I can't tell you what to take, but I can share with you what we take. And never start supplements without talking to your doctor. A good multivitamin for old people is important! We use Centrum Silver. We take Osteo Bi-flex or its generic for joint health and collagen support (helps with my tennis knees!), Noni (which the Hawaiians think cures everything), an 81 mg Aspirin, fish oil capsules and red rice yeast capsules for our cholesterol levels, and Woody also takes acidophilous (a probiotic) for his allergies and saw palmetto for prostate health. We also love V-8 juice because it has lycopene and watercress which Dr.Oz says cures everything! We occasionally add watercress to salads and some sauces. I would certainly encourage you to research supplements online or at your public library. Barnes and Noble and Books a Million bookstores both have great reference sections on maintaining your health, including the use of supplements and homeopathic remedies.

Now you know I can't talk about health without talking about exercise....and I have no room to talk! I chase my granddaughter, work in the yard, clean the house, and Woody and I swear by urban hiking. But we don't "work out" in the truest sense. Oh by the way, urban hiking involves mall walking, WalMart walking and sometimes just meandering. At WalMart make your list and then go back and forth from one side of the store to the other. It takes a while to shop that way, but you get exercise and you're retired so you don't have anything else to do anyway!! And believe it or not, we still love to hike and Woody loves ziplining...yes at 65 he did the longest zipline in North America on our Alaska cruise! So get off the couch and do something...even if it's just walking around the neighborhood and spying on your neighbors! When you are old you gossip about your neighbors and this might provide new fodder for the discussion! Just kidding. 

Take care of yourself and stay healthy...and Bill you get better...Woody and Ed are depending on you to go on you for boys day out trips! The three musketeers must continue on their quest for the perfect buffet!

A Great New Find! Coupon Chief

For those of you who know me, you know I am addicted to coupons and use them all the time. I scour the papers and magazines, sign up for emails, and am always on the look out! Well, an old dog can learn new tricks. I just found a great site, Coupon Chief, where you can get the promotional codes and coupon codes that I always see that can be added when I shop online, which I do a lot! Now here's the deal...I never knew where those codes came from until just recently. One great place is to go on Coupon Chief.com and type in where you are shopping on line and tons of stores, restaurants, services and other things just magically appear with a promotional code that can get you great discounts. I have a beautiful granddaughter and we shop for her at The Children's Place all the time. Yesterday we took her to the mall to ride the carousel. She is decked out head to toe in her new spring outfit from The Children's Place right down to her matching tennis shoes! I'm getting ready to start shopping for a new computer and a few other electronic things and am going to try Coupon Chief for Best Buy when the time comes to make a purchase! I've also done a little preliminary research on dining options! You can use promotional codes to buy gift cards and then head to your favorite restaurant! So your tip for the day is to check out Coupon Chief!

Taxes!! and Evaluating Your Daily Expenses!!

One of the fun things about retirement is that your taxes should get easier to complete...NOT! I think it has something to do with working part time on your own. When you start juggling income and expenses on top of your usual personal tax expenses, it can get crazy. Despite an MBA, I have a wonderful forensic accountant who keeps me straight. It still takes all day just to get our info ready to go. It also makes you reflective as you have to look carefully at your expenses for the year! I just heard from some facebook friends that they tried using TurboTax and the online, government program and they are just as frustrated. I've heard that there are free tax services at the Senior Citizen's Center and local churches. Might just have to explore those when I am less complicated. I also think I might vote for someone who just did a nice flat tax across the board!

It's going to get even more confusing when my social security kicks in! Yep, I signed up to start drawing at 62. I did every calculation known to man, and I just can't see any reason not to start now even if I have to give some back. When you work for yourself or even as a contract employee, you may or may not have work. You may or may not stay healthy enough to keep working....and more importantly, who knows when our "beloved" Congress may decide to keep you from drawing until your full retirement age. While I feel fine now, who knows what will happen over the next four years. We've already been negatively surprised at our loss of interest income; I sure wouldn't want to find out I couldn't draw my Social Security if I needed to start unexpectedly. I've also heard that I can pay back all I've drawn and then refile to get a higher benefit....that may be an urban legend, but it's worth exploring.

