Monday, October 1, 2018

Monday Morning

So we've reached that time where the nights can go down to forty, but the days range between 67 degrees and 84 degrees (generally) for the next week. Which means it's nice enough to open the doors during the day, but that I am kicking up the heat first thing in the morning and letting it run at seventy or so until close to noon.

A few Monday morning thoughts and shares:

1. On Saturday night, we went to the Fresh Fish company for my official birthday dinner. My brother was treating officially, but he's recently done some tech design type work for my sister in law's firm (a "senior/elder  law" firm) so the managing partner treated us to dinner. On top of that, this restaurant gives you the percentage of your birthday off the main entree-which these days is a fairly high number. I have yet to graduate to being one of those people who photographs her food in restaurants. We shared appetizers of calamari, mussels and fresh oysters, had a soup course of lobster bisque and then I had a very large lobster tail with the sides. My sister-in-law had baked, and when we retired to their house for gifts and cake I found out that she had made........wait for it...........lemon meringue cake.  They know me well (I love all lemon and lime and my second favorite dessert is custard by any other name, be it flan, creme brulee or creme caramel). A lovely time was had by all. 



2. On the gift front, I received many lovely gifts, including the flamingos shown in the box on my Instagram feed on the side. I have been talking about these for at least a year, and they now reside in the back yard near my swing and pergola, where I can see them at all times! Those pictures coming soon.

3. I've mentioned a couple times lately that I have not been "called" by quilting as much as I used to be. I still enjoy the process and sewing, but am enjoying spending time making table runners, purses and other smaller things. Unless someone asks for something specific, I am finishing my current finished quilt tops (which run about five) at my leisure, and moving on to other things-which include art, sewing with my new felted wool and other interests. I pulled some fabric and quilt tops that I was  not going to get done and am donating them to a charity organization. A friend mentioned that perhaps I was finding sewing, small art projects and other things like jewelry making more portable and social, and she may be right. It also may be that my attention span is getting worse and that I like faster results. Who knows.  

I saw these on etsy.com this morning and thought to myself "I can do that!". We'll see


4.  I recently read this article about obesity. I encourage everyone who is not a perfect weight to read this, or who has a family member or friend who is not perfect, even if they are not obese. This really hits home to me as I shove weight loss aside and concentrate on exercise, weight training and healthy eating rather than calories and carbs. And do read the paragraphs about how "overweight" and "unhealthy" are not exact correlations, your doctor aside.

5. It occurs to me that if the current candidate for higher court had just said something like "I was young and stupid in college, and I partied and I drank. I don't remember this incident but I apologize to Ms Ford for any pain I caused her", or the equivalent, he would probably be sitting on the bench now. His mistake, no matter what happens now.

6. It also occurs to me that the very next time I hear a person say "Boys will be boys", or "This is what boys do", I'm going to reach through the television and slap them. Of course, these are the same people who ask "Why didn't she say something before this?". Because of what's happening to her, that's why. Does anyone really think a woman would put herself and her family through the last couple of weeks if nothing had happened?

7. Recently I've read three or four articles or blogs on the time vs money equation in retirement. It's no secret that I am on the "time" side for the most part. I choose not to earn money in general and enjoy my free time. This is probably deserving of a post of it's own, but I would rather have some days stretching ahead of me to do exactly as I please than jump into a side hustle as such. Admittedly, at $33000 annually, I am above the poverty level that many seniors, especially single seniors find themselves in. And also admittedly, I am a creative coupon queen who is willing to explore a variety of avenues to do what I like (said as I prepare to volunteer for a few hours at the Denver Center of the Performing Arts in order to afford great seats for the new version of Oklahoma that's coming around. That said, I know many a person who has a side hustle or works at their old jobs for like a day a week, and it works for them.

To be fair though, the time vs money conundrum isn't just about the earnings portion, it's about spending vs spending time making, as well as doing without. And those decisions are personal. More on this one next week.

