AARP Listen up! The Perfect Hobby? - Coupons and Retired Men!

A room full of couponeers and their wives!

   "What do you do for a hobby," they asked.
   "I clip coupons. We can save lots of money that way," he answered. His wife just rolled her eyes. She changed her mind when he began finding coupons online for the stuff she liked. Golf coupons, Overstock Promo Codes and home decorating coupons. He finally had her attention!

   Retirement is not the end by any means. Even though someone is not bossing you around anymore does not mean that you can sleep for the rest of your life....even if that is what you have been dreaming about. I know. Lack of sleep was a demon that pursued you all through your working years. One day you wake up rested and want to do something. Boredom is not a child's thing. Boredom lurks around every corner in a life of total leisure.
   Hobbies always seem to be the perfect answer. Young people studying about old people will always come up with the wonderful idea that we old people would be perfectly happy if we would just find a hobby. In fact, I have heard younger people worry about their mom or dad and what in the name of heaven they are going to do when they retire. "They don't even have a hobby," they will say.
   This where my husband and his friends came in. Working was a passion, an obsession and the sum total of their lives. Then they retired. Dear lord in heaven please help us all. Those of us on the sidelines waiting for the retirement game to play out knew that whatever these men decided to do we were going to be expected to play a supporting role. Sigh!
   We were beginning to think that it was not going to be so bad. They did rearrange a few things and wanted to boss us around but still, it was okay. Then they discovered the wonderful world of coupons. In fact, two of the men actually took a class. On a designated Thursday night they climbed in their cars and traveled to a classroom in a nearby high school. When they arrived they found a room full of housewives waiting to enter the wonderful world of the couponeering. They learned to clip and file and double the coupons. They learned about Thursday specials published on Wednesday nights. The whole week would revolve around plans for shopping on Thursday. They flitted from store to store yet always managing to save a little gas by wandering into the golf store near the local grocery. They were in the neighborhood so why not? Oh the glory of it all.
   It lasted for a winter season. We wives were recruited to ride along for a whole day of coupons and nickels and dimes. Then the new wore off. The chase didn't seem so much fun anymore. That was when the men reclined to their recliner passing the important job off to their wives. They still went to the golf store but not the grocery. That gas saving thing just didn't work in reverse. But they clipped and filed. They would checked to see if the wives had done their jobs at the grocery. When the wives rebelled, the grown children fell heir to the files, coupons, inquisition and savings.
   All this happened many years ago. My husband has not changed. He coupons from his recliner. He can print coupons to restaurants, events and for groceries without ever getting out the scissors. He is a fan of Groupon, Restaurant.com, LivingSocial and GolfNow.com. I haven't told him yet but AARP even has ads for coupon sites. We will discover it on his own. I am never sure if we are playing golf or eating out because he wants to go with me or because he got a good deal.
   I guess saving coupons is better than the hobby of "dumpster diving". Yes I saw it on a list of hobbies recently. I have learned to live with it at least when it comes to golfing or eating out. I do not take coupons to the grocery store with me! It is the principle of the thing. After all, I still have my pride!

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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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