Now...from my reflections on life after working on my taxes....have you noticed that there is very little on television worth watching lately? After Castle, The Good Wife and Bones, there is not much left that hits our demographic...old. At least Dancing with the Stars starts tomorrow. Woody and I have been talking about dropping our level of cable service down, but we don't want to give up Speed and the NFL channel...although the NFL channel may be a moot point if they don't resolve the work stoppage. We're going to see what we can do to decrease our cable bill. We've also not renewed our season tickets for the Titans. I just can't pay for all the games that may not be played and when our travel interferes with a good number of them if they do play. We'll just buy a game here and there if we want...there are always tickets. I've been watching the NCAA basketball tourney...boys and girls. Notre Dame is doing well in the tournament, although the game tonight against Florida State is not looking too good. Girls play tomorrow night against Temple....now, before you all correct me it's men and women...but in my day of play it was boys and girls. I just love any sport. So lesson for today? Consider evaluating the channels you pay for on cable or dish and think about streamlining the channels to the ones you really watch...I'm also paying for two internet services....cable at home and wireless for when we travel and on top of that, internet for the Blackberry so I guess that's really three...there's got to be a cheaper way to surf! I guess it's off to Verizon this week to check out the potential savings that I can negotiate. So evaluate all your communication devices and television viewing habits and there may be ways to save money...I think I'll take my own advice!

The precious grandbaby is coming tomorrow while mommy heads to Columbus to work.  Her dad gets her back Tuesday night so she'll be home when mommy gets home.  Grandad has worked all weekend on her new slide and swing. I'm not sure if he's praying or reading directions, but like most men he doesn't read directions so what do you think? We wish we could see our other grands as much, but they moved off and left us...Libby has to be close to her daddy and mommy, and by default, we get the kid! Have a great week.

Comfort or Cute?

Now that I am officially 62, and old, and on the government payroll, do I have to give up cute for comfort? Several years ago, Woody and I had the opportunity to go to China. As usual, I was working and he was my sherpa! and companion! Before I went, I bought a pair of Ecco walking shoes that are still today one of the most comfortable shoes I own. In the middle of the trip, he tells me that my new favorite shoes look like bowling shoes. Having lived in the Midwest, bowling is a very important sport, but being from the south, bowling is not always looked upon with favor in my circle. I'm not sure how he came up with bowling shoes other than there are a few seams...they aren't oxfords, there are no shoelaces and they are all black.

Saturday night our dinner club went to a wine tasting at Belle Meade Plantation, drinks at 360, and a wonderful dinner at Whitfield's....in the pouring rain. To make a long story a bit shorter....I wore my "bowling shoes"! My rationale was that it was dark, raining and I certainly didn't want to ruin my one good pair of black flats that I wear when I work. After falling in O'Hare Airport trying to wear heels many years ago, I gave up heels and went to flats. Since I always wear pants, flats aren't really a problem except that I'm really short...and that finding a cute pair of flats that are also comfortable and provide arch support can be challenging. Currently flats are trendy and cute, but have no padding in the sole and no arch support...I guess teenagers don't care about comfort....only cute.  Is it too much to ask for comfort and cute?

So off to Dillards and Wei, my favorite sales person who is from China and lets me practice my fractured Mandarin. Ecco failed me today, but Nurture, the Dillard's brand, had a darling pair of black flats with cushioning and padding and arch support!! Yay! So now I have a new pair of shoes and Wei taught me a new word. Bargain...Tǎojiàhuánjià...which sounds like "powja hija".

