What do you call a party with Ladybugs and Sidewalk Chalk?

The perfect summer evening gathering for grandchildren and their parents always includes the word party!  You can serve a boiled egg and call it a chicken party.  You are golden.  So I say "Grandpa and I are having a party...come on over!"  The evening instantly become magical.

Ladybug House...purchases at Saturday Market
How to Build a Ladybug Habitat on Squido

After the Ladybugs have been released into the home that
has been soaked in water.

Granddaughter playing with the Ladybugs.

Now I need sidewalk chalk (we already have a pair of 3-d glasses so any old colored chalk will work), Ladybugs and a party name! Maybe you have some ideas because I am plum out of ideas today.

Colored chalk and charcoal make the perfect
Ladybug Art!

Oh, and do you know where I can find some Ladybugs?  They seem to be very illusive and I somehow don't think they will come and live in my pretty little house unless I invite them specifically.  Maybe I should give a ladybug party!  Hmmmmmm!

b

Ageism: Will all the ignorami or ignoramuses stand up?

Always Postpone Meetings With
Time Wasting Morons: A Dilbert Book

Examples of IGNORAMUS

1. I can't believe they let an ignoramus like that run the company.
2. Only an ignoramus would be foiled by the building's security system

Do young people make you feel like an ignoramus now that you are older? And if they do, don't you wonder if they would have done that if you were 20 years younger? I really don't have an answer for why. Let me know if you do. All I know is ageism just ticks me off...it makes me want to find a few compassionate human cells and a petri dish and grow myself some new people that think people of my age are really smart! I got the idea from Dilbert!

I love the comic section of the newspaper. I always wonder how those guys come up with the perfect combination of words and images to make use laugh. Sunday Dilbert was a classic. It seems that Dilbert's boss wanted to have a brainstorming session with the employees. The pointy headed guy is so clueless that he generally sabotages a good plan, replaces it with a bad one and then proceeds to sell the bad idea using an evil cat or whatever that office devil is that occupies the corner of the desk.

The pointy headed boss guy really stepped in it this time. Does the creator of that comic hang out in your office? Or if you are retired, the place you used to work. If you were a boss, you know that bosses love brainstorming...it makes everyone feel useful, even the ignoramuses. Brainstorming is a wonderful concept in that it allows the free flow of ideas both bad (for the ignoramuses) and good. But the rule is, as the boss pointed out, there can be no niggling or giggling. They could not make those people they viewed as ignoramuses feel unworthy. Dilbert volunteered to go first suggesting a gene project or something of the kind to create a boss that was not an "ignoramus". It was the perfect combination of a word that makes you want to laugh, a diatribe that could get a person fired and the image of the pointy headed boss sitting stunned caught in his own web of rules. If someone had said "Will all the ignoramuses stand up?" would the boss be the only one in the room standing or would Dilbert have gotten up too?  After all he almost gave the boss permission to fire him!

I know when I worked, I did not like to feel like an ignoramus. Now that I am retired, I really object it. I am the boss of me and I will not give others permission to treat me badly. I liked the idea of being in charge in the classroom when I worked and maybe people did think I was not too bright. But now...nope, not going to let that happen anymore.

Just a thought!

b

Suggested links:  'Elderly' No More, NYT

Planning for snowbird season: Where do I go?

NOTE:  More information here.  If you mention my name (Earl/Barbara Torris) you will get $100 off on the first month's rent!  (A repost for your information)

You know that little cabin in the woods, at the lake or even near the beach that you dreamed about when you were young. It was the one you wanted to share with your growing children on the weekend or even just in the summer or the winter. You didn't spend much on it if you actually bought it and eventually you sold it or turned it over to someone else in the family. Now you have retired and you dream of spending the winter in a warmer climate but when you go online and begin to look at renting you know that the expense will be just too much for your budget. Where is that little cabin, the easy to own not permanent but just what you want for the next few years?  Believe it or not, in Tucson, AZ there is an equivalent that may be just what you are looking for.

   
Here in the desert where the temperature are very mild in winter, a group of seniors gather in "doll houses" perfect for two, three, or even up to six month of the year. We play golf, swim in the pool, dance several times a month, play cards, create in workshops that meet our needs and live inexpensively.  For many of us this is our little cabin in the woods!


