Simpler Life

 

Finalized!

 Yesterday it all came together. The house is sold. The money is in the bank. Water and electricity are shut off. Insurance is stopped on the house and property. It feels so good to have it all completed!

My goal has been from the get-go to have my life simplified, and now it is, as much as it possibly can be. Or as much as I want it to be!

Life After Eighty! 

The one aspect that frustrates me the most is not remembering names. I remember my mother-in-law, Marian Brooker, being frustrated when she could not remember names. I always told her to relax, and it would come. But now I am here, and it can be days before those unknown words come to mind, if ever!

Also, I have several thousand things I would like to do or get done, but there are never enough hours in the day. Naptime also gets in the way.

Still, I do not believe I have ever been happier or more grateful than I am right now. One of life's greatest lessons is that you and you alone are responsible for how happy you are. It comes from within. It is a decision you make every day. Butch and I ran across an elderly lady one day who was asked if she was happy. Her reply was, " If I were any happier, I would have to take a pill!" That is where I am each and every day!

Friends, family, travel etc.

 Butch and I traveled in our RV for 10 years. We made friends all over the place! We had friends who knew us most of our lives and those whom we may have known only for a summer. And sometimes it was with the same intensity. On more than one occasion, I wished we could have all of them together at the same time. Of course, that never happened. I still wish it could! Of all those friends and family, I also wished they could all see each other as we saw them! How fun that would be!

Look for the sweetness in this post, not the sour.

 

Currently

 My intention this morning was to catch up on the blog, look through emails, and answer people who have waited on word from me far too long. Well, my intention was good.

For a long time, I have wanted to clean out my email addresses, and of course I picked today to start. After far too long working on it, I changed course. I am up to the ells. I started out at 474 entries, and I am now under 400. Next time I will start backward! Have I inspired you?

Jason and friend Glenn played in a pool tournament on Saturday at Sam's Place in Ames. They both finished somewhere in the middle. Both of them would like to try it again. I am sure they would both do better. Doing anything for the first time is a learning experience. 

When I returned to Iowa last Spring, I was certain I would have lots of spare time. Wrong again! My main goal was to stock up on earrings. I have dabbled a bit. That is a long way from stocking up. I still have hopes, but I have been "home" for nearly 4 months now and still dabbling. Sigh..

When I woke up this morning, the thermometer said 77 degrees! Now I like to walk in the early morning when it is cool, so I scrambled around and went walking my usual route. I do not know how far it is, but it takes me 45 minutes. By my calculations, that's in the neighborhood of 1 3/4th miles. In that calculation were my former routes of 2 miles to the 1-mile marker on the bike trail. 1 mile down, 1 mile back =2 miles. Time-wise, 1 hour. Knowing that was a year ago, I may have slowed a bit. That's my story, and I am sticking to it.

Rambling on... My thoughts are slowly looking to the ride South. I ran across the checklist Jason and I had so we didn't forget last year, and OMG! 

I haven't put it together yet for this year, but it will be much smaller.

Till next time!