Retire In Style Blog Too

Cover of The Bells of St. Mary's Golfing and Arizona love each other.  But did you know that the movies hold a big place in Arizona's heart too?   For actors like Bing Crosby that loved to golf, it may have been the reason the first of those old movies was filmed here.  Golfing in Arizona goes back a very long ways. MOVIES IN TUCSON Tucson has it's very own Hollywood back lot on the outskirts of town. The location is called  Old Tucson Studios .  Old Tucson is a tourist attraction most of the time these days.  But when the occasional western is filmed here, the studios can be back up and running.    Big stars have been filming here since the 1945's when The Bells of St. Mary's was made here in Tucson.  It must have caused quite a stir when Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman came to town.  We do have the beautiful San Xavier Mission as well as the St. Augustine Catholic Cathedral so I suppose Tucson was a natural.  And the fact that th...

Rio Rico's Robert Trent Jones Golf Course just north of Nogales, AZ WISH YOU WERE HERE!    The weather's fine and  the company is wonderful! Arizona and Golf The perfect combination! My life includes three close friends that are willing to golf with me! My husband and I joined 6 friends for a game of golf yesterday.  We drove south of Tucson to a small community/resort called Rio Rico.  The golf course is located very near Nogales, AZ and is connected to a five star hotel called Esplendor Resort.  The golf course was designed by Rober Trent Jones. We were celebrating a friend's 77 birthday.  The weather was more beautiful that I can describe. The sun was very warm and the air was springtime cool.  We made one tee time on EZ Links and another through the golf course.  We just divided the cost equally among the 4 couples.  Golf in Arizona is a unique experience.   You would have had so much fun! Hollis is celebrating h...

I think I am a textbook case for the two educations we need.  I am 69 years old.  I received a degree in education when I was 20, finishing the degree in three years.  I taught in the classroom for 3 years while my husband finished his college education and then I "retired" to raise three children and worked part time as a substitute teacher.  At the age of 50 I returned to the classroom full time.  It was required that I be "re-certified" in the state of Oregon so I returned to college to fulfill that requirement.  Then I "retired" again, this time permanently. A quote on twitter by John Adams described my life perfectly.  After retirement I needed to learn how to live a happy complete life of my own making.  It said:   "There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live." The other education requires that we live in our own skin without the validation that comes from a job and we need to find that...

When my eyes do not focus and I find myself staring at the computer for longer that I care to admit, I know I need to be drawn back into the human pool...you know that one with all age groups and no computer screens.  Writing a blog with "retire" in the title even has google putting me into a niche. Thankfully I remember that there is a whole world out there waiting for me to explore.  Isn't that wonderful?  I started cleaning my park model like a demon the other day. I think I may be getting ready for company and I may be having a party soon.  Cleaning is always a good sign.  We are signing up to go on a wagon ride next week at a ranch near the base of the Rincon Mountains here in southern Arizona and I am going to eat steak!  Yup, this almost vegetarian health nut is signing up for the steak feast.  I am very excited.  We are golfing on Wednesday and Friday.  We are even going out of town to play on Friday to one of my favorite golf course...

Image via Wikipedia THE COMMUNITY OF GOLFERS If you are active in any...sport, golf, tennis or croquet...and you mind your sports p's and q's, you will eventually get to know someone that enjoys your company.  You take care of them and they take care of you.  That is the way it works.  You will connect with a group of people that share your tastes and as a result of this bond you will be given opportunities that you would not normally enjoy.  That is what my husband and I have found to be true. This last week is a perfect example. PLAY WITHOUT JOINING   I live in an RV resort but believe it or not I was given the opportunity to play the spectacular Mountain Course at the Lowe's Ventana Canyon Lodge this last week.  This is the course a guest would use and one of two on the Lowe's property.  Two of my friends and I were invited to play with one of the employees of the resort that lives close to us.  We golfed in the afternoon hours when things are...

