How to Retire = Learning to be FREE!

Grilled Grandmas: I am now a member of a select group of woman called Grilled Grandmas. I was privileged to be selected and interviewed by the Grandma's Briefs Blog this week. You will find out who I really am when you read my responses!

#259 - Free

Sunday Scribblings

A week in the life of a retiree can be anything you want it to be. Living in the past or in the future is okay but enjoying this week, day, hour minute is the best ever. We have declared our FREEDOM and our lives are what we make of them. I personally don't apologise for the wonderful life we enjoy

Freedom at it's best!

Yesterday we were watching the final game of the bocci ball game season with the game that would determine who was the champion here in the RV Resort. I know it seems silly to those of you that disdain a game like bocci...there is no thrilling dangerous excitement. No one gets hurt, or pushed or even yelled at. It is usually quiet even with 100 people stand around watching. The loudest noise you will hear is the heart beat of the people competing. Most people are not used to that kind of attention from a crowd. I know because we played for the championship pizza last year...and lost.

Then my husband pointed out to me that the 60s Garage Band was playing for a dance nearby...just mention dancing to me and I am dressed and in the car. We took friends with us and danced until...drum roll and applauding...9:30 pm. Oh my...we really need to find a place where people stay up later. But the fact is we were done for the day. We had played 18 holes of golf the day before, eaten dinner at a nearby retirement community and collapsed in bed at 10:30. We had gone shopping and running errands between the bocci ball and the dancing and we had cooked dinner on the bar-b-que at around 5:00 o'clock. We were happily tired and full of the day!

I know you young people make fun of old people...they have lunch at 11:00 am, dinner at 4:00 pm and breakfast a 8:00 pm. We turn down our bed at 6:30 pm and are in bed by 9:00 pm. I have heard the routine. I have even laughed myself...but let me tell you this...for the most part it is all a lie. We have something that those of you that work will not understand until you have it yourself...FREEDOM! We can come and go, eat, dance, dress just like we want and when we want. Trust me, being free is just about the best thing around.

Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites. Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come. I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...

If You Build It, They Will Come...Maybe!

It all began with a antique window in front of a local shop. It had been painted yellow, the glass was loose and all of the hinges and latches were gone. My old friend Betty would have approved...she would tell me it was just broken enough and damaged enough for me to drag it home. When my dear husband saw it, he wondered what he was meant to do with it. Imagine his surprise when he was presented with the plan to build a small neighborhood library exchange. It wasn't the first time he had heard me ask "How hard could it be?" Now it is six weeks later and we mounted the darling little library exchange on two posts in our front yard. I love it. Now the question is, will they come or has the time passed when people actually read something made of paper? Our association president stopped by and admired the box but left after telling me that he only read books on his Kindle. We will see. Would you bring a book and take a book? b+

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