ABOUT TUCSON, AZ
We have chosen to settle down in a Tucson, AZ. RV resort for the winters. Rincon Country East RV Resort is located on the the eastern edge of Tuscon along the Pantano Wash. We are very near to Davis Monthan Air Force Base and the Saguaro National Park East. Views of mountains to the East and North remain largely unobstructed.  But the view to the west is the most important.  Anyone who has lived or visited Tucson will tell you the sunsets are the most spectacular you will ever see.
   
Tucson is so beautiful. Even though it has a population nearing 1 million in the metro area, "The Old Pueblos" has managed to retain a very small town feel. Outdoor activities are abundant. People in this resort hike and bicycle into the Saguaro National Park. Golfing is so close by that one is tempted to walk to the course and shopping either at the base of the Catalina Mountain or in the art community located in Tubac, AZ provide some great opportunities to find just that perfect piece for your collection.  Fresh vegetables from nearby Mexico and California are abundant and relatively inexpensive. In fact, we find the cost of living to be very affordable.

Sunrise, Tucson, AZ, Rincon
Country East RV Resort

There are two types of living arrangements in this resort.  You can come with your RV and rent a space or you can buy/rent a Park Model.  These very small houses are a little over 350 square feet.  That does not include an Arizona room that can be a simple glassed in porch or an additional living space.  A large percentage of the spaces here are filled with these "park models" and many are for sale or rent.

Birthday Celebration in the Arizona Room

Park model kitchen lit for the evening

.

If you are looking for the perfect location to spend your winters, the ones you have been dreaming about, come on down and join us. You will find the retirement lifestyle you have been dreaming about. 


WHO DO I CALL?
Rincon Country East:
8989 E. Escalante Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85730

Toll Free 888·401·8989
Phone 520·886·8431 

Come on down.  We'll keep the cactus lit for you!

b

Link: Related articles by Zemanta

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When Bloggers Meet: Taking a Risk

Welcome to our beautiful valley!

I had a wonderful experience this last week: a "leap of faith" turn into a friendship.  It just doesn't get much better than that. Meeting new people as we grow older can be hard.  We find that, when we begin to move outside our "work life" comfort zone, we don't have that instant commonality of experience.

Through some serendipitous unlikelihood I was invited to share six days of my life with two other fellow bloggers. These are people I had never been acquainted with before. I only knew them online. It was a risk to say the least.  When a fellow Portland blogger, Galen Pearl, suggested that we should invite fellow blogger Bob Lowry and his wife to come and visit our beautiful city, I didn't hesitate at all. I knew Bob from his blog and it is funny how reading another person's words almost daily will make you feel as though you know them.  I knew Galen from her blog and her personal description in the sidebar. It wasn't until my husband and I were dropping Bob and his wife to pick up a car rental at the end of their visit that I realized what a chance we had all taken. Bob traveled from Phoenix on a plane and left his life in our hands.  Galen and I visited over tea and came up with an itinerary  and the rest is history. I am still amazed.

So the meeting new friends risk has been on my mind for the last few days. What was it about the three of us that made this work? Galen is a world traveler, a college professor in a past life. She is smart, articulate and well loved by her circle of commenting friends. Bob is a retired radio consultant in private business for many years. He has built his blog in just a few years and is very well known and successful at this venture. His wife is an educated graphic artist. My husband is a retired school administrator and I am a blog writer that spent the last few years of her working career teaching kindergartners.  We are very different yet I think the fact that we took the gamble on friendship and the risk paid off for us tells something about us. Taking a risk is just part of our personalities. Maybe that is why we found so much to talk about. We are three very lucky people.

b

Aging: The Gardening Stage

Add caption

When we first retired, we wanted to be rid of our garden.  I think we saw it as the link to years of work and getting by financially.   The vegetables carried us through the summer, were sold to fruit stands for extra pocket change and any extra produce was canned for the coming cold winter.  It was a lot of work but a necessity at the time.

