May In A Sentence A Day

Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm documenting how I spent my month in just one sentence per day.

Turns out that the theme for May was Hang In There! With our backyard remodel temporarily on hold, I worked hard to stay busy while out plans were finalized, submitted to the city for review, and bounced back, finally, with just a few small change requests. Almost to the finish line!

May In A Sentence A Month

1. Struggled with a little post-menopausal depression today . . . sometimes it hits out of the blue and I have to just ride it out as best I can.

2. Headed to San Clemente to walk the five mile beach trail the moment it stopped raining this morning in order to take in as much post-storm coastal beauty as I could, and felt soooo much better for doing so,

plus did my weekly grocery shopping, wandered around TJ Maxx but left empty-handed (yeah me!), cooked this lemony dish for dinner, then settled in to watch The Phantom Thread, which I loved, but which left hubby scratching his head!

3.  Five mile hike along the beaches and cliffs of Dana Point with my sweet hubby, a delightful outdoor lunch afterward at the harbor, then a couple of hours of backyard luxuriating, even if on dirt, reading and enjoying a beautiful viewing day of the ocean . . . I love living here soooo much!

It was a gorgeous day to take a hike.

We may have nothing but dirt in the backyard currently, 
but that doesn't keep me away when the ocean is this visible!

4. Headed out and up into the mountains in order to attend a much needed women's retreat . . . it's been a bit stressful around here the last couple of weeks what with our backyard project, and it feels great to get away!

5. Just what the doctor ordered . . . spent the day enjoying bird watching, yoga, meditation, a clean-foods cooking class, wonderful meals, good wine, lots of chocolate, and the companionship of some truly inspiring women.

6. Arrived home from above retreat in time to enjoy a wonderful walk along the beach with hubby, have lunch together in downtown San Clemente, enroll in a beginners course at a knitting store we spotted, wander through the surfboard-heavy Los Molinos manufacturing district, and go beer tasting at Left Wind Brewery.

7. Fabulous paddle around Newport Harbor with my kayaking group, including a stretch along the Newport Back Bay, where I enjoyed watching an Osprey deliver a still-flopping fresh fish to two new hatchlings in a nest high overhead.

8. We're off to the airport, headed to the east coast in order see our granddaughter, plus visit Colonial Virginia, hooray!

9. Attended a Mother's (and Grandmother's!) Day Tea at my granddaughter's preschool, then took her to a nearby shopping mall where we rode trains, 'fished' for rubber duckies, ate pizza, shopped for toys, played an a fruity playground, and had an overall fabulous time.

10. Visited the National Zoo with our girl and had the best day ever . . . our third time taking her there, this is the first time she had enough stamina to we make it through pretty much the entire zoo!

11. Visited two parks with our girl, built the world's longest train track, then enjoyed singing one tired little girl to sleep for her nap.

12. Off to Colonial Virginia for the weekend, to give ourselves and our daughter's family a little private time (plus we need time to re-energize after three days with a fabulously energetic little 3 year old!), where we visited historic Yorktown before checking into our hotel in Williamsburg.

13. Spent the day in Jamestowne, which we loved, loved, loved, including visits to Jamestowne Settlement, Jamestowne Historic Site, and driving all around the island via the National Historic Parkway.

14. Drove back to our daughter's home in time to pick up our girl from preschool and enjoy lots of playtime in the backyard of her house, including showing her how to load and shoot a water spray gun . . . oodles of wet, watery fun!

15. Took our girl to the playground, baked cookies together, had a picnic lunch in the backyard, played on the swing, and just thoroughly enjoyed our last day with her before returning home.

16. Flight home, after which I collapsed on the sofa in exhaustion for the remainder of the day!

17. Off to get my hair cut, then a pre-lecture dinner at Taco Surf in Dana Point before attending a surprisingly interesting lecture on the life cycle of a tree by Cavity Conservation, and how many animals it supports both while alive and decaying.

18. Up early to bake lemon squares before heading off to a 36 mile bike ride up into our local hills with my group, including a tasty lunch stop at Java Juice, then home to shower, take a short nap, then head out to an evening potluck get together (hence why I was up early to bake!) with some gal-pals in light of all of our hubbies being gone at a men's retreat.

