Retire In Style Blog Too

Arizona Press Women and me! Arizona Women's Press Association When a group of southern  Arizona's Press Women  gather at a table to discuss what is on their mind, you have a group of "hot" Baja Babes. The name says it all and you can get a feel for their skill at writing a "headline" that grabs you attention.   I sat at the table with retired freelance writers, newspaper editors and magazine writers along with working columnists and even a communications director for a local hospital. The majority of these women were beyond retirement but don't let that put you off.  Most of these women had minds like steel traps and a curiosity that would not stop. Blogging falls outside all those paying jobs that keep writers employed so I was a bit of an odd ball in the group.  One retired couple stated that they both had come from a newspaper families.  Another talked about a book she had written on ghosts in Tucson that was out of print.  I love to talk about ghos...

Do you have the urge to tell all your friends in detail about your wonderful vacation? Well you are not alone. Why do we do that?  I don't think it is because your friends are REALLY interested in that museum you visited...I think it is because we want avoid letting the adventure go. The letdown that follows a vacation of a lifetime can be huge. There are BETTER ways to fight that feeling than chasing our friends away.  How? This is what we do. Food Isn't is wonderful that food can fix just about anything.  The sensory pleasure we get from great food becomes a memory that should not go away No matter where we travel we manage to come home with a new taste for the food of the country we visit.  On our recent trip to Vietnam we experiences the tastes of that country. Wonderful Pho (pronounced: faw) and fish curry dishes had flavors that made me swoon. Both of these dishes are ones that my friends at home would probably enjoy. This is what I do: Bring the recipe home w...

I talked to my daughter yesterday and she asked ME what I had been doing. This is another one of those "what do you do all day?" questions that we retired people get all the time.  I drew a blank for a minute and then I remembered.  Oh, I have been doing things!  I was as surprised as she was. This last week a friend had a "wig" party.  She has had a kidney transplant and the anti-rejection medication that she takes has caused her to lose her hair.  Another friend has alopecia which is a loss of hair that can be caused by several things.  She also has several wigs that she wears daily.  Let me add here that they are both very blond. Katie moved her red convertible so we could use her car port! So we gathered at Katie's house for an afternoon of talking and running around in Katie and Pat's blond wigs.  It was better than a trip to the spa or beauty salon.  At one time about 9 women had on blond wigs at the same time.  I don't know if thi...

Image via Wikipedia I am in the mood to brush up on the rules for having a fair fight.  I just don't think there such a thing as a "good fight" so I avoid them at all cost.  But I know that it never hurts to take a refresher course.  Whether you are arguing with the cable guy or your significant other, the rules are about the same. You can just change the words and apply them to your frustrating situation.  It will work just fine. How to have a brawl! I am going to start at the end of the fight gone wrong just to get your attention.  You know, that is the part where both parties are frozen because the discussion has wandered off course.  The famous Dr. Phil call this part a free for all .  We all know that every disagreement triggers memories of other quarrels/frustrations that trigger memories of yet other quarrels and the cycle goes on and on.  In the end everyone has forgotten what made them so angry to begin with.  If you really want...

New York Times article I know I have told you this before, but I am guilty.  If a policeman came to my door and asked about a robbery in the neighborhood, I would confess.  In fact I would probably confess before  he asked about the crime.  I don't know why but a police officer approaching my car door in a speed trap just scares me to death.  I have gotten a big ticket and had insurance premiums go up because I could not defend myself against the accusation...even if I was really sorta innocent, new to town or just going with the flow of traffic.  Darn. When I read this article in the the NYTs about a teen that confessed because he was feeling threatened I could relate to how the young man felt.  Guilt can be a great motivator.   Do you think that guilt pushes us more than we care to admit?  Do we do things for others, attend church and lavish gifts on our family because on some level we feel guilty for our good fortune?  It could be. It...

