Retire In Style Blog Too

...the sunset I posted on my Facebook account? I stepped out my backdoor yesterday evening at sunset and this is what I saw. See, I know there are people that disdain the city we spend our winter in and the RV resort snowbird lifestyle. It is not glitzy or even up scale. Tucson is not any of those things. But, when I look around me and what we see on a daily basis or talk to the people the pass by on their way to bocce ball, I know that if I didn't appreciate what we have I would be very ungrateful.  What you see here is two people walking their dog. It is chilly and it did frost last night. On  the right side of the picture are bocce ball courts. On the right I see park models where friends live. Palm trees line the streets that were cleaned last week. In the distance you see the Catalina Mountains in all their glory.  I have come to love this place. We are not a perfect fit but I suppose we are as close as we will ever be. We avoid politics, religion and (I) avoid gos...

I published this originally in 2009. My granddaughter Elena (the one with the earphones up her nose) was around 11 back then. She called this last week and wanted to see the story again. Here it is. Happy Thanksgiving 2016 Elena with her Uncle Larry I love my grandchildren...bless their peeked little heads! They make me laugh, they make me cry, they occasionally make me want to run and hide. But, in spite of the hiding part, they mostly make me laugh. I have a lot of teen aged grandchildren and one that is an "almost teenager". She is a great joy to me and hates it when I talk about her. So I will not mention her name...not today anyway. She has just gone to middle school where she hangs out with other middle school humans all day. She is not a baby any more she tells us and she thinks that being in middle school should prove that to us . I took her to ballet after school this last week and offered to meet her at the front door of the school because it was the third d...

I wrote this article back in 2012. Russell Kirsch is a hero of mine. He called me on the phone what day many years ago so I wrote about it. I will never forget that conversation. This is a follow up for that article. If you love Dilbert, you will understand why I loved the reappearance of Russell Kirsch in a article written for BoingBong . In case you don't know, Kirsch was the man that took the very first digital image and it was of his son. That was back in the 1950's. Kirsch loves a good laugh I think. That is why he says things like "I invented the computer"!  Not that the statement is untrue but just because those kind of statement do get your attention.  BoingBoing had a story the other day about a man that had an encounter with Mr. Kirsch in a coffee shop. The encounter started with Kirsch saying,  " That’s the problem with a lot of people”, ...“they don’t try to do stuff that’s never been done before, so they never do anything, but if they try to do it, t...

Yes, that is my ball. Yes that is the flag you see just on the other side of the trees. Yes there is a big hill on the other side leading to no man's land. The day is beautiful, the greens are lovely...there is nothing wrong with this golf course that a chain saw couldn't fix! b+

Life is good...it really is. In my little world of age mates that are for the most part very quiet about opinions, religion and all those issues imply, I am happy and above all healthy. As for normal, I really don't know what that is anymore. I have lost a sense of where I belong in this world. In this place many people take a park model, build an extra room on and close the blinds for the entire winter. Other, like my husband and myself, spend a great deal of time outdoors. We all come here for a different reason. I need light to stay alive and healthy. I open windows and blinds even when it is fairly warm. We often air condition the outdoors because of my needs. It is not ergonomically efficient or financial good. But I just don't care...I need what I need! Today in my normal day I started on a walk, stopped at a friend for a quick chat about dinner for friends tomorrow night, walked around a couple of blocks, stopped for an extended chat with a newly arrived friend. I stoppe...

Don't hurry me, I did know you are waiting....it will come soon. b+

My granddaughter interviewed me this morning. She live in Dubai, UAE. She is doing some research on growing old and it turns out I qualify to talk about that. That makes me smile...being qualified that is. It was a lot of fun to answer her well thought out questions because it turns out I am full of information and answers. Now it is your turn to smile. This is Maddie and her younger sister. She asked me questions like "What was your first thought when you found out you were pregnant?" That one required a little historical background with the answer. She asked about first dates and teen years and family stories and (best of all) what I remembered about her father when he was young like her. Her last question was about what wisdom I could pass on to her. I told her that she needs to see everything she does as a building block for what she will become. If she makes mistakes, atone for them and admit what she did. What is done normally cannot be undone and in truth the past does...

Being an American is a great privilege and even if I didn't choose the president we have, I will always choose my country. There you have it. We are leaving for a trip to Dubai in December and I know that this election will come up with people from around the world. Our Canadian friends have already had their say and I hate to admit it but I may pretend to be one of them when we travel. We were in Spain when G.W. Bush started the war in Iraq. It was not a pretty thing to see or feel. Being so hated and reviled by a foreign country takes it's toll. The Spanish people took to the streets in protest of Asner's throwing his lot in with Bush. At that time my oldest son and his wife were living in Saudi Arabia and we sent them home to experience a terrorist attack on their compound and school. So I know first hand that what our country does and says plays out for U.S. citizens around the globe. One of my youngest son's good high school friends is second generation Filipino. H...

It is Election Day, 2016 today. Hillary Clinton (Dem.) is running against Donald Trump (Rep.). I'm with Her. We shall see if I have chosen the right person. I certainly hope so. Because I am an educator, I am very much in tune with the concept of using a prime source. In case Election Day 2016 you are not aware, a prime source is defined as: In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary  source  (also called original  source  or evidence) is an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a recording, or other  source  of information that was created at the time under study. In the real world, I keep the concept in mind when I hear or read something that just doesn't seem right. Being raised during the 1950's I am well aware of brainwashing and how those people that do that sort of thing don't change everything in a piece of information. However, when the words are rearranged just slightly, the meaning changes markedly. I had a fr...

Now I find myself wishing for the election to be over. That is something I said I would never do. Wishing my life to pass more quickly seems foolish to me. Even when I was a very young woman with children living in a cold, drafty farmhouse down a dusty lane, I did not wish for even one day to pass faster than the others. My family worried for us and actually asked me if I was anxious to move on...didn't I wish that we were out of there? The answer was always a firm no . Life could be over soon even back then. I did not want to miss one single day. When times are hard or heartbreaking, it would be very easy to miss the beautiful sunset or the warm autumn air. I wish I had an app on my phone that reminded me to take note. Do you suppose there is one of those? I suppose not. As for the election in 2016, our life as we know it hangs in the balance. We will see if the American people are paying attention or if they aren't. I, for one, am with HER! b+

My Tucson Home It turns out that I have to exercise hard almost every day. Darn! I can tell you for certain that there really is nothing I like better than writing, having coffee in bed, reading and watching TV on Acorn. Yes indeed. Sunday might be my favorite day of the week. Or is that Sunday when you sit around and pretend to rest. But I don't go to church because I don't sit still that well. You can see where I am going with this...I am a split personality with big exercise issues. So, when my doctor told me I had to get up and move, I took it to heart and the very next day I got up in the morning, put on my tennis shoes and went for a walk. Since August I have walked almost every day. Now I am going to have a brand new problem...my clothes will not fit for very much longer. My wedding ring will have to be resized and my shoes are even looser on some days. So, when I say I have walked my bottom off, I am not kidding! I feel great and, because this has to be a lifelong habit...