19. A rare hubby-less day (missed him!) which I spent race walking along the beach with my Saturday morning group . . .

. . . then off to San Clemente to take a knitting class at a cute little yarn shop there called Strands, plus a little browsing around the adorable Del Mar shopping and dining area before returning home and trying to remember the stitches I'd just been taught!

20. Weeded the front yard in the morning, enjoyed a potluck lunch event with my spiritual congregation, then welcomed hubby home from his retreat before heading out together to meet our Lifelong Learning dining club for dinner at Eva's Caribbean Kitchen in Laguna Beach . . . fun night!

21. Attended end of semester Spanish lunch at a Peruvian restaurant, had a wonderful time, and met a gal that wants to meet soon to go walking, so nice!

22. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, then hurried to do all the grocery shopping afterward for our upcoming trip to attend a bike rally and then do a little RV'ing along the coast.

23. Packed, prepped our trailer and did food prep . . . early AM departure in the morning!

24. Off at 5:00 AM sharp for the 300 mile drive to Paso Robles, then took off to do a little wine tasting once we were all set up in our site.

25. Attended a 30 mile group bike ride through San Miguel, then back to clean up and head out for a tad more wine tasting. ;-)

26. A wonderful 32 mile bike ride with just hubby and me, first to Templeton to attend the Saturday Farmer's Market, then back via a series of winding roads through the heart of the wine country, including a delicious lunch stop at Cass Winery, where we both enjoyed some Santa Maria tri tip steak along with our wine tasting.

27. Headed to Cambria for the day to walk the beautiful Moonstone Boardwalk Trail, then back to the fairgrounds via the uber-scenic Santa Rosa Creek Trail Rd.

28. An AM walk into cute, downtown Paso Robles to pick up lunch sandwiches, then back to break down our site, hook up our trailer, and head to Morro Bay, where we set up camp and went for a walk along a nearby estuary in the fog.

29. Spent a fabulous day hiking through breathtaking Estero Bluffs State Park, followed by fish and chips at Morro Bay's Bayside Cafe . . . so delicious!

30. Headed for home, a coastal and scenic, but long, six hour drive.

31. Spent the day cleaning up - the trailer, our towing vehicle, and our clothes . . . to every fun trip a little work must follow!

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And so went the month of May! 

Thriving In A New Retirement Location

I was honored recently to be asked to write a blog post about the experience of relocating in retirement by Sue over at the most excellent Sizzling Toward 60 & Beyond. In that the post just went live, I'm happy to share news of it here, and enjoy perusing it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Thriving In A New Location by Tamara @ My Retirement Project

The article has also just been listed here on The Blogger's Lifestyle as well, a blog full of interesting links to articles about living large in our 50's and beyond. Well worth checking out!

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Over 50 & Thriving Series

Thriving Over 50 In A New Location

May 11, 2018

How would you feel about retiring to a completely new location, away from family and established friendships?  It can be a daunting prospect, especially if you have lived in the same location for many years.  It can also be difficult if you are in a relationship and one partner is happy to continue living in the current location, but the other partner yearns for new surroundings.

My next guest in the Over 50 &  Thriving series has experienced all of the above and more. I met Tamara from My Retirement Project through link ups such as Wellness Wednesday and she and I have much in common, including our love of being near the ocean and keeping fit and active. Tamara shares her story with us and explains how she and her husband made the move are now enjoying and thriving in their new environment and home.

As you read her story you will see that it was not easy on so many levels, however, there was a positive outcome and message to us all about never giving up on your dream.

Tamara writes:

Thriving Over 50 In A New Location

Photo courtesy of My Retirement Project

When my husband and I retired some six years ago, we assumed we were settled in our home for the duration.

Turns out we weren’t.

Let me back up and start at the beginning. I grew up in S. California within easy 30 minute access to the beach, and really never gave much thought to living any closer because in my part of the state the beaches were often foggy and cold, and the towns adjacent a bit too laid back for my tastes.

However, all of that changed when we moved 100 miles south to Orange County in the early 1990’s. The first time I set foot on one of Orange County’s gorgeous, sunny and full-of-fun beach towns I was hooked, and an intense yearning to live closer to the coast took root and began to grow and grow.