8. I've begun working on my big project a book roughly titled, "Homemade Gifts That Anyone can Make and Anyone Would Be Happy To Receive". Obviously this title needs work. My son suggests something along the lines of Homemade gifts for the non crafty. Put simply, these are highly impressive, easy to make, not expensive homemade gifts that are both useful and that most folks can make with little help. As opposed to gifts that look like they came from a school craft project and sit on a desk for lack of a better place, lol. I'll be sharing many of those here, and looking for testers in the long run.

This afternoon, the Rockies play the Dodgers for the division in basebal and the poor Broncos play the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. Hopefully at least one of the two teams wins. Said as I go off to get my "to-dos" done so I can spend time writing and knitting in front of the tube this afternoon.

15 comments:

  1. What a fun birthday dinner you had! I look forward to hearing more about your book and thoughts on time vs money in retirement.

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    1. Thank you! Both those will be separate PST discussions once I get my duff in gear.

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  2. I agree with you on the time vs money. I’ve debated about returning to part time work at times but honestly, I prefer to have my days open. I suppose if I were in dire need I would but otherwise no.

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    1. I suspect I'm too darned lazy, hence my desire to diy when I can and save my limited cash for travel.and the like.

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  3. sounds like a lovely birthday. Curious when it was?? Mine was yesterday. All of 66 years old. Yikes that is the weirdest thing!!! oh well, it was lovely. I had breakfast made but alas, no lemon meringue pie. I had a brownie!!

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    1. Mine was the 26th, it seems like many of my womens group had September birthdays!

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  4. well I'll give you my address for those wine ornaments you're making :-)

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  5. I’m with you on the time vs money thing.Worked soooo many hours over my lifetime.DONE! I love my free time and will gladly curb my spending to protect it,although we are so frugal in general it’s not much of an issue. My husband on the other hand missed his work and is working two days a week from a comfy home office, just enough for him,he says. We are also blessed to have enough retirement dollars for tickets to local theater,etc. and also to travel some. But we travel less than we thought we would ,much of it local. CAN’T WAIT for your book on homemade gifts,Barb!!!! And happy belated birthday—that cake looks like a work of edible art!!!

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  6. P.S. I have a retired friend who took on a ONE DAY A WEEK job and wow, has that crimped her style.. everything must be planned around that commitment! No more spontaneous travels..

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  7. I absolutely agree with you on point 5 about Kavanaugh. George Bush so eloquently said “when I was young and stupid, I was young and stupid.” That seems acceptable. Unfortunately Kavanaugh’s behavior at the hearing looked like a spoiled frat boy. He certainly displayed a bad side of his character and made matters worse.

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  8. Whoa, I love those wine glasses that you found on Pinterest!! They look easy to do, but very classy.

    God bless.

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  9. I totally agree with you on #5 and what Meg added to it in her comment.

    I am lusting after that cake! I hope it tasted as good as it looked.

    Your felt wine glasses reminded me of the felt Christmas stockings my mom made for me and my brother. She cut out shapes of holiday related things and letters to spell out our names and sewed them on the front.

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  10. I worked only parrtime for a number of years and appreciated having that extra time for myself. We each find what works best for us and sounds like you’ve figured out your priorities. I think it’s easy to become over-committed when we have lots of interests, especially when I became older. I discovered my body required different pacing — just didn’t accomplish as much in short time — taking longer.

    Lemon pie was my husband’s favorite, too. Glad you had such a delightful BD dinner and wish you many more years of them.

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  11. Your birthday dinner sounded wonderful and tasty! I thought I was retired, but I found I still need the structure of work. My full time job is only 6 hrs a day, working with elementary kids, basically doing what the teacher wants me to do. If something every happened to my husband, I would be able to secure benefits as I am not yet old enough for medicare. I am adding to my State Retirement benefits as well. The pension is not that much, but every little bit helps. I like the school schedule too.

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