Friday Five - We Bought The Business Class Seats!

Friday Five - We Bought The Business Class Seats!

Now that my sister-in-law is fully settled and comfortable with her new lifestyle and routine in my mom's 55+ community, I returned to travel planning with a vengeance the past week. So much got accomplished!

1. I crossed all the 't's and dotted all the 'i's for our upcoming trip to Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, which we are visiting before heading to see our daughter and her family in Tennessee. I booked all of our organized excursions, plotted out our timelines and walking routes, and made all our restaurant reservations. It does take hours to do all this, however, the benefit is that once we take off we can simply enjoy and follow the travel plan, no additional planning or thinking required.

I've done this often enough over the years that I have a very good sense of our interests and available energy. And I do build in downtime each day to simply sit and enjoy some liquid refreshments in between our activities. Which is also when some of our most pleasant and spontaneous conversations with locals occur.

2. I added on a week in Philadelphia as a start to our fall tour of the UK in order avoid having to book connecting flights. There are no direct flights from LAX to Edinburgh, Scotland, where our tour begins. In researching direct flights in and out of Edinburgh on the terrific and informative website, Flights From, I noted that Philadelphia was one of the airports listed. In that we've never been there, we decided to fly there first  before flying onward to Edinburgh. So, we'll fly direct to Philadelphia, spend a week visiting, then fly direct from there to Edinburgh. So much less stress this way!

3. I booked a gorgeous boutique hotel in Philadelphia, because location and luxury are increasingly priorities in our lives. In the grand scheme of things, it's a small upgrade that really enhances our city touring experience. As I've mentioned previously, while I don't necessarily want to travel more than we already do, I'm now at an age where I do want to travel nicer.

4. I booked Business Class seats for our long haul direct flight home from Dublin. I gulped, I admit, before hitting the BUY button, but only because it's a bigger number than I'm used to, not because we can't afford it. I don't expect to book Business Class for every flight going forward, but if the experience turns out to be as pleasant as I think it's going to be, I do see us selectively flying Business Class as we continue to age.

5. I started working on booking excursions for the Greenland leg of our Summer 2027 cruise, because people on the cruise forum I'm on said they were already starting to fill up. I want to learn about the area, and to walk and sight-see as much as possible while there, but I also want some unique experiences. So on one of our stops we'll be combining a town walking tour with some unique (and tiny!) samplings of the local proteins. As in reindeer, caribou, seal and whale. Click here for more Greenland traditional cuisine information.

Friday Five - Pad Thai Anyone?

Friday Five - Pad Thai Anyone?

1.  I made Pad Thai at home for the first time, and it was delicious! I thought it looked fun when I first spotted the recipe in the cookbook below, but when it came time to actually make it, I was a bit nervous. Nervous because it was a new-to-me cuisine, and I didn't know if the recipe would actually evoke the taste of the Pad Thai that I've enjoyed in restaurants over the years, including in the country of Thailand itself.

Plot spoiler: It did! And it turned out that it was quite easy to make. Sourcing the ingredients, on the other hand, primarily the rice noodles and the bamboo shoots, necessitated a trip to a specialty market, which then involved some hunting around. However, I now know where to find both items, so the next time I make it should be a snap.

We enjoyed it warm from the pan the first night, topped with fresh bamboo shoots, cilantro, fresh lime, and peanuts, and cold from the fridge the second night, topped with same. Both ways were delicious, and I'm not actually sure which I prefer!

2.  We are helping my sister-in-law (SIL) re-settle into my mother's 55+ community, and it has been a process. My SIL doesn't drive, nor use a smart phone, so we've had to sort of train her to get to the places she'll need, which has involved a lot of sitting in our car and watching this week to make sure all goes well on her walking routes. She did have a few missed turns in the beginning, but she now seems to have her routes down, and this should be the last weekend we'll need to stick to her so closely. We know she is doing the 100% absolute best she can, and this transition has been a tremendous one for her, but my spouse and I do miss our daily walks together (generally we've been taking turns), and will be happy to get back to them.

3.  Senior Centers are worth their weight in gold. My SIL now attends the senior center near her new home each day, Monday thru Friday, and it has made me realize the value these centers provide. She not only has lunch there, but also attends a variety of classes ranging from exercise to art to bingo to singing and dancing, and she is socializing and making new friends daily. It is providing the daily structure in her life, and she is increasingly excited each day to get there and visit with her steadily increasing group of friends. 

4.  I am thankful we were able to retire so young, and have 15 completely self-centered years. It's been a big change having both my mother and my husband's sister now so reliant on our help and guidance. I am deeply moved that we are able to do so at this phase of life, and that they are now both so close by, however I am also thankful that we had 15 years of Go-Go-Go when nobody needed us, not children nor parents, and we could live and be as hedonistic as we desired. We will absolutely continue to travel - we still have five upcoming trips just this year - but we'll no longer go away for months at a time. We'll contain our trips to 30 days or less, generally two or so weeks depending, and likely even shorter as time goes on and my mother and SIL continue thru the aging process.

