Retire In Style Blog Too

This blog post came to my attention today. I found the printed letter on my desk and revisited my thoughts. Harry S. Truman was a straight forward plain spoken man. I heard him speak from the rear of a train on the campaign trail. Even though Memorial Day has past, I wanted to share this one more time.  May 2009 Today a fellow blogger wrote a post from her home in Provence. It was about the fields of poppies that are in bloom. Corey Amaro from  Tongue in Cheek  told about traditions in France, back road drives and the beauty of late Spring. I was reminded about a visit my husband and I made to the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri many years ago where a single faded poppy caught my eye. Harry Truman served in WWI when he was a young man. He was courting his wife, Bess, at that time and he sent her a poppy he had picked in a place that was once a medieval country in northern France and southern Belgian called Flanders. The flower had been pressed in the lea...

I drive a cute little Mini Cooper Sport when I am at home in Oregon. It is a fun little car that can be a handful if you put it in the "sport" mode. I don't do that. Mine is all black and not a convertible and a four door but other than that it is just like these. :) Needless to say I am careful. It is not safe even if everything works out, so taking chances increases the chances for dents and bruises. No one, especially me, wants that to happen. Part of being careful is being nice to people on the road. I will wait for you to go across the street or to pull into my lane. Most of the time that is a good thing. Sometimes though, it just confuses people. They really don't know what to do when I wave them through or let them take their turn first at a four way stop. People in Oregon don't honk their horns or flip you off (usually). But they do wonder what the woman in a tiny car is doing. Yesterday I was driving with my daughter in the car with me. I stopped at the i...

We take lots of selfies but don't really know what we are doing! My husband has gone ahead to Tucson and will signing papers for our townhouse. I am in Oregon in our home in Hillsboro. We have not spent any length apart for almost 7 years. I have gotten used to having him with me. This summer he has not golfed with the men so we have spent everyday, all day together. We finish each other sentences, bicker over whether we should leave the umbrella up or down in the rain and get in each other's way. But we love to spend time together. Honestly, I miss my husband when he is out of my sight! Is this all a good thing? Should a wife be than dependent on her husband? Won't that make it harder for one or the other of us when we are left along? Well, for as long as it lasts I am not going to question my joy. Marriage is still fun even after almost 57 years. A day in the life of a single retiree must be very lonely I think. When I am by myself, I gain new respect for people who are l...

 If spouses/partners don't compromise a little, they may miss their chance at happiness. People do die you know...especially when they reach retirement age! A friend of mine had a son that said that he was NEVER getting married...it required too many compromises and he was not willing to do that. I am not an expert on anything but life. I've been married 57 (almost) years but what do I know? I am only a retired educator living the life day after day after day. Tom Sighting wrote an article that appeared in US News and World report a while back that caught my interest. 5 Ways to be Happier When You Retire  set forth some very good common sense ways to make your retirement what you want it to be. I think about that sort of thing. Making each day count is important. My husband and I have been retired for over 20 years so we have worked through the reality of retirement and now we are pursuing those 5 ways to be Happy for ourselves. But, it wasn't until we have learned to co...

I write about retirement, travel, books and family with some blogging advice and thoughts about current events thrown in. I have never followed the big piece of advice given by all the experts. "Stick to one subject they say." I DO  NOT  STICK TO ONE SUBJECT! It seems to be working.  It is a good day for me...really, in spite of the title of this blog post. I have been recognized by a website promoting retirement in Costa Rica. The award was for being one of the  Top International Retirement Blogs in 2017.   I thought that it was not who chose the list though. I was impressed at the company I am keeping in retirement blogging these days. That is good. Retirement Blogs 2017 ( welovecostarica.com ) And the really good part is, I am not nearly done yet. I don't even know if I ever will be. One day I suppose I will be finished writing. When I am, I may let you know and I may not. I may not even know I have stopped myself ! The door will remain open. As I look back, ...

Ok, as long as you're here, we may as well talk. No, I didn't do that. What I did was give people a reason to stop by. If I use a swear word, or a inappropriate bodily function in the title, I always get attention. Humans just can't resist! Isn't it interesting that we breath deeply, very deeply when we smell a foul odor or that we cannot take our eyes off a disaster of any short. A car wreck on the other side of the meridian on a freeway will back traffic up for miles in the traffic going the opposite direction. I read a post by Ellen Dolgen on her blog, Menopause Mondays , the other day. It was called I Pooped My Pants because   she really did p**** her pants. I laughed until I cried. Ellen is one very funny writer. But I have to admit I did not go to the post because I know her or even because she is always so funny. I clicked on her post because well...she pooped her pants. I, as a human being, could not resist. Who knows, "poop" may be a very important ke...

Did you see the Facebook post by the People for Bernie Sander's?   Doesn't it feel like Trump denied climate change and   the climate said, "Hold my beer and watch this!" I wasn't going to post this particular piece on climate change but after seeing "Hold my beer and watch this!", I knew I had to get this off my chest. You can comment and get it off your chest too. Then we can all wait. It is sad. Images from Oregon Live . Smoke and ash filled the area in the PDX metro area. Image from Oregon Live . The fire jumped the Columbia and is now burning on the Washington side too. Here in the Portland metro area we could not breath the air this week. A teen dropped firecrackers over a cliff in the Columbia George and now both sides of the Columbia River are on fire. People have been evacuated from their homes. Most of the area affected is in the Columbia Gorge wilderness area or impossible to build on so only 2 homes have been lost. It has been a record hot s...

Once a year since my children began school I have gone school shopping. That has been almost 50 years of a wonderful new beginnings. When my children were small we bought erasers, a large box of crayons and underwear. Now I am not responsible for school supplies...I am responsible for bringing joy. It is so much fun...not easy...but fun. I am a grandmother now. Brayden at age 7. Yesterday was my young grandson's day to be taken out for a day with Grandma. They are 9 and 7. We wandered through Macy's and Target. We bought t-shirts (a huge success) and one grandson convinced me to buy a sweat shirt with a Five Nights at Freddie's design. It took a bit of negotiation on his part but we got the job done. The youngest just watches with a puzzled look on his face and asks for nothing. I have to encourage him to tell me what he wants. The youngest walked away with 3 t-shirts and the oldest with 2 t-shirts and a sweat shirt. The youngest did ask if we could visit the Pokemon in the...