Do you remember the children's story about the farmer that thought that his wife had it so easy because she did not have to go out into the fields and work? As I recall, when she called his bluff, and let him stay at home with the baby and the goat, the garden was destroyed and the wife came home to find the goat dangling from a roped down the chimney. I don't remember what happened to the baby. Well we really do think those things. Husbands have the idea that they could cook just as good as the wife and just the right amount of salt would be on the chicken, there would be bread on the table and he could have gravy every night. The wife thinks that all those "honey do's" are not getting done because the husband is a bit lazy and not because he knows how much work they involve. So how hard would it be to fill your spouses shoes? Could you do the taxes, hang the new venetian blinds and keep the goat from falling down the chimney? Why am I thinking about this? WELL, ...

Bocci Sunshine! When we first retired, people that were almost retired would ask us what we did all day.  Our answer was simply "What we want!".  It was all so carefree and effortless.  Just the idea that we did not work at a job from 9-5 and still got paid left us feeling euphoric.  It was so great. Fifteen years later we can only wonder when we had time to work.  Retirement is taking up all of our time and if we had to work again we would starve to death because our schedule is full to the brim.  This week has been amazing: We tore the inside of the shed apart and cleaned it so we could put a washer and dryer in. I watched my husband search for the sewer line to hook the washer up to...he could have buried me standing up in a couple of places.  He worked really hard.   He found sewer line 4 inches down near the corner of the park model...I sorta helped him find it. Danced in the back yard because I was happy. We talked about the sewer line a lo...

Image from One Kings Lane Yesterday I talked with a friend as I came out of our RV park laundry room.  I was washing, drying, folding and schlepping detergent between my park model and that room several blocks away.  He was riding his bicycle around bemoaning a day on the golf course. "How are you doing?" I asked in that rhetorical way. "Oh, I'm OK," he replied sounding as though he might cry. "Are you having a problem?" thinking I should be worried. "Oh, I just returned from a round of golf and I didn't play good today." was his answer. I squinted my eyes in that way I have of doing and thought what is wrong with this picture?   I'm a golfer and I understand how the game can hurt your feelings and your ego and even your back.  But I want a sticker for my car that says "The worst day spent golfing is better than the best day doing anything else." So the questions are  Have we forgotten how to be happy?  What is a good day? D...

L ife Insurance Tips   When my mother was in her early eighties we talked with her financial planner about purchasing a life insurance policy. Believe it or not, even a widow at her age (82) needed some life insurance protection. Not because there was anyone left that would be dependent upon her for support after her death but because this was a very good way to protect her money from all those people that wanted to get their hands on it after she was gone. By protecting her money she also guarantee that any outstanding debts she had was paid off (think home mortgage or any credit card debt). So yesterday when I was contacted by an insurance company representative with information on insurance policies I sat up and paid attention. As a quick review, here are some choices available to you: Life Insurance Guide 2012     Life insurance is a critical component of any financial plan and ensuring that you have the right kind of coverage is important. Without having the right k...

Don't do that! Don't re-enter your personal information. Let me say this again...your email server will not will not will not ask you to re-enter your personal information. If you get an email saying that your server ( YAHOO , GOOGLE, fiddleBOMB, DIDDLYWINKS, etc, etc.) wants you to re-enter your information threatening that your service will be terminated, it is a scam!!! Do not re-enter your personal information. It will look like this: Gmail Team securitydatainfomation@gmail.com Feb 11 (4 days ago) to Account, bcc: me Dear Valued customer, Kindly complete the fields below to avoid Denial of service. Full Name*: Date of Birth* : E-mail Account*: Recovery Email:* Current Password* : Thanks, ©2012 Google Mail ®. HTML info Note that the word "information" is misspelled and says "infomation" in the email address. Your service will not be denied! A friend had this happen this week and actually sent ...

Image via CrunchBase Thought #1 FYI:  One Kings Lane is a website very much  like your Tuesday Morning  Store only more beautiful. (If you want to join   send me your email address to Orencoopinions@gmail.com   and I will send you an invitation.   You will get the $15 discount.) Good Morning World I don't wake up by hitting the floor running.  My mind requires a cup of coffee or two. When my feet finally carried me out of bed this rainy morning, my mind went for a stroll dragging the rest of me along behind. Glasses on and robe wrapped tight I stumbled to my kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the wrapping from an item I purchased from One Kings Lane .  I had purchased a duvet using my $15 discount I received when I signed up for the website.  The wrapping was so classy I have let it stay on my computer desk for a few days.  That is where my mind took a u-turn.  I had no idea we were going to write about th...