5.  Summer energy is building here for sure! Our walks at the beach and at the harbor are increasingly filled with buzz - kids, families, parents, couples - and it makes me both happy and appreciative to live somewhere people make big efforts to come visit. Yesterday at the harbor, I laughed watching one of our Coast Guard boats shoot water at a group of excited children playing in the water. The positive energy that one action created was wonderful, and stayed with me throughout my walk. 

The Food Noise Is Finally Abating

The Food Noise Is Finally Abating

I had begun to think that the Food Noise would never abate. I was actually in the process of working to accept that my brain would likely never stop chattering at me about food. Not about hunger, about food. There is a difference.

I know what genuine hunger feels like - it's a real and physical sensation. The incessant chatter in my brain was not about hunger. Rather, it was about something else. It was, as I think I've finally figured out, about using food to distract myself from a myriad of emotions I apparently was not comfortable feeling. 

Because I recently read something that resonated - when my brain chatters at me about food, and I know I am not genuinely hungry, I can simply sit quietly for a few minutes and allow the emotions that I'm apparently using food to distract from to instead come thru.

And that has been life changing. If I can simply sit quietly and allow myself to feel whatever emotions are there in my brain, not only do the emotions themselves abate, so does the food noise.

Here is an article I read recently in Psychology Today that seems to explain this much more succinctly than I am able to:

Quieting The Food Noise 

I am so very relieved. To be able to simply read a book in peace, without a constant brain chatter occurring to get something, anything, to nibble, is a brand new and wonderful experience.

Difficult change can eventually happen it would appear. I find that so positive and reassuring - even at my current stage of life, it's never to late.

, 

An Ordinary Day In My Retirement Life

An Ordinary Day In My Retirement Life 

I decided to monitor my activities yesterday, because I was recently reminded that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives, and I wanted to see how I was doing, and how I felt about it in hindsight.

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Woke up at 5:40 AM, thrilled to have 'slept in' after a run of difficult sleep nights.

Downstairs to greet and hug spouse, enjoy coffee, read blogs and do NYT Strands puzzle until about 7:45 AM.

Ate breakfast (one breakfast date bar and half a cup of cottage cheese) while doing absolutely nothing, a practice I'm working on in order to be more fully present while eating, versus 'mindlessly' eating. 

Much enjoyed the truly delicious and healthy no-bake date bar, made from just four quality ingredients - raw oats, pecans, Medjool dates and coconut oil, plus a tad of salt. (Recipe below)

I buy fresh-in-season Medjool dates every January while we're in Palm Springs attending the International Film Festival, and then freeze them upon our return home for leisurely usage in these absolutely delicious breakfast or anytime-snack date bars:

Dare To Date Bars

5 Ingredient, No Bake, Vegan Date Squares

Crust:

• 1.5 cups pecans
• 1.5 cups regular oats (for Gluten-free, use GF oats)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 10 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup coconut oil

 

Date filling:

• 25 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped (~2.5 cups)
• 1/2 cup water (Less or slightly more as needed)

• 
  

Directions:

1. In a food processor, process the pecans and oats until a fine crumble forms. Now add in the dates and process until crumbly again. Add the coconut oil and to the mixture and process until sticky. You can add a tiny bit of water if the dough is too dry. Remove from processor, set aside 3/4 cup of the mixture for later, and press the rest of the mixture very firmly and evenly into a 10" x 6" or equivalent ungreased pan.

2. Grab your pitted and roughly chopped dates and water and process in the food processor until a paste forms. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl often. You can add a tiny bit more water if needed, but you want the paste quite thick. Scoop out the date mixture onto the crust and gently spread with the back of a wet spatula until even.

3. Sprinkle on the 3/4 cup of mixture you set aside and gently press down with fingers. Refrigerate in the fridge until firm for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Cut into 16 bars (approx 200 calories for each bar) and serve. Store in the fridge or freezer.

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Into my office until 8:30 AM in order to purchase season tickets to one of the local venues we enjoy attending. Much back and forth between my calendar and the various performance date options before I hit the BUY button.

Dressed for a five mile walk around the harbor, preceded by a quick trip to Trader Joes upon it's 9:00 AM opening in order to beat the weekend crowd. A brief return trip home to place food items in fridge, then back out for the short drive to harbor for my walk.

Back home by noon, whereupon I ate lunch  (while reading - I haven't applied my breakfast practice of doing nothing while eating to lunch just yet . . . baby steps 🙂 ) and then returned back to my office in order to finalize activity plans for our upcoming trip to both Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. So far, it looks like we'll be enjoying multiple museum visits, a trolley car tour, a steamboat ride, a horse and carriage ride, and a golf cart tour through a historic cemetery, lol. Much looking forward to it all. 

Read for two hours (The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa), then joined my spouse in the living room for Happy Hour, where we chatted about his day with his sister, helping her to get acclimated to her new surroundings in my mother's 55+ community. (She loves it and is doing great!)

