Wednesday

Retiring???


I had set in my mind, at least, that I would retire July 4th 2013 from the university that I work at.  After going over the numbers again I have decided that I would be better off benefits wise retiring January 2, 2015.  I know I know, my friends are going to have a cow about this but to be able to save 10% on my health care benefits is huge to me especially with Obama Care getting ready to be implemented.  It will also let me beef up my retirement account a bit more and give me a bit more time to save up for the truck and 5th wheel. 

We are getting close and I am excited.  I have quite a few things to start putting on eBay and Craigslist.  I plan hold a big garage sale this spring.  So much to do and prep for, gets this girl exhausted. But persevere I must.

With our youngest daughter gainfully employed now, we can start saving what we need to make the big move. 

Happy trails and 680 day to go…

Tuesday

OMG It's Mardi Gras and Valentines is Almost Here


Wow, where did January go? It seemed to go by in a Nano second. Will February be the same? The last few days of January I decided that my computer was running so slow that I needed to get it to our IT Tech boys at the university. I must say they did an outstanding job of cleaning out my computer and reloading the system. I got it back in 24 hours. It actually runs faster now than it did when I first got it.
Yesterday I loaded on some programs that I need for my Mary Kay business and downloaded an HP program with the help of the IT Tech boys via phone. I am thankful that I work for a wonderful university that supports its students, faculty and staff in such a generous manor.

 

By the way if any of you ladies out there need any Mary Kay products I will be more than happy to help you. You can go to my site to shop and pay on-line. This is a business that I will be taking on the road with me and I can mail the products to your desired location. I know it's a plug for me but if I don't let people know what I do then how am I to grow my business.

 

A big shout out to Albert and Susie who started read my blog. Susie was so nice to give me a couple of links to view for getting ideas for my circular loom knitting. They too have been bitten by the RV bug and hope to be out on the road in 3 years. Like us they are going through the "Get Rid of the Stuff Stage". My RV Buddy and friend Bobbie Chapman surprised me by sending me a book from Amazon.com on loom knitting projects. Thanks to the both of you again. I may get an oblong loom and try a pair of socks. The knitting has been so much fun but I have lots to learn.

 

I 'm going to get brave this next month and start posting my "STUFF" on Craigslist. When I do that I will know in earnest that the process has truly started. I have so many knick-knacks that are filling my closets. I have one room set aside in the house of the things that I want to go into our RV when we get it. I foresee lots of garage sales this spring. Now if I can just get the girls to get up here and get their stuff out of the house and shed, I will be in good shape.

 

As we head into the month of LOVE… yes Valentine's Day is just a short 2 days away. Dave and I may go to dinner and I might get some roses and a card but other than that it's not that important to us. We both know how much we love each other. I get Valentine's all year long with the sweet gestures that Dave bestows on me. I am blessed. How did I ever catch such a wonderful guy? Going on 41 years and counting.  Our main gift will be our youngest daughter arriving on the 15th. She will be in town for work but we will get to spend Saturday with her.  Wish I could see my other daughter and family.  I really miss my two "boys" (grandsons). 

We went to see the Hobbit a couple of weeks ago.  It was great.  I know we will be getting the Blue Ray as soon as it comes out. I look forward to the rest of the trilogy. Speaking of movies, I am excited to hear that J.J. Abrams is going to be doing the next "Star Wars" movie. If it is as half as good as his "Star Trek" movies...WOW!  Getting ready to see "Les Miserables".  It's amazing what these actors put themselves through for these rolls. Anne Hathaway eating just 3 strips of oatmeal paste a day to loose the weight for the roll.  Talk about a starvation diet.  Have you seen any good movies lately?  Here is lovely bit from one of my favorite two musicians. Enjoy!


Well I guess spring is just around the corner as ole Puxatony Phil didn't see his shadow.  I just hope we have a really wet spring as we are in a dangerous drought here in Oklahoma. The sooner it starts the better.  "Sooner" get it?  The Sooner state, yeah I know silly joke.

I am back in rehersals for Bethoveen's 9th Symphony that is to be performed at the university on April 20th.  I am having to brush up on my German as we will be performing it in that language.  I took it in high school so the syntax should come back with little problem.

Keep those letters and post card coming and I will be certain to write back.

Happy trails and "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roluez"



Monday

Retirement...and Thinking


We were given an assignment here at work to in-corporate different types of thinking and to tell of an experience we’ve had either here in the office or personally.

After much thought I would have to tell of a personal experience that is currently in process. 

My upcoming retirement!  

