Retire In Style Blog Too

Do you think this is going to work? Egypt:  I suppose you noticed on the news today...a gigantic ship is stuck in the Suez Canal, just plain stuck tight in-the-mud. My husband read me the article this morning. Since the Suez Canal is a world away, I could listen without feeling much of anything.  However, as with everything in our world today, sooner or later what happened will effect us. The world just keeps on shrinking and we are all so closely connected. No single human being is getting blamed...yet. It turns out the wind did a number on the ship that is as long as the Empire State Building is tall. My husband comment was, "I suppose sometimes a ship of that kind can actually be too big." Yes, I think he might be right. But the thing that made me laugh was the picture of a lonely heavy equipment scoop moving earth beside that huge monolith of steel sitting stuck in the mud. All I could think was that this is the ultimate "can an ant move a rubber tree plant?" e...

Many, many times I have written about growing old with a positive attitude. I am beginning to wonder if I truly understood what that looked like in real life. I turned 79 on my last birthday but this is not really about me. Those people around me are a little older and a little younger in their age. But this is not about that either. I have often talked about a study group in San Diego that focused on cohorts...age mates I suppose. They were all women. But more importantly, they were not well at all. But in spite of aches and pains, these women remained positive. I thought, great, at least we will not be grumpy or angry. That is good I think. My friends was celebrating 100 years of Life at a party. She played 18 holes of Golf with lady’s club. They have special rules for her. But what I did not realize is that as people grow older they miss what they cannot do anymore. Finding a replacement for a lifelong love of reading or golfing or even mowing the lawn is not easy. Each person misse...

Living Room Honestly, after all these years I feel like a native here in Tucson while I know I am a native Oregonian.  Oregon is full of family and a neighborhood that is close and supportive. Arizona winters are all about another set of friends, golf and restoring old houses. (We are only on our 2nd house so that is something new. We live in them so the restoration fills our days.) When we're here, we miss there and when we're there, we miss here.. The home we own in Arizona is bigger (4 bedrooms) than the one we own in Oregon for a reason. Now we can actually have family visit and everyone can have their own space. They live near us in Oregon. It is turning out to be perfect. Our home is located on the 5th green at a golf course called Rolling Hills. It is a beautiful Santa Fe style home that is 50 years old. We are cleaning up the yard and the interior. We still need to replace bathroom sinks but they function. It is not perfect but it works beautifully. Family Room So the q...