Dinner here at home after two nights in a row of dining away - a BLT for spouse, plus spinach salad for us both.

Watched 60 Minutes on TV after dinner & cleanup, followed by one streaming episode of Murder She Wrote. Sundays are for comfy, not edgy, TV, around here!

In bed by 9:00 PM, where I played on my e-Puzzle app until falling asleep sometime before 10:00 PM.

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In hindsight, it was a day well spent, even if what I consider a rather ordinary day. I ate well, I exercised, I was productive, I enjoyed time reading, and I enjoyed time with my spouse.

Today, by contrast, I have to wait around at my mom's all afternoon in order for internet to be installed. I'm planning to get in a quick walk to the beach and back before departing, then finish off my Georgia trip planning on my phone at my mom's while I await the installer. Upon arrival back home, I'm making Pad Thai, my first time, for dinner. It sounded like fun when I first saw the recipe, but we'll see, now that I actually have to make it!

A Mini Blogging Break

Firstly, I'll be back! I was just recently overwhelmed with trip detail work.  😚

I spent several hours this morning planning out flights and hotel bookings for just one of five upcoming trips still in the works for 2026. It's not what I'd call fun, but it's done, and now I can focus on the small details of the trip, which I do actually enjoy doing.

Anyhow, I still have four more to finish planning out, and those trips on top of the many activities that keep us on the go when at home, has me feeling a bit to distracted to keep up my blog at this time.

So, I'll be temporarily stepping away, but will continue to visit and comment on the blogs of those folk in my Blog List to the right, rest assured!

Scenes From The Weekend

 Scenes From The Weekend

Scenes from our recent packed and fun weekend.

I love that there are so many things to do in the area where we live. We may run short of energy at times, but we never run short of fun or interesting things to do.

Even if, like yesterday afternoon, we simply walked around our harbor on a spectacular spring day, deciding very spur of the moment to stop and enjoy small glasses of hard seltzer and hard cider, because the brewery was right alongside our route.

This upcoming weekend will include a street fair, a dinner and wine tasting, a live theater production, and Happy Hour with friends.

I do a good amount of volunteering and household management chores during the week. The weekend is when we simply try to enjoy. Because life is short, and tomorrow is not necessarily guaranteed.

Words I try to live by in my increasingly-older life.

Friday Five - A Potpourri Of Highs And Lows

 Friday Five - A Potpourri Of Highs And Lows

The week was full of high and low points . . .

1.  My tooth is, hopefully, fixed. During a routine X-Rays & cleaning appointment, my dentist came in to inform me that I needed one of my fillings redone. Post-procedure, I returned home with an unusually tender mouth as compared to prior dental work I've had done. Some five weeks and multiple visits to the dentist later, I think all is finally well, although it involved more pain and discomfort along the way than I've previously experienced. Life lesson from a childhood spent eating and drinking mass amounts of sugar? Kids, take care of your teeth!

2.  Sailing Season has begun. This will be our first sailing season as newer club members, and we are excited to watch the weekly races and enjoy the socializing that takes place afterwards. I've taken sailing courses, but am very much still a novice. Thus, I will stick with inputting race results on land, to ensure I don't get in the way of the more seasoned sailors. I'm content to simply be part of the land team this year, viewing it as a learning opportunity for future sailing seasons.

3.  Our Social lives are continuing to expand. Speaking of being newer club members, the 2025 group of new members has coalesced into an active and fun social group. Our unofficial leader and his wife are fabulously energetic, and we are having monthly club get togethers to socialize and get to know each other better, which is helping the overall club familiarity to move along nicely. Soon to come is an event involving boat owners hosting new members as we hop from boat to boat in order to enjoy chatting and sipping and noshing. Should be lots of fun.

4.  I'm becoming a boutique clothing store shopper. Prior to losing 25 pounds, I primarily shopped at somewhat generic clothing stores. In giving it some thought, I think it was because I didn't want to draw any attention when trying on new clothes. But, now that I'm comfortable with my weight and shape for the first time in pretty much my entire life, I am falling fast for smaller boutique store shopping. 

Reasons why would include the ease in which employees take in my current size and find clothing they think would fit /look good on me.

I am loving this service! It helps me not become 'stuck' in my clothing styles, and exposes me to silhouettes I would not have thought to try on.

Like this cute knit tank dress with, yikes, horizontal stripes. Never would I have thought to try it on if not for the boutique store owner's encouragement.

Or this smocked-waist skirt. The wide waist band turned out to be slimming once I put it on, exactly the opposite of how I thought it would look.

5.  It's going to be a wild and fun weekend. So many great activities are on the schedule for the weekend, beginning tonight, that I can hardly wait. We are attending a big community anniversary event, a tribute concert, a dinner and wine tasting event, a symphony with a revered conductor, and joining friends for dinner. 

My normal Monday volunteering job just got cancelled, so that means I can happily throw myself into the weekend, and wait to recover until then. 😄