First, Big Picture thinking, What is it that we want to do.  After much thought and careful consideration Dave and I have decided to sell our home and hit the open road in a truck and a 5th wheel trailer. Matter of fact we have a buyer for the house when we are ready to go.  What would we do? Where would we go? How would we fund it? We would see Dave’s family in Canada, some of my family on the east coast that I have not seen in over 55 years. We plan to see as many historical sites as possible. In order to have a good view of the big picture I have been doing 3 years of intense research. Searching RV forms, talking to other RVers, asking questions, getting answers, more questions, more answers.  But the Big Picture is intact. The fun part has been breaking it out in to small pieces.

With focused thinking I have had to clear away all the clutter and set goals.  Some of these goals have been met some have not. But I keep chipping away at them.  How to clear out 40+ years of memories, who to give some of it to, what to throw away, what to give away, what to sell.  What to put in storage, if I even want to do that.  Set a timeline to purchase our rig and truck. Which of these comes first? What kind of truck do we need, what type of rig are we wanting.  Over the last three years I have looked at hundreds of rigs and Class A motorhomes.  Do we want new or used. When we come off the road where will we land and why?  All of these questions have to be thought out down to the last detail. It’s all been decided. I also have goal posters all over the house.

Now comes creative thinking   What do we do If we need to work out on the road?  Lots!  We have an opportunity to work in the National Forrest up in Colorado during the summers, down in South Texas in the oil patch in the winters.  I have my Mary Kay business; I’m also a painter and can paint and sell at local craft fairs.  Or work on my photography and sell it.  I also enjoy blogging and may write a book, maybe we will produce an RV cooking show and put it on YouTube, I might invent something for the RV industry. I may even sing for my supper. who knows the sky is the limit. As you all know I am a person of many talents.  We also plan to volunteer our time in a CARE unit down in Texas to build credit for when we have to stay in the CARE unit.  Where will we stay while traveling? Boon docking of course! We plan to be self-sustaining.  Solar will supply most of our power along with a generator. 

We have had to think realistically as well. Can we afford to do this? With all the other thinking that I have been doing I would have to say yes.  It’s taken a lot of number crunching and planning but yes, we can do it, if we buy a used truck and trailer to start out with and stick to the plan of work which will pay off our bills, then yes it will work.  We have had to think realistically about our health.  With David having had a heart attack 6 years ago and turning 70 this year, can he do this?  Yes, no reason not to.  Less stress on him, he won’t have to mow any grass or pull weeds and the work we will do is not demanding.  We have been very fortunate to have a lot of resources at our fingertips.  It’s amazing how much information is out there on the internet.

Oh the Possibilities will take you far.  That kind of thinking will get you a long ways down the road.  Lots of days I arrive at home tired from my work here, but when I think of the Possibilities of retirement and think about getting to spend wonderful one on one time with my grandchildren I am energized! I have always been told to Dream Big, with Possibility thinking I can do that.

During this process of the Big Picture I have had to do a lot of reflective thinking.  Several times during this exercise I have had to move back my timeline but each time looking at problems in a new light and with determination.

There are lots of people we’ve not told what we’re going to do, but who will go with popular thinking. “ Oh that’s not what you should do when you retire, why do you want to do that?”  Why not?  We don’t want to go with the “Status Quo’’, there is too much to do in life to be tied to one spot.  The other night we stepped out our front door to go to the office supply store and immediately heard a great horned owl hooting.  Looking up we saw that he was in our big dead tree in the front yard looking at an eerie full moon and letting us know what he thought about it.  Popular thinking tells us we should take the tree down as it’s ugly and very dead, but had we taken the tree down we would not have gotten to experience the owl hooting at a full moon. What a beautiful sight and sound.  Sometimes its uncomfortable thinking differently but if there is beauty in that, then I am ok with it.

Shared thinking has been a must between my husband and me.  I can dream all I want but if he’s not on board with the plan then what’s the point of all my thinking, planning and scheming.  My most loved moment came about 7 months after I posed the possibility of this plan of retirement back in 2009 after reading “Retire to an RV” and talking to new found friends.  I had been working up all the angles, crunching numbers, presenting everything to him, we talked to our kids about it, had their approval, matter of fact they felt that this would be wonderful for us and encouraged us to continue with our plans. Dave, still was not quite sure about all of it, one evening while listening to me explain the plans to some friends of ours, he saw the light so to speak.  About a week later we were talking to some other friends of ours and out of the clear blue he told them what our plans were and how he thought it was going to be great and he has not stopped telling everyone since.  Needless to say I was flabbergasted that he mentioned it before I did.  My heart exploded with joy as he was finally on board and the shared thinking process started. I will throw an idea out and he will take up the idea and run with it and then we get together and will hash it out bouncing ideas off of each other. It’s a Lovely, lovely process.

