Friday Five - We Doubled Our Money!

Friday Five - We Doubled Our Money!

It was an interesting week, medically speaking. All is well, but I'm acutely aware that I am in my 60's and my physical form is aging rapidly. We also had interactions with two sets of dear friends that are struggling through cancer, another heart wrenching reminder that we are all now on the downward side of that bell curve. 

Note to self: Life is short. Live big. Love mightily.

1.  We had fun turning $100 into $200. We attended a recent event that included a $20 Wine Pull Booth. We bought five pulls, which resulted in the following, once we got home and looked up our pulls:

    Bottle One- $15 retail

    Bottle Two- $20 retail

    Bottle Three- $45 retail

    Bottle Four- $52 retail

    Bottle Five- $65 retail

    

Retail total for the five pulls: $197, almost exactly twice what we paid.  😃

2.  Restarting HRT turned out to a good, but somewhat costly decision. After consulting with my doctor, I went back on HRT in January of this year, because once fully off my hot flashes had returned roaringly. 

I was unaware that going off HRT and restarting was not necessarily a simple matter for the aging body, and thus was just mildly concerned when some light spotting began to occur. 

However, a little research quickly confirmed this was not normal and that I should notify my doctor asap, which I did. Well, three appointments and two procedures later, all is well even as the co-pays stacked up(!).  I have about a year left until Medicare and I'm hoping the body hangs in there until then, because my current private insurance annual medical co-pay threshold is quite precipitous.

3.  We are meeting friends for a picnic at the Harbor tonight.  Enjoying picnic dinners at the harbor is a summer tradition, that we get to enjoy in March this year, thanks to our very unusual current heat dome. Hooray!

Picnics at the harbor are such a lovely and relaxing way to enjoy a beautiful evening. Parking in the area where we picnic is ample and free. The grass area where we generally set up is broad and never overcrowded. And the views are lovely - we sit at a slight elevation which allows us to enjoy the many large and small watercraft that go in and out of the harbor, plus ample marine animal life - sea lions, pelicans, cormorants, Great Blue and Night herons, Great White and Snowy egrets, and the occasional, but very regal, osprey.

 

4.  More music and reading in the evenings is now occurring. We were already light TV viewers, but in that we watched zero TV during our recent three week cruise vacation, we decided to experiment and see if reducing from two shows per evening to just one show, might result in higher quality evenings. Interestingly, the adjustment was very easy, and we are currently enjoying ending our at-home evenings with soft jazz and books. It's been a nice change.

5.  My happiest days are always when three things occur - lots of hours spent in motion outdoors, one flavor-filled meal, and some downtime spent reading.

Additional time spent with family or friends is then the icing on the proverbial cake.

I hope you make it a good day, wherever you are!