I was also reading Town and Country today http://www.townandcountrymag.com/ about dressing your age...my question is that your biological age or how old you feel? The article said just because the clothes fit you shouldn't necessarily wear them. That red lipstick is for young people. And if your kids say you're wearing mom jeans, you should burn them. For every 10 years of age, cover up another 10% of your body...at my age does than mean a burka? And, finally, strapless and sleeveless evening wear does not look good with bat wings. So now...at 62...can I be cute in orthopedic flats, jeans, t-shirts, Notre Dame sweatshirts and anything black? This is my uniform so I can't give it up!!

Things change in retirement...and by that I mean your feet, your clothing choices and the dreaded bat wings! For you young things, bat wings are the flabby part of your upper arm that hangs around even when you try to lift weights to get buff! So eat right, walk, exercise and don't dress too young...but also don't embrace old age..no pearl chokers, turtlenecks in the summer, skirted swimsuits, elastic waist pants with a tucked in shirt... well you get the drift. Confusing isn't it?

Sometimes Retirement Can Get Boring!

One of the things that I've learned over the past few years is that at times retirement can get boring. You get up, go to breakfast with the buds, and then try to figure out what else you want to do.  No matter how you plan your day, whether you work part time or not, how many grandkids you play with...you still will get bored at some point. Now I think I'd rather be bored at times than go back to full time work...but just be aware that at some point you'll wonder what's next.  Woody used to tell me that I needed a hobby to retire.  I got several going before I retired but now I'm looking for new hobbies to master.  So I guess the message is that change is inevitable...whether at work, at play or in retirement.  There are ups and downs, but mostly ups. The longer you are in retirement, the more change you should expect. So not only do you worry about money, but now I'm telling you that you must worry about getting bored. Bummer.

So here's the deal...get more hobbies than you ever thought humanly possible to enjoy because you'll get bored doing the same thing day in and day out...too much like work!  Expand your group of friends.  Get a map or not and follow the yellow brick road.  Go back to school but this time for fun.  If you always wanted to be an architect or archelologist or astronaut, go see if you really did take the wrong career path.  Get a library card and read significant works, not casual books.  Join a book club.  Join a garden club...not me, I hate yard work! And if you think of any other fun things to do, let me know! I'm always looking for new ideas that don't involve shopping or eating...my two favorite things to do!

Almost Free Stuff!

With the price of gas going up, we did the absolutely wrong thing this week.  We love to meander...so, with gas rising, we headed out on a road trip.  We went to Pancake Pantry in Nashville...or the village, if you're a local.  Breakfast was $30...and then we just started driving.  We ended up going through Leiper's Fork www.leipersforkvillage.com  which is a trendy little community and home to multiple stars including Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, the Judd's and Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.  So we drove about 150 miles meandering through the countryside!  Great day...saw lots of jonquils and blooming bushes!  Today was almost as bad!  We drove to Green Hills and had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and walked around the mall...of course I came out with a purse.  I had to buy it...it's a Brahmin with a "woody wagon", a palm tree, a truck and a '57 Chevy...sounds crazy but it's so cool!  We had already driven around our former street in Hendersonville to look at the wind or tornado damage.  All in all...about 50 miles today.  Now 200 miles at $3.25 a gallon! So one piece of advice...consider buying a hybrid or all electric car before you retire if you want to drive a lot!!  But driving a lot is part of the fun of being retired.

Tomorrow is a sleepover with baby Savannah.  Her mother is coming out for lunch and a bit of shopping before she leaves...and we keep the baby! The fun of babysitting grandbabies is PRICELESS!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Don't Fly! Drive!

I still work as a healthcare consultant on occasion to pay for our travel...this week was a work week.  It has been a while since I've flown and between trips I forget that it's not as much fun as it used to be! From getting to the airport hours early just in case security lines are long to late arrivals and broken planes..it ain't what it used to be.  I added up the time it took me to get home from Greenville, SC to Hendersonville, TN by plane and it would have been quicker to drive! So next tip...if you're retired, think about whether the journey might be part of the trip rather than just the destination!