Unselfish thinking how did we want to tackle that one?  We looked into several service projects. One evening while watching Extreme Home Makeover it came to us, it would give us no greater honor than to help build a home for one of our wounded warriors.  Another activity is to volunteer with the USO.  My dad talked about all the wonderful things the USO did for him while he was in the Navy during WWII.  I would like to return that favor in his honor.  Another activity is helping with a CARE unit in Texas, which stands for “Continued Assistance for Retired Escapees”.  An Escapee is a person that has been a full time RVer and has had to “Hang up the Keys” so to speak, due to age or health reasons, It allows a person to continue to live in their RV, receive 3 meals a day 7 days a week, have planned activities, have their laundry done, RV cleaned, be taken to the Dr. or shopping.  Basically its goal is to delay or eliminate the need for a nursing home for a very low fee.  It’s the only unit of its kind in the United States. Its run by a full time staff with a lot of help from volunteers who give a month of their time to help others and the perks are many, one day in the far future we too will be residents.

In the meantime we’re ready to start our new journey, one step at a time.

Happy trails…

Sunday

Computers and Valentines


Wow, where did January go? It seemed to go by in a Nano second. Will February be the same? The last few days of January I decided that my computer was running so slow that I needed to get it to our IT Tech boys at the university. I must say they did an outstanding job of cleaning out my computer and reloading the system. I got it back in 24 hours. It actually runs faster now than it did when I first got it.
Yesterday I loaded on some programs that I need for my Mary Kay business and downloaded an HP program with the help of the IT Tech boys via phone. I am thankful that I work for a wonderful university that supports its students, faculty and staff in such a generous manor.

 

By the way if any of you ladies out there need any Mary Kay products I will be more than happy to help you. You can go to my site to shop and pay on-line. This is a business that I will be taking on the road with me and I can mail the products to your desired location. I know it's a plug for me but if I don't let people know what I do then how am I to grow my business.

 

A big shout out to Albert and Susie who started read my blog. Susie was so nice to give me a couple of links to view for getting ideas for my circular loom knitting. They too have been bitten by the RV bug and hope to be out on the road in 3 years. Like us they are going through the "Get Rid of the Stuff Stage". My RV Buddy and friend Bobbie Chapman surprised me by sending me a book from Amazon.com on loom knitting projects. Thanks to the both of you again. I may get an oblong loom and try a pair of socks. The knitting has been so much fun but I have lots to learn.

 

I 'm going to get brave this next month and start posting my "STUFF" on Craigslist. When I do that I will know in earnest that the process has truly started. I have so many knick-knacks that are filling my closets. I have one room set aside in the house of the things that I want to go into our RV when we get it. I foresee lots of garage sales this spring. Now if I can just get the girls to get up here and get their stuff out of the house and shed, I will be in good shape.

 

As we head into the month of LOVE… yes Valentine's Day is just a short 13 days away. Dave and I may go to dinner and I might get some roses and a card but other than that it's not that important to us. We both know how much we love each other. I get Valentine's all year long with the sweet gestures that Dave bestows on me. I am blessed. How did I ever catch such a wonderful guy? Going on 41 years and counting. Our main gift will be our youngest daughter arriving on the 15th. She will be in town for work but we will get to spend Saturday with her. Wish I could see my other daughter and family. I really miss my two "boys" (grandsons).

 

We went to see the Hobbit a couple of weeks ago. It was great. I know we will be getting the Blue Ray as soon as it comes out. I look forward to the rest of the trilogy. Speaking of movies, I am excited to hear that J.J. Abrams is going to be doing the next Star Wars movie. If it is as half as good as his Star Trek movies...WOW! Getting ready to see Les Miserables. It's amazing what these actors put themselves through for these rolls. Anne Hathaway eating only 3 strips of oatmeal paste a day to achieve the starvation look.  Talk about extreme diet. For your viewing pleasure here is one of my favorite groups.  The Piano Guys.
 

 
I guess spring us just around the corner as Puxatony Phil did not see his shadow.  I sure hope we get lots of rain this year as this is area is under dangerous drought conditions, the sooner the better.  "Sooner", you know the Sooner State.  We have already have had to start rationing our water. 
 
I am in rehearsals again...this time for the spring performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  I'm having to brush up on my German as it's the language we are singing it in.  I enjoy keeping these pipes in working condition.
 
Well folks keep those letters and post-cards coming and I will answer them soon.
 
Happy trails and stay safe out there...