Wow! This is the newly retired Barbie writing this blog today. This is my first time at doing this so please bear with me. I was a math teacher and not an English teacher , so grammatically correct sentences are not my forte. LOL Hopefully Jeff and I will alternate in writing on this blog since I now have all the time in the world to do the things I want to do, right?
My last day of working as a teacher was busy. I was only going to work for three hours but worked for four and a half because I had people coming up to me wishing me well and safe travels. I didn’t go to my own retirement reception because I don’t like to be put on display. Plus, usually people feel obligated to attend and I wanted people to say goodbye personally which meant more to me than a big “shindig”. I went out to eat with my BFF on Thursday instead of going to the traditional end of the year luncheon which was held at school. Linda and I went to the Cheesecake Factory and then shopped around a bit. That restaurant is fantastic. It is a bit pricey, but great food. We walked around the mall with the leftovers in the bags since we couldn’t put it in the car due to the temperatures in the high 90’s. I bought a new brassiere, since I will need all the support I can get living with Jeff 24-7. haha
On Friday, after I got home at 1:00 Jeff and I went to Walgreen’s to fill prescriptions. Then we headed to Wally World to pick up Jeff’s contact lenses and glasses. We didn’t know the glasses were in so that was a very nice surprise. We purchased a new vacuum cleaner called the Hoover Nano , which has 12 amps and is very lightweight. It is a beautiful blue color and that baby really sucks up the dirt! It was only $54 and will be placed in the motorhome. Off next to Camping World for a beautiful new 25 foot sewer hose, again in my favorite color of blue. We had an early dinner at La Septima, a Spanish restaurant in Brandon, Fl , and enjoyed the picadillo meal. I couldn’t wait to get home and start cleaning the house and organizing notebooks to bring on the trip. I made a notebook divided into 49 states and Canada (after all the motorhome won’t travel to Hawaii) that will serve as a “Places to See” kind of book which we will take while travelling. It is divided into restaurants ( like the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives places from the Food Network), historical places, and just plain weird things to see. I also made a little notebook to keep e-mail addresses and e-billing information. That is a life saver since I will still be doing internet banking for everything.
There is so much left to do before we tentatively depart out of here on Wednesday, June 16 ( provided Jeff flunks out of jury duty Monday). I am a list keeper. I have note pads all over the place. I even have a note pad telling me where the note pads are in case I forget that too. From getting an oil job on the car to getting tags for the cars to turning in clothes for charity, there is plenty to do in the next few days. I am planning to keep in touch with my BFF Linda through SKYPE. That is a funny word.. do you pronounce it SKIP or Skipe? Who cares, I hope it works.
But a very important project I need to start will need your help. I need to start my “Bucket List”. How do I start it? I have made different options to look at. First option, write things on notepads when the thought comes into my head. That doesn’t seem organized, but I could organize it daily onto the computer. If I did it on the computer to begin with, what type of program do I use? A word processor? A data spreadsheet? Someone told me to text it on the phone and then download it to my computer. I laughed at that suggestion because two years ago Jeff was at a conference in Orlando and he texted me when I was camping at our place in Rock Crusher. My phone doesn’t have a typewriter pad like some do, so I spent 18 minutes typing two sentences that had no caps, spaces or other punctuation marks in it. Jeff had a big laugh at reading that message. I finally learned how to do that, but I don’t text people. I talk to them or e-mail them. So, if you have any good suggestions on how to organize my “Bucket List”, please let me know. I have several thoughts already on scrap paper, but being newly retired means a touch of senility, I am told. haha
Thank you to Linda C and Sandie for making comments onto the blogs. They are much appreciated.
I end this blog today with this thought…. Enjoy the Moment!
4 comments:
Glad to see you now have Skype (with a long y) we can also keep in touch that way. Just have Jeff walk into the courtroom yelling "hang him" and they'll send him home so you guys can leave. LOL Did the same thing at my retirement - hate to be singled out in a crowd. See you soon!
Love, Sandie
Wow! Am I going to be famous now? I've never been mentioned in a blog before; at least none I ever knew of! You could write your bucket list around the outside of a bucket - that would be unique!?!
Linda F
May your moments be filled with doing and seeing all of those things on your lists. But I think you will find that you won't realize that some of the things are on your bucket list until you do them...like the time we were driving down the Oregon coast, pulled off in a pull-out, got out our lawn chairs and watched lots of whales swimming in the Pacific Ocean as the sun set. Some things you just can't plan ahead of time.
Congratulations! You are starting an exciting lifestyle.
A notebook or a page in your word processor would work for a bucket list. Start brainstorming your list. Every once in a while- once a month, every 6 months or once a year- take a look at your list to cross of ones you've done and add some new ones. Plus you can prioritize when you look. Use it as a way to focus and make sure you do some of the things you'd like to do.
Have fun!
Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
author of Retire to an RV: The Roadmap to Affordable Retirement
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