My husband and I had settled in Orange County in an area that was only about 20 miles inland, but traffic patterns were such that any trip to the coast had to be carefully considered in order to avoid getting stuck in traffic. So I satisfied my longings to be closer to the ocean with lots and lots of coastal RV trips after we retired. They were all lovely, but each and every time we headed back home afterward, my longings to live closer grew even stronger.

I’m not sure what finally flipped the switch, but one day after returning home from a series of oversea trips completely exhausted, I told my husband that in spite of having enjoyed our travels immensely, and in spite of having a beautifully fixed up home in which to live, I could not get over my desire to live along the coast and would he pretty please give the idea of relocating there consideration?

To my surprise, after years and years of communicating to me that he was completely satisfied in our current location, he changed his mind and said he would.

Well, that was all I needed to hear! Within 24 hours I had appointments set to interview two realtors. And shortly after that we had our realtor selected and were signing realtor forms.

Turns out that was the easiest part of the whole process.

What followed was stressful beyond belief – listing our home, keeping it tidy, and vacating it as often as possible for buyer walk-throughs, receiving multiple offers within days of listing, well before we’d even decided what coastal city we’d be living in, having the first accepted offer fall out of escrow within the first week, lining up movers once we went back into escrow with a second set of buyers, working with a realtor in our new location diligently, daily, for almost a month before finding ‘the one,’ a fixer upper within two miles of the ocean, the agony of going through home inspections on both ends, the sheer work involved in paring down our current belongings, arranging for all of the closing and buying details (so many details!), the emotion of saying goodbye to friends and familiar places, and the fear mixed in with the excitement of actually realizing a 25 year dream.

Looking back, I’m really not sure how we managed to get through it all. There were days that I was such a puddle of uncertainty and fear I wanted to cancel everything and just stay put. My dear sweet husband pulled me up and out of my fears each time, assuring me that it would all work out. Our realtors on both ends did same, picking me up and pushing me forward each time an obstacle that appeared insurmountable would arise. And there were many!

The lesson I learned during this process was to just keep trudging forward, even if I was full of fear and uncertainty, and to trust that if I kept putting one foot in front of the next it would all work out.

And it did all work out, of course, because everybody involved kept moving forward.

Moving day was exciting and nerve wracking. I’d never lived in a home as long as the 25 years I’d lived in the home we were leaving, and I had no idea how settled I’d become until it was all taken away. Even finding a location for our belongings in our new home created stress, never mind all the fixing up of it we needed to do. And finding our way around our new location was stressful as well, not the fun I’d imagined it would be. I also missed dearly not seeing familiar faces everywhere I went, something I hadn’t realized was a big and pleasant part of my daily life until I no longer had it.

Oh my, so many stressors in spite of having achieved my dream!

So when and how did it start to get better?

Well, in addition to working feverishly to turn our fixer into our dream home, we began to work just as feverishly getting acclimated into our new community. We joined a spiritual congregation, we signed up as volunteers at a nearby harbor, we joined groups for hiking and biking, two of our favorite pastimes, we joined a lifelong learning program for retirees, we invited all of our longtime friends over to visit, we continued to engage with our county-wide activities from before, and we worked to find and experience the many entertainment and cultural activities we were discovering on an almost-daily basis. It took a good number of months, but little by little we began to feel settled into our new community.

 

And we had the ocean. The ever-changing, always beautiful and mesmerizing ocean. We could see it from our upstairs, from our backyard, when approaching our home in our car, when running errands, when hiking, walking, biking and kayaking, when dining, when volunteering. It was everywhere, and it soothed my soul each and every time.

So now, almost one year in, it’s hard to imagine not living where we do now, in spite of the agony we underwent to get here. Each day I wake up excited and thankful all over again to be living where we do.

And I’ve learned that when due diligence indicates all fears to be unfounded, you just push through. Because what’s waiting on the other side just might take your breath away.

 

Meet Tamara

Tamara’s blog is My Retirement Project, where she writes about trying to make each day of her retirement as memorable and fulfilling as possible. ‘Just Do It!’ is the mantra she tries hard to live by, which I think you’ll agree she definitely does!