Retirement gave us the opportunity to fly away from the responsibility that had kept food on the table and clothes on our back.  Our jobs had provided our homes, educated our children and provided a nest egg for our retirement.  So when freedom came around, we simply did what we wanted to do when we wanted to do.  We did not need to worry about the garden anymore.

The years have gone by and it has been 15 years since we retired.  We have grown and matured as older people.  The process took us through downsizing and RV travel born of restlessness.  We are growing older.  Now we find that we have arrived at that part of our life when we want to garden again.  We want to enjoy the beauty of the flowers, watch them grow and mature.  We want to share its bounty with our family and friends.  The change in us is not as much about how we look or even our health anymore.  It is about our spiritual center.  Contentment and peace is ours.  Our garden is doing just fine.

Have a wonderful day.

b

*If you click on the google link or beam the blog up on twitter it helps!  If you are not a follower, please feel free to become one.  I love that you are here.  Thank you.

Born on the Fourth of July!

Our family has been together for so long now that we all finish each other's sentences.  My daughter-in-law teases me about keeping my grandchildren warm.  I would have them wrapped in a parka when the temperature falls below 80.  She know that I am only doing what I do out of love.  My children know what I think before I think it.  I like that a lot.

We gathered today to celebrate the July 4 with the family.  We ate well and visited over birthday cake for my youngest son.  I love July 4.  But it occurred to me that my children and grandchildren didn't realize why I alway made such a big deal out of the day. I needed to remind everyone why July 4 is such a special day in our family.  When I asked them why, I got a variety of answers...the youngest said because we put off fireworks.  My youngest son's birthday is tomorrow so that makes our celebration very special and the gathering of family always makes our holidays memorable.  One of his children thought that was why the day was so special.

But then I told them how the "family", the ancestors that loved the grandchildren and children, made this day important too.  For the grandchildren I told the story about their great-great-great-grandmother that came from Sweden in the late 19th century.  She married a Swedish man here in the United States and had four children, one of which was my grandmother. The great-great-great-grandmother to my grandchildren was born on July 4.

Each year the family would gather at Great-Great-Great-Grandma Seaburg's house to celebrate her birthday.  In was on that day that my mother and father had their first date.

So July 4 takes on new meaning for us.  We celebrate a beautiful country, a loving family, a little romance and birthdays both very old and very new!

Be well.

Barbara

Vacation OREGON or How to be a Summer SNOWBIRD!

Image via Wikipedia Rogue River Oregon     Do you live in the desert and dream of cooler weather in the summer?  Maybe you need to think about being a DesertBird and fly north to Oregon to escape the hot.  I love my lifestyle that includes southern Arizona in the winters and Oregon in the summer.  I vacation year around.

Is it possible to do this affordably?
     If the snowbird lifestyle is so perfect, then surely there are retirees from Arizona or Palm Springs that claim one of those places as their residence and travel to spend the hottest part of the summer in the northwest.  The drill is very much the same as far as closing the house for several months.   The trick is finding a place in Oregon, for example, that is inexpensive.  While Arizona is a place that has catered to the inexpensive snowbird lifestyle for many years, I am finding that doing this inexpensively in Oregon is a little harder.
     There are a lot of extended stay hotels in the area.  Out here in Hillsboro where we live the always on the move technology sector comes and goes frequently. BizStay had quite a list for "business" rentals that might work for a person that wanted to spend the summer in the area.  Under a heading for furnished I found the Towne Place Suites located across the street from where we live.  By searching for extended stay motels on google you will find everything from a Howard Johnsons at the airport for around $50 a night to very expensive residence hotels.  You can take your pick.
     I found an RV Park on the east side of Portland that welcomes Park Models.  Portland Fairview RV Park is one of the few in the Portland Metro area that welcomes these small homes. If you were to own one of the small park model doll houses you could park it here and winterize it when you went back to your house in the Southwest. Rent at this park is about $450 a month.  This is a very affordable way to own two homes.
     If you like to fish or hunt, the Ontario Oregon area will make you happy.  Independent motel owners are anxious to serve their seasonal clients. There is even a Pheasant Valley Hunting Ranch outside Vale just west of Ontario.  Vale is home to the Bates Motel.  This old motel was owned by friends of our many years ago.  They got a lot of ribbing because the name connection to the horror movie.  I see it is still in operation after all these years.  I am sure weekly rent is very inexpensive.
     Along the southern Oregon coast you will find a small community named Gold Beach. The seaside village is located on the Rogue River of Zane Grey fame.  Here you will find that small town feel plus great fishing in the river and on the ocean. The Rogue also has a mail boat that travels up and down the wilderness river in the summer.  If you so desire you can stay in a resort up the river for a night or two. Fly fishing is heavenly I hear! The Pacific Ocean waters  lurks in the 40 degree range and the air always has a chill to it.  That can be a welcome relief from the heat of summer.