A few years ago, we meandered the Maine coast in May eating lobster, lobster rolls and clam chowder at every opportunity. While we saw the usual lobster boats and lighthouses, we also saw things off the beaten path that tourists rarely see. One of our favorite photos is laundry on the line tied between a tree and the dock. The colors, early spring flowers and water were tranquil and reflected the emergence from a long winter.  We chatted with the locals and were pointed in the direction of great dives and fabulous food. You don't have to eat "frou frou" to get really great lobster rolls...in fact, the more simple the better.  Lobster meat, a little mayo and the bun, preferably eaten standing in the parking lot or on a dock looking at water.  From work to retirement can be something like that...racing from work and end point to end point to meandering along the back roads and out of the way places!

Be sure your car is in good shape and reasonably fuel efficient since gas is going up...but if you're driving slow you'll use less gas. Pick months that most people don't vacation and you'll save a fortune on hotels. We also pick less popular months for cruises too...we did Nova Scotia and Alaska cruises in September.  The cost was almost ridiculously low, the boats weren't packed, and we only had to put up with a bit of cool weather and occasional misty rain.  With the right clothes, layers of course to add and subtract as needed, you can enjoy anywhere.  If you're retired, you can also meander to where the cruise departs rather than flying. Repositioning cruises are great at the beginning and end of seasons when the boats move to their next port. Sometimes you don't even need to get off the boat to have a blast!  We're thinking about doing another Nova Scotia cruise and just taking different shore excursions! You can save money, enjoy the journey and head on out to the sea. 

If you don't want to stray too far from home, consider the back roads around you.  When we first retired, we spent a lot of time being tourists in Tennessee.  Like a lot of other people, we rarely had the time to explore.  Day trips became fun, but there was always an overnight bag with clean underwear in case we found somewhere we wanted to stay!  One trip we did do a quick WalMart run for toothbrushes when we forgot our bag!  So enjoy the journey...the destination isn't really that important!

Don't forget to have fun!

Not all tips about retirement have to do with money or saving money or working...throw in grandchildren and it makes everything perfect! While I worked some this week, I also took time for a sleepover with Savannah, a movie with hubby, spending my Groupon at Barnes and Noble, dinner and a fast trivia tournament, not to mention cleaning out the closet and a snow storm.  Busy, busy, busy! Sometimes you just have to play.

While moving through retirement, don't forget to have fun.  We get so focused on managing our dwindling portfolios or working to make up shortfalls, that we forget that retirement is supposed to be fun.  Like many of you, I graduated from nursing school on a Friday night and went to work on Monday, rapidly followed by marriage, children and more school! When our kids graduated, we encouraged them to run and play for a year...sort of like a gap year that so many of our European friends' children do between high school and college...our one hippie like daughter really embraced it...truth be known....she still does!  The other two work a lot but do have a bit of fun along the way.  We love our kiddos but we really love our grand-kiddos! They are so much fun to play with, shop for and just all around spoil.  So plan on spending some time with your grandkids and rediscover your inner child. Life is too short not to have fun!

Have fun with your spouse! Woody and I truly are best friends and would rather be with each other than anyone else...well, most of the time. When I make him clean out his closet, he might rather be somewhere else! Remember when you fell in love and before the kids and bills and stress and work...try to recapture that feeling if you've lost it. If you're single, consider your options. I have a friend in her late 50's who just got married to a wonderful man she met through an online dating service...I think it was eHarmony.  Another friend is a perpetual volunteer.  In addition to seeing everything from plays to football to basketball free, he's met a few cuties along the way.  Hasn't settled down yet, but at 70 he says he has a few years before he has to grow up. 

Don't be a couch potato. Get out...have fun...remember why you wanted to retire in the first place!  Volunteer. Join a dating service. Find a club or group to join. Do all those things that you always complained that you never had time to do!! When all else fails, go to a funny movie and just laugh. You are responsible for making life what you want it to be...I can't imagine a day without laughter...can you?