Retire In Style Blog Too

From Mindfulness Mama blog! One of the greatest joys in my blogging world is "meeting" someone that has the ability to make another feel important and wonderful. I think that Jennifer Landis is one of those people. In an email she sent me recently she said: Hi Barbara! I hope you are having a fabulous day!  My name's Jen - Hi! It's nice to e-meet you.  I wanted to let you know that a recent Googling about green bananas lead me to your lovely blog and your post - " Lessons Learned from Green Bananas ."  It really made me smile! I'd never thought about life that way! Also - I prefer to eat my bananas when they are nice and spotty - but I understand that's not what you were implying in your post :) Anywho, I was hoping to return the smile favor by letting you know how much I've been enjoying reading through your blog! You certainly appear to have retired in style. :)  My husband's grandparents have recently retired and just moved from Texas to ...

Galen Pearl is one of the most insightful bloggers around. She sees things that most of us miss. I tried to complete a "Course in Miracles" with her in recent years and failed. She has done that exercise in mindful living many times. Recently she began a new blog called No Way Cafe . In her Welcome post she explained where she is coming from. Even that post is a lesson in life. Recently she wrote about the concept of "trying". In the blog she talked about how we do not try to do things...we either do them or we don't. I had never really thought about that concept before. In fact, I use the word try far too much. That may be what I did when I began the Course in Miracles. The truth is I quit. I did not do it and it was a conscious decision. I was giving myself a backdoor way out to fail. Why would I do that? I don't sit down here to "try" to write a blog post. I either do it or I don't. The outcome is not certain but but the words are very rea...

January-March in Arizona My mother would say about this time of year every year, "Winter is just around the corner!" and we would laugh. But, if you want to be a snowbird, the truth is winter is a lot nearer than you think. The time to plan for that experience is NOW. Here on the blog stats I am seeing that the traveling people are beginning to think about this winter or even some winter in the future. They are visiting blog posts about the snowbird lifestyle.  How To Be a 12 Month Snowbird  is being visited this morning. As more and more people are changing their lifestyle later in life, they are wondering what the possibilities are. This article explains how people have figured out a way to move from one location to another for 12 months out of the year. I met someone that actually is doing that.  I have found that HOW TO BE A SNOWBIRD...answers and lists!  is always popular. It could be that what stops most people in their tracks is not where to go but how to...

I published this guest writer post back in 2013. Because Blogger begins deleting posts after so many years, I need to bring it forward. I think you might enjoy these words from Galen Pearl. I asked followers on my blog and twitter to let me know if they would like to do a guest post. Imagine my surprise when I received a reply from a grandmother that earned her black belt in taekwando at the age of sixty. I loved this story. The idea that she was willing to undertake the art so she could bond with a daughter touched my heart. It also hit me right between the eyes...I have no excuse.  If I start something today or don't start something today, in 5 years I will still be 75. Galen Pearl did it so why can't I. I hope you enjoy this post by Galen Pearl. The Nunchucks Nana Nunchucks Nana, by Galan Pearl When I tell people I have a black belt in taekwondo , they are, not surprisingly,  surprised!  I just turned 60 and I ’ m a grandmother twice over.  My hair is gray and m...

Playing by the rules makes life nice for everyone! In case you haven’t noticed, the rules begin very early in our lives. They are not necessarily the favorite part of our learning experience but they are very necessary if we are to live in a civilized society. I don’t know about you but that is where I want to live. There are a lot of things written about where we will live in our retirement. The list begins with a new house on a beach. Then there is co-housing, retirement communities, intellectual communities, RV resorts and the list goes on forever. But the thing we need to realize is that, no matter where we choose to live, we want that place to speak to our culture and our sense of civility. What goes on inside our homes and relationships will be the same no matter where we live. So when it comes to the rules, I am an expert of sorts. As my daughter points out frequently, I have seen a lot and therefore probably know too much. But there you have it…what is, is. My days are filled w...

iRobot Roomba 650 Vacuum Cleaning Robot I had a friend ask me once why we bought our car "new". Honestly, I had never thought about it before. We never buy "new" "new" cars. They are usually last years model or even the year before. For one reason or another they have not been bought so we do. They are new to us. But I will have to admit we do like new stuff. But I am not talking new as in this year's model, I am talking new as in only just invented. My husband just loves gadgets and his friends even buy him strange food for his birthday because they know he likes new and trendy. We had the first Apple computer, electric knife, blender, food processor...and the list goes on and on. I even have a portable inductions burner unit because my husband thought it would be cool and we had never seen one like it! So, you should not be surprised that we now are the proud owners of an iRobot vacuum. I can iron AND vacuum at the same time. This little gadget may b...

I love change a lot. Moving is not easy yet I dream of a new room to decorate or wall to take down. That is why I watch television shows. It is a vicarious way of experiencing what I enjoy. I talk to the tv..."no no no, don't do that or that is just beautiful." My other place of changing is here on this blog. I changed my header last week. I have had many over the years, each created using my Photoshop program. I get a little better each time I do it. I love that blogger saves them for me in Picasa. Here are some of the ones I have made. While I was at it I added back my Flickr to the sidebar. I don't know if anyone notices but I like it a lot.  Did you notice?  Related articles Santa Fe: Real as the Photographs? Well not quite! New blog header?...here are some possibilities!

