Posts Tagged With ‘ Rock Your Retirement ’

My Creativity Coop For the past six months, I have behaved like a mother hen. Who are and where is my flock, you might ask? It’s kind of presumptuous to even call these chicks my “flock”, but that is how I feel about them. I’ve had the privilege of facilitating an “Exercise Your Creativity” class at a fitness center in Winter Park, Florida. Fitness center is really an under-representation of this beautiful space which is dedicated to facilitating the mental and physical well-being of its surrounding community. The class is a creativity primer. My chicks (and they vary from session to... Continue Reading

Even though we made it to our RV resort in Yuma Arizona and immediately enjoyed all that our park and golf resort had to offer, we wanted to get to a remote area for an overnight in the desert.  About a week after we arrived and attached our luxury motorhome to full hook-ups, we loaded up our Jeep with tent camping basics with the intention of roughing it. We packed a cooler, pots and pans, sleeping bags and bedrolls, a cook stove, cots, rocking camp chairs, gas fire pit, and a tent.  After all, we’re retired, we don’t want to rough it too much by sleeping on the hard ground. We drove about... Continue Reading

Say what you will about social media such as Facebook and Instagram, but for retirees, it has been a portal for us to connect with old friends. Following a class reunion, way before the pandemic took hold and many of us retired, we shared our contact information or invited each other to be friends on Facebook. In the intervening 46 years since graduation for the Class of ‘76, it was really hard to connect or know where people landed.  But through the magic of having the ability to search for “friends finding friends”, we have been able to reconnect with people that we attended elementary... Continue Reading

Shortly after purchasing our brand new motorhome all of our plans for touring the Oregon and California coast on our way to Arizona quickly fell apart.  For 21 days we were in limbo as five different technicians worked to diagnose and fix the problem, namely that our motorhome wouldn’t start. Not even a click when we turned the key in the ignition. Never mind that it was the middle of winter in the Pacific Northwest, including ice and snow storms and relentless rain. All of our plans to start our snowbird adventure were suddenly canceled. What I learned during this time is that in retirement,... Continue Reading

Image via Unsplash Losing a loved one tends to be a traumatic, life-changing event. You’re likely to be overwhelmed by grief and pain. If you shared your home with them, that makes it harder still. You’re inundated with memories of them and your time together in every room and around every corner – all this while you try to somehow manage your day-to-day duties and chores. Sometimes the best option for your overall health and mental sanity is to move house and seek a fresh start elsewhere. While it probably won’t take away from your loss, it will, at the very least, help you to function... Continue Reading

Back in the 1980s, there was a thing called “Getting your colors done.” I never had an analysis formally completed but I’ve always thought with my dark hair and light pink skin I was a “Winter.” My favorite and most complimented colors were jewel tones, deep shades of blue, purple, and fuchsia and my signature color is black! My daughter asked for her birthday gift to be a color analysis and wanted me to join her.  We coupled this experience with a Mother-daughter getaway and I’m so glad we did. This was something we could do together, all while learning how to look our best in this... Continue Reading

When I ask my kids, “Do you want a “thing” or an “experience” for your birthday?” their answers these days are an experience.  We are finding that in the days of online shopping, we all have so many “things” that spending intentional time together seems to win out every time. In the past, my daughter and I would take a weekend or a night for an annual “Mother-daughter” getaway.  This started when she was around eight years old and we would go somewhere with her best friend and her mom. Whether it was to Canada to visit Whistler Village, Seaside, Oregon at the beach, or a play... Continue Reading

Last year, with the pandemic raging, hospitals overflowing, no vaccines available, and a lack of understanding of how this virus was spreading, we chose to follow the guidance and essentially cancel our holiday.  It felt really sad and bleak to be home just the two of us while many members of our extended family still gathered.  Not seeing our kids or grandkids in person had us resorting to communicating via a sad little video that we sent to the grandkids telling them how grateful we were for each of them.  At the end, we were both teary-eyed and prayed that 2021 would be better. This year... Continue Reading

A few days after purchasing our motorhome which is allowing us to start this new chapter of our retirement life, we realized that it would be really convenient to have a towing vehicle.  What we didn’t think about before we made this monumental purchasing decision is that my Ford Explorer can’t be flat towed. When we found out that my husband’s F-150 could be towed, but it would need significant modifications involving welding, we took a minute to think further about it. Some extensive research and talking with friends revealed that one of the best vehicles that can be safely towed behind... Continue Reading

After a summer of fun following my retirement earlier in the spring, the weather has changed suddenly and Fall arrived one rainy weekend in the Pacific Northwest at the end of September. It was so sudden it caught many of us off-guard, including my husband and me. With the cool, crisp days and leaves falling on our lawn, (just now starting to go from dead grass to lush green following a record hot and dry spring and summer,) we started revisiting our many conversations about winter plans. Many of our international, already-booked trips have been canceled, a few getting full refunds, some not. ... Continue Reading