Picture from A Gift Wrapped Life A Gift Wrapped Life : A small gift as a way of thanking the host and hostess for a wonderful evening never goes out of style.   A very inexpensive gift wrapped like it is worth a million can be a real show stopper.  This blogger has some beautiful ideas. Beauty Tips from Katiem2  (Hub Pages) The lady writes on Hubpages but also has other websites for your use.  She has some of the best beauty tips that cost absolutely nothing.  Check her information before you shampoo, color or highlight your hair!  WOW! Frugal Traveler Travel is becoming more of a hot trend...boomers are turning 65 as of last December.  This blogger writes for the NYT .  I follow his information closely. Recently he posted about traveling up and down the east coast of the USA by train/bus...inexpensively.  I think you will like his information. Thrifty Fun    This is a wonderful forum website that allows readers to share tip and i...

From  Apartment Therapy  (before) From  Apartment Therapy  (after) Do you get out the camera and take a picture BEFORE the painting begins?  It is such a good idea and I wish I did.  That is what they did on the Apartment Therapy website. In the before picture the wall was painted a gray-blue shade. The designer decided it was time for a change and painted the room salmon pink. It may be my age or maybe I am slow on the uptake but doesn't the blue look better than the red?  In fact we just painted our bedroom that blue color this last summer. I hate being behind the trend but the red just does not appeal to me. My Bedroom This is where a person has to know what they like and what they don't.  Color is a very personal thing and my style is not yours.  It is all good!!! More Apartment Therapy related posts! b Related articles TrendWatch: Please Have a Seat on the Couch That Looks Like Stephen Colbert (curbed.com) Linkage: White Painted Floor...

Family gather for a picture...Grandma directing.  My children do not want me to do this anymore!  We now have a professional  photographer in the family! My husband and I are grandparents to 11 grandchildren. We have three children. The oldest grandchild is 19 and the youngest will be 1 in February. What we know we have learned the hard way. It has not been perfect but our family still hangs together and our grandchildren are well rounded, healthy and great.  This is a familiar story and one I hear all the time. I would like this list to be much longer so leave a comment. I am not everything to my grandchildren!  They love me a lot and they know I love them beyond reason. BUT in our family dynamic, we are not the center of their universe.  There are very good reasons for why we have chosen to fulfill the role of occasional   backup  baby sitter.  In our mind, we want for our children to reach our age and be very proud of the job they have don...

What do you think?  Leave a comment! (see more Park Model Information ) Do I want a vacation home in the warm sun? Yes but how can I afford that??? We are always in such a rush to get on with our retirement life that we will make decisions about it long before we have even giving the choices a try. Really, there are a lot of choices. I want to talk today about the choices you will make concerning those cold winter month you endure in the north part of the USA. Should you travel, buy a second home, a prefab park model/trailer or just stay in the north and tough it out? That is what I know about. Living at the end of the rainbow! I have known people that saved for that beautiful RV or fifth wheel, bought it as soon as they retired, traveled south to stay in an RV Resort and wonder if they have made the right choice.  An RV or fifth wheel can be very, very expensive.  When they arrive here in our RV resort and see the charming little prefab park models, they realize that the...

If I were in Paris this is what I would love to do this. Isn't Travel wonderful.    ParisDailyPhoto: Ice rink 2011!

When my husband passed out in our kitchen several years ago, I realized that we were not going to live forever.  That was when I decided that getting the best in what I can afford now is a wise decision.   Tomorrow may never come!   THOUGHTS ON THE LATEST SMART PHONES Graph from Business Insider Smart phones and what they can do for us is all the big buzz these days.  In fact, when I checked on what was viral online  today, a headline comparing the Android to the iphone caught my interest. The Android has set the smart phone market on it's ear and has proved to be a big competitor for the always popular Blackberry. Texting, online work for the office bees and staying connected is what technology is all about today.  Grandparents are right there in the mix with everyone else.  And the iphone still stays on top in the market. As a senior citizen I am alway thinking about what these trends have to do with my life.  Am I missing something important? ...