The Patio at McKenzie River Bridge

     There is a little RV park on the McKenzie River  east of Eugene called The Patio. It has a Blue River address. The location is just mystical.  The park is very old and was build during the depression I think.  Old patios and small storage areas give the place a feel all it's own.  When we stayed there the spaces were small but they may have upgraded it lately.  It is worth checking into.

On the upscale side!
     There are several very desirable resort locations here in Oregon.  Along the Columbia River, Hood River is home to the wind surfing community and has that trendy resort feel. Rentals are plentiful but finding the affordable one may be a trick. I would suggest that you look in a neighboring community for a rental and then explore the area from there.
     In southern Oregon, Ashland is home to a Shakespearean Festival each summer.  Rentals provide locals with a steady source of income. Ashland is just east of the Oregon Coast highway where Gold Beach is located. Ashland can be hot in the summer and the coast is not.
     In the very center of the state the Bend area is the crown jewel of them all. Surrounding communities include Redmond, Prineville, Sisters and Madris. This region is the outdoor vacationer's dream.  Golfing, hiking, lake fishing, skiing, white water rafting and even mountain climbing draws people from around the world.  Again, rentals are easy to find. Look in RV parks for park model rentals.  You may find something more affordable there. Golfing, renting or eating in Bend is expensive by my standards.  But for a short stay it is wonderful.  Resorts like Black Butte Ranch, Sunriver, Eagle Crest and Seventh Mountain Inn are only a few of the choices.  Check Central Oregon resorts on google or write to the Bend Chamber of Commerce for more information.
     There is an RV Resort east of Portland in Welches called Mt. Hood RV Resort that has vacation cottages available.  Mt. Hood is so spectacular up close and personal and looms over this location.  If you love the outdoors this may be a place you would want to spend part of your summer.  If you are a fisherman this is a wonderful place to be.  Just be aware that many of the streams are catch and release because of migrating salmon.
     The last place I want to talk about is the McKenzie River area east of Eugene.  We have stayed over night in the cabins at the McKenzie River Bridge before they were renovated.  If the new cabins capture any of the charm of the old river's edge cabins, you are in for a treat.  When we stayed there we did not have TV, radio or wi-fi.  We were left alone with our thoughts and a deck of cards.  Now I am sure they have all the good stuff and the sound of that beautiful river too.  The Tokatee Golf Course is very close by.  Not only is it a beautiful course but it offers breath taking views of the backside of the Three Sisters Mountains.  The covered bridges, fishing, hiking and whitewater rafting are just bonuses.
     There are lots of rentals in the area but be careful to check the comments on them.  Some are nothing but dumps.

My Neighborhood! 
     Right here in my neighborhood of Orenco Station in Hillsboro the homes are built with a rental in the rear.  They are called "mother-in-law" apartments and include a kitchen, living area, bedroom and bath.  If you check with a rental agency here in Hillsboro like Rental Homes Plus they can help you get a lead on a place you can call your own.  We are selling our condo in this neighborhood because we are aging and need to live on one level.  I love this location because is it close to restaurants, neighborhood gourmet grocery and a short walk to mass transit.  I am thinking that if I were going to vacation every summer here in the Portland Metro area, I would look at buying instead of renting.  I think it might be more cost effective.  Prices are at rock bottom right now.  (sigh!)

Conclusion
      We don't hear much about Desert SnowBirds traveling north in the summer.  I know a few that bring a motor home but making one place summer destination every year is uncommon.  It is just a thought and I wanted you to think about the possibilities.

b
   

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