Barbara, author of Retire In Style Blog I have always wondered if women read women blogs and men read men blogs?   This is only my opinions but it seems to me that there is a great difference in the subjects we write about.  Is that really true or is it just me? When I began blogging, women had their own web sites, blog logs and mommy blogger were everywhere talking about diapers, bad teachers and stuff their husband did that annoyed them.  I joined Blogher and Blogsbywomen so I could get a feel for what was out there.  Eventually I settled on prompt website like Friday Island, Carry on Tuesday and Sunday Scribblings.  Both men and women used these sites.  It was really a very genderless world. Poetry and fiction lived in that blogging world. After I moved over to this blog with retirements issues and interests on my mind, I began to see a real difference.  Here boomers, financial advisers and people seeking information on retirement mingle freely...

My daughter commented once that coming to this 55+ RV resort is a bit like going to live in a college dorm.  We are from diverse backgrounds and just meeting for the first time.  That really is true.  I like that a lot. The resemblances to a school setting does not end there though.  There are rules, financial matter to be considered and the emotional issues related to aging. We try to make our lives fit into the setting because we realize that a wonderful resort like this has to maintain guidelines or we would be living in a big mess.    And a community of experiences seniors can be very hard to control.  Having said this I need to vent just a bit.  I know you won't mind. Childhood Sweethearts still love dancing after 51 years of marriage! I know you have heard the phrase "the tail is wagging the dog".  The dictionary describes this idiom as " a situation where a small part is controlling the whole of something."   In education it was t...

Did you know that Steve Jobs did not have a license plate on his car? When asked why he said that people followed him sometimes and if they got his license plate number they could find out where he lived. Even Steve Jobs had safety issues. Vietnam Vacation...no worries? We all know that we need to have a license plate on our car. It is the law and common sense tells us that if we want to protect our car from thieves, police need to be able to identify it in rush hour traffic. The lesson is that we need to think about and take logical steps to keep our belongings and ourselves safe. Keeping Our Home Secure A life style that does not follow the normal patterns has some unique issue and we wonder;  how do I keep my home safe when I am gone and myself safe when I am at home?  I don't want to worry about my home and safety ever. I especially don't want it weighing on my mind when I am vacationing. I am well aware that even those of us that don't have a lot of valuable things sho...

When I read book I like,  I can hardly wait to tell you all about it.  I never write about I book I don't like because I will never finish what does not interest me.  I'm funny that way.  So, because I want to tell you about Building a Satisfying Retirement by Bob Lowry,  you know right away that this small book was good. Background : Lowry writes a blog called   Satisfying Retirement .   Bob Lowry is a very interesting man.  He and his wife retired when his wife was 48 and he was 52.  It was soon after the climate following 9/11 made it very clear that remaining in business was becoming impossible. They were 10 years away from their retirement goals at that time.  He and his wife have been featured on CNNMoney  in an article called  Live well on less: 6 ways to save in Retirement. The CNN article gave the background information not available in the book.  I thought it was especially telling when they pointed out...

Mexico 10 years ago - time passes quickly! I have recovered from a cold recently.  My husband and I just returned from China.  We are living in park model 1600 miles from home.  We are talking about driving into Mexico to Guaymas. I am 70 and my husband is 74.  We are very active retired teachers.  Yet, when I feel ill, I begin to worry about a time when I will feel bad and won't get better. Time is passing faster than we care to admit.  The time for bonding with our children on that level where they may be asked to really help us and not just offer helpful advice is coming.  We need to pave the way for a smooth transition when that time comes.  It has occurred to me that I need to find out what they think. So I am thinking about some questions that I can ask that will help our family when that time comes. There will be 5 and only 5 questions.  Rule # 1:  Don't ask all of these questions on the same day.  I want information not a ...