My Car is partially 100% emission free! Please explain that to me...please! Somethings just do not compute! When I noticed this piece of chrome on the back of my Subaru I was reminded of the prefect oxymoron...limited nuclear war...either is it 100% or it isn't. I was puzzled. Low slung jeans puzzle me. Do women realize their butt is hanging out and think it is attractive? Really, it is not attractive on a plumber and it certainly does not look good on women. Doesn't their backside get cold? I still can't figure out where this style came from and why it has hung around for so long. (No pun intended.) I am puzzled at how invested we women are in other women's hair color. We will take personal offense at another woman's bad choice in hair color even though we really don't know the other woman. I suppose it is a little like the low slung jeans...we are afraid if we see it often enough we might slip and want purple hair ourselves. We certainly learned how...

Now let's get this straight...your parents are not your children.  Old people are not children.  It really is demeaning when you treat an older person like a child.  Even a very ill old person deserves to be treated like an adult!  Because I am getting older all the time, I think I have a few words of advice for you. You can take it or leave it...that is your choice. If they weren't my family, they would be my friends! FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE I was eating breakfast at a local restaurant this morning.   My husband and I had just been seated when an older woman using a walker came in accompanied by her daughter.  Now this senario can go either way. The woman using the walker can walk just fine with her walker and the daughter can walk beside her or even behind her carrying on a normal conversation or the daughter can hover over the mother speaking in condescending and  superior tones. I think you know what I mean. Now the mother begins to talk. ...

Image via Wikipedia You Tube has everything!  Really, if your are a senior citizen like me and want instruction or inspiration, go to YouTube.  I was over at Fab Over Fifty this morning and this video caught my eye.  Yoga at 92???  Here is motivation for you!!! Need a new toy to keep your mind and hands busy?  Here is one I would love to have! Want to assemble your own computer?  Here is a man that claims he can show you how. If you are nuts enough to need some more football today, here you go!! Related articles How-to Embed The New YouTube Video Player Skin And Why (reelseo.com) Embed Facebook Videos into any Website (crenk.com)

Image via Wikipedia Okay here's the deal...I am from Oregon!!  I have know quarterbacks for the Oregon football team, stood on the field after a games and shook hands with Rich Brooks , former football coach for Oregon.  I love my state so it only stands to reason that I do worry about what "outfit" our team will wear for the National Championship tonight. :) They had better look good no matter what! The Oregon athletic department and Phil Knight of Nike fame are joined at the hip.   He has built training facilities and supported the track program almost to an obscene level.  He loves his Alma mater.   Guess who is turning out all those beautiful uniforms that the Ducks wear...why Nike of course?  It has gotten to be quite the big fashion statement buzz for the sports casters and people that care about that sort of thing.  Oregon has more uniforms than I have shoes...and I have a lot of shoes. I am a girl that loves fashion and let me tell you sport ...

Could it be that our laptops and personal computers are a thing of the past?  I have been using an Apple personal computer since the first model appeared all those many years ago.  I thought the laptop was a giant leap forward but did not see it as a replacement for my personal computer. Now the Wall Street Journal and all those people that know about trends are saying  Bye, Bye Laptops and PCs .   Everything I use will be replaced with something entirely different according to them.  This is what they had to say: As inflection points go, the Consumer Electronics Show that kicked off yesterday couldn't be sending a clearer signal: The era of the personal computer is drawing to a close. For an industry gathering that once showcased each new generation of desktop and laptop, this year's show is buzzing with every imaginable flavor of tablet, smart phone and mobile appliance. Welcome to the age of mobile computing. Wall Street Journal   When I see s...

"I keep finding these great articles for you to read. Check this one out!" Irritable Male Syndrome: What is it and is it real? View >>

Note:  I am asking you to please click on the follower button in the sidebar.  I am trying to build a list that looks halfway impressive.  Thank you for visiting and your support! AARP Home Page I am almost embarrassed to say that I have avoided AARP like the plague...that was not smart folks, not at all. Psychologically I don't think that I wanted to admit that I was old enough to belong to the group.   Those 4 capital letter have brought people to their knees.   Even though I am 69, I really don't think about my age until I look in the mirror.  So, when we begin receiving letters from the AARP organization in our late 40's, we are all reminded that we are not going to be young forever.  An AARP letter can feel like another nail in a our coffin! Image from AARP I write a blog about retirement and how we can live a full, rich, beautiful life and simply not think about our age.  I want people to realize that, as AARP says, their old age is not the...