Epiphany

Hello, Because epiphany started yesterday, we took down the Christmas decorations today. It is nice to have more space in our house. That is more space in all room except the office which seemed to gather some extra things. We decided that we did not need all of the things we had been storing. Things that we brought home from Slovakia. We still have quite a few mementos, but not some much of the lesser known, we can’t remember why we happen to have them. We did find some photos. I was amazed at how dark my hair was. Gray is now the dominate color. We also managed to collect quite a few Christmas things that we no longer want to keep. The goal is to store them until about October when we can donate them to a thrift store. Can either of us remember that plan in time to get it done? It will be nice not to have so much extra stuff in the house. Perhaps, I am thinking about moving in the future. It is at moving time that we have been able to eliminate things. Especially if it is something that we have not really looked at in ten years, the value to us goes down. Some of the books were gone from the little free library, so I took out three more. That is a changing population, just as it should be. Leroy has not felt well this afternoon, both head and stomach. I hope he is feeling better now, at least I have not heard any complaining for a while. That is a good sign. Paula

Learned something

Hello, When I updated to the new windows platform, I could no longer see the icons on the desk top. Today there was a successful search for direction to change that status. I also changed my background photo. It is amazing to me how comfortable other people are with all of this technology. Somedays it seems like a gargantuan task to manage some of it. It is like buried treasure, out of sight, but around here somewhere if I just look in the right spot. The car licenses are paid for another year. It is nice to have a few tasks finished. Leroy tackled that one on line. It is an amazing thing what can now be accomplished from our home computer. Our grandchildren will never know that sense of amazement about this task, but I suppose there can be many other changes in the future that they will remember as being different in the old days. Leroy is using his tablet to read. I thought he was going to the library, but he downloads a book and then when he has the time to go, he wants to finish the book he has in hand. I am not ready to start reading much on the tablet. I like the feel of the book in my hands. Leroy is declared healthy with his home health visit. Paula

Mystery Question

Hello, Do birds space themselves so they do not poop on another bird sitting on a lower branch? I looked out this afternoon and saw a large flock of birds landing in the neighbor’s tree. I figured it would be a good idea to stay away from this tree. Then I started wondering about the birds themselves since they often travel in rather large close-knit groups, surely they would not like to have poop land on them. I did dust one room in the house, don’t want to over due it. I also did a little more catching up on the financial records. So, the day was not a total sit around and read a book. I managed to finish reading the American Sirens. It was an informative book. Happy that I read it. My downstairs friend came up for a nice afternoon visit. That helps to feed my soul to have some people contact. I took a short walk in the cold wind so I have at least 5000 steps. Yesterday I did not accumulate that many. We are going to watch a mystery on TV. Perhaps I can remember to get some more steps while watching. That can be a quick way to get more action. I did 20 minutes of yoga this morning. This is my first morning of not going with a group. Paula

Slippery Today

Hello, Leroy called shortly after he left to let me know that it was very slippery on our deck. Not sure how it was driving, but there were surely slippery spots. He also said he had a terrible time walking across the church parking lot after the early morning bible study. I am home. I did not have to be anywhere so it is a good time to be here. Generally, I did not work on Wednesday so I would not have driven there anyway. Emptying the compost and putting a letter in the mail box, took some concentration. With my phone in my pocket, I felt that I could call for help if needed. Weightlifting is done. It is a very light weight, but I do not want to strain or sprain anything. In time I will build that up. I am trying very hard to make it slow so it works muscles rather than harness kinetic energy. I did work on our financial accounts a little bit otherwise I have not had a need that is pressing. There are some cleaning chores to be done, but it seems to me they can wait for another day. Will they ever get done? I will also spend some time cooking for supper since we have a rather cleaned out refrigerator. Paula

First Day of Retirement

Hello, Because the library was closed yesterday, it does not count as my first day of retirement. I got up knowing I did not have to rush to pack a lunch or rush out of the house to get to the library in time for tai chi. I volunteered to start the zoom account from my home. That did not go as smoothy as anticipated. Because I was on a different computer it wanted to sent a verification code to my boss’s email. I texted her and got no response. Then I texted a coworker who has been going to the library early to get some writing done. She also did not respond. Then because it was fifteen minutes before the class was to start, I called my boss. She answered, but sounded terrible. She had a bad cold, but said, “I will be there in a few minutes.” She cannot access her email at home. I would try the other worker. Calling her worked. It took some doing to have her to sign on my work computer, get the meeting going and make me the host. Next week we will be more prepared. I washed two loads of clothes, went to the church to drop off some things, went to the library, then back to the church to pick up three poinsettias that were beautiful, but in need of a home. Next on my list was to call my pension office, got put on hold, and finally learned that they will send me a form which my employer must fill out. Guess I will be back in the library soon. It seems I should have taken care of this before. Somehow, I am not so fast on the thinking of what needs to be done. Perhaps, it is because I have never retired before. Paula

Things to Do

Hello, I did lift weights this morning and do some other moves. Tomorrow is the regular day for tai chi. I should be able to get that done as well as walking both of these days. I am going to try to track exercise on my fitness device. Leroy has a dentist appointment this morning. Since he is close to the grocery store, he will go there after his exam. Hopefully he can find his was around that other side of town. We did talk about the route before he left so it should be good. I commented, “I hope you can find your way home.” To which he replied, “I can find my way home.” He did indeed find his way home as well as to the grocery store. We are going to have a zoom call with our traveling friends to discuss our next trip. These people help us to figure out what would be good to see and experience. Sometimes it is hard to believe that we did so much of this on our own. I personally enjoy having other plan the trip and I just sit back and let it all flow. Then I started thinking about the loss of my income for work this year. Next year Leroy’s income will stop. We will be fine, but it will make a difference in our finances. As it is we do not spend all of the money that comes into the house from salaries, pensions, and social security. It will be a change of thought. We also have a bit of money saved. Will we ever feel that we can spend that too? Paula

Changes For 2023

Hello, This morning in the shower Leroy said, “I don’t need this shampoo.” I had been thinking for some time that no or so little hair means no shampoo is necessary. We will give that bottle away to a place where homeless can shower. My curls do not like that shampoo. We walked to church, but we walked so slowly which is not our usual style. There was a thin, thin layer of ice on the sidewalk in some places. We had thought we would be early. We were not late, but right on time. I plan to document my exercise. That is so I keep things moving and try to build some muscle by lifting weights every other day. Is that a new year’s resolution? Perhaps! Can I keep it going? We took everything out of our kitchen freezer to find out what was in there. There were two surprises. Some salmon and frozen bananas. There was much kale which was hiding things behind it. I am glad to know what is in there. Kale usage will to continue to be high. I will have to start using the library that is within about two miles of my house. I wish I could walk there, but when it is nicer, I can ride my bike. How did I find books to read before they came across my desk? Do I still have the browsing skill? Can I make myself clean the apartment more than I have been in recent days? Especially the corners. Paula