Retirement Blogging Re-Entry

 

Greetings!

Exactly four years after signing off from this blog, I find myself with a few new thoughts percolating in my head. I'm now fourteen years into retirement, crossing into my 60's at this point.

Do I still have anything of value to share to the wider blogging community?' I'm not sure, but I'm comfortable putting my toe back in the water, and seeing where it all goes.

Some updates from when I was last here:

• We moved. We are now in a slightly larger home (by about 50 sq ft), and just 1 & 1/4 miles from ocean, compared to the three miles distance we were at previously. It's a small change, but it is also significant, both weather and walkability wise. Though we have a brand new HVAC, thanks to a whole house remodel we did during our first year here, we pretty much have just used the H (heat) portion, not the AC portion. I am amazed at the constant onshore breeze we now experience, and how other than one week last summer, when a heat dome descended, we simply did/do not need the AC. And being even closer to the ocean, and no longer atop a hill, has resulted in our walking to the beach and back almost daily from our house, because it's now such a relatively small effort to do so.
• We have done another complete remodel here at our new home, likely, the very last one, because it is way more exhausting to do in my 60's than it was in my 50's, LOL!  But, I will share that we received way, way, way over asking when we sold our first coastal remodel in 2023, primarily due to the extent to which we'd remodeled both inside and outside. So I take pride in that - I overheard one realtor in 2023 call our prior abode 'The Perfect House' when it hit the market, where it didn't remain for long - we received over a dozen offers within the first 48 hours, all for well, well above ask. 
• I have managed to lose and keep off ten pounds. I'm working on the last ten, which will put me back at my high school weight, and where I feel my best, appearance wise. I got there (115) briefly in 2023, due to the stress of moving and going through another remodel, but it returned and now I'm working to get it back off the 'old fashioned' way. 😊
• I'm still hiking, biking, kayaking, and SUP'ing, and dipping my toe back into running. 
• I still adore my two precious (not perfect, mind you!) granddaughters, and they now come out regularly for a week of summer fun at Nana and Baba's, without Mom and Dad (though an adult does accompany them each way for now, generally the Baba as he's a better flyer!)
• Lots of new hobbies have been taken up since we last spoke - Bridge, Sailing, Guitar, Women's Philanthropy Club, and Golf, and our social circle has also continued to grow. It is the sad and awful reality of being this age that some of our friends have succumbed to disease, and thus we realize we need to continue to make new friends to offset the inevitable contraction.
• We have created a life where we pursue our joint hobbies and separate interests during the week, and enjoy lots and lots of social, dining, and entertainment engagements over each weekend. Life feels full, but boy, do I see the difference in my energy now vs when I first retired. 

More to come as I settle back in. I hope you all are likewise doing well out there!

I stopped coloring my hair, and let it grow long during COVID.
I'm still having fun with both changes!
See the concrete floor? This was smack dab in the midst of the stress
of our recent remodel, hence my pretty thin 115 frame.
I'm on my way back there, though!