It seems that as we age, we begin to see acts of kindness as a negative thing. Capability we see in ourselves makes us unappreciative of those people that reach out a hand or voice to help us in some way. I attended a grandchild's graduation from college at Oregon State University this last Saturday. A stadium designed to seat more than 45,000 spectators was more than half filled. 3600 of the 5000+ students that graduated on that day were in attendance. It was an awesome thing to see. Of course there were elderly grandparents in attendance, many walking with canes or walker. Wheelchair seating was available. And then there was my husband and myself. We both walk fast and usually know where we are going. But Reser Stadium is huge and the escalators are narrow. Everyone needed to stay on the more or we were going to be like the crowd in a Shanghai subway when someone stumbles...down and out. We had started up the escalator when I hesitated at the first landing and my husband went o...

It's Thursday, I need groceries. I think I will take a look at my Flickr account instead! :) Have a wonderful day! b+

A golfing partner and a good friend in Green Valley AZ. I was clothes shopping this morning and ran into a woman at JJills. As I dug through the sale racks, we began to visit about this and that. As it turned out, she and her husband live in a neighborhood my husband and I lived in for 10 years. She came here from Ohio to be near to children. Other than the fact that I am a native Oregonian, we could be lifestyle twins. She taught 2nd grade for 22 years and I taught in the elementary level off and on for over 30. We both live in the PDX area because we want to be close to our families. After we had talked for a while she revealed that she and her husband were going to vacation in Phoenix for 2 month this winter. They found a place in Sun City. It was the first time they had considered being snowbirds. Oh my gosh, is she in for a fun time or what! I could not contain my enthusiasm for her and the experience that is opening up for her. Although I am somewhat of an expert on the snowbird ...

:) You need to know two things about me: I think I am pretty good with technology. I am a bottom line kind of person. (I have heard that is a quality of a Scorpio...who knows but the stars may be to blame.) Today I discovered that things work out better if I just do what I do without listening to anyone else. I learned at my father's knee that one should never read the instruction unless all else fails! Skip to the bottom line and just do it he said. Strange but true. Here is what happened: My husband and I bought a second car yesterday and the salesman was trying to showing us all the cool stuff it would do. Finally he arrived at pairing our phones to the car. He had lessons so I figured he would know what to do. But no matter what he did, it just did not work. I was sure I could do it in a flash so I tried and failed. Then my husband tried and failed. Now I don't know what their problem was but I knew couldn't have possible been me! It had to be the car or the phone. All ...

In my world of 55+ RV resorts and a 55+ community here in Oregon I have come to realize that it does take a village to remain secure in our old age. In Arizona where we spend our winters, we have a gated entry and a fence that surrounds the property. We know people that need watching and are very aware of what is going on. For those people that can wander occasionally, the village provides some security. But we only have a handful that have remained when that time came. It is a vacation spot boomers mostly. But here in Oregon, the houses are set on a round street with some along the edge and some in the middle. A small gazebo is our public "park" of sorts. We do have some very elderly people in our neighborhood right now and several have left within the last year. We are a village where those of us that are younger watch out for those that are older. My neighbor knows about everyone and we depend on her for a detailed description of the ails and woes. I see it as a good thing...

Green bananas are a symbol that people use for how old they are. If they are still buying the green ones, they plan on living until the end of the week. If they only buy yellow one, their future does not seem that safe. I do still buy green bananas. But...I also know the clock is ticking. If something is not coming to fruition in the near future, I do stop and think about whether I want to do that or not. Backyard today! I suppose the my garden is the place that I am insistent upon getting the mature and ripe fruit. The clock is ticking and I am never going to see a seedling tree grow to maturity. I honestly want to get a full grown one. That applies to shrubs too. There cannot not be any waiting for ten years or more to enjoy what we have planted. When we moved into our current house the backyard was lined along the back with scraggly juniper shrubs. Before my husband could get control of the situation, my son and I managed to remove a couple. Then the rest remained in place and we wo...

2004 Ad   I think it was Verizon that aired the commercial using the catchphrase "Can you hear me now?" It was very popular back in the day.  I remember trying to call Tucson, AZ from a spot in southwest AZ called Why. I was standing outside so I could get a better signal. The traffic was bad at the corner and my reception was little to none. I needed to reserve a spot in a RV park for the night. The conversation was centered around "Can you hear me now?" as I moved from one location next to the road. We did finally find a connection and a place for the night but it was not easy. That was back in 2004. We are back to using that phrase here in my house once again. My husband has just gotten his new hearing devices and it includes a microphone that I wear clipped to my collar. I ask him several times a day if he can hear me. And he can. He can hear what I am saying clearly even when I wish he couldn't. No more mumbling my rants out loud! Hearing loss is one of the...

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