Quick Notes about Being Retired ..... Comfort is Queen

Smokey Rose helps me knit non-fashionable things

Did you happen to hear the NPR interview with Tim Gunn or maybe read the newspaper article on which it was based? It's all about how the fashion industry has abandoned plus sized women, which Mr. Gunn called disgraceful. Thank you, Mr. Gunn for saying it so eloquently.

I do recognize that whether I want it or not, the fashion industry does effect my clothing life in many ways. Like how the Meryl Streep character explained in the film "The Devil Wears Prada"..... for example, I can only buy certain colors at any given time because the powers that be have decided something or another about colors.

I Really AM Retired Now

Photo by my friend Marian K.

One thing I have learned about retirement is that I no longer have much of a schedule that matters. Most things can be done tomorrow, or another tomorrow, or when I get around to it. Like writing a new blog post. It's been on the list of things to do one day soon, But, as you can see, soon did not come around real quickly.

The other thing I have found is that retirement is looking to be good for my health. One thing that tended to keep me from doing things like exercising and eating well while I was working, was time.  Time that I either did not have at all or that I did not want to spend on doing things like exercising or eating well.

Let's Try Again

Happy New Year

I am better now. I still have a cough which startles people sometimes, but I feel pretty good. When I tell people I was sick, I get very little sympathy. Instead I get topped. "Oh I was too! I was in bed for 6 days and couldn't move at all...throwing up all over the place, almost had to get admitted to the hospital. etc, etc. etc." It's a bad winter for health around here.

Right now it's difficult to be outside because the annual January bad air is back. We are regularly having red and orange alert days when we are not supposed to drive. Everyone does, of course, because for most people there are no good alternatives. Those who have options, like me being able to commute by UTA, are already doing that no matter what the air alert is.

Over the Mountains and Across the Plains or Beware Enterprises that Require New Clothes (maybe)

These made the cut for the suitcase. Notice all the sparkles?

Wednesday I'm about to do something I have not done in many, many years. I'm going home for Thanksgiving. It always seemed like far too much trouble and expense for just a big meal. If I were going to travel for a holiday, I always saved that for Christmas.

But this year is different, because this year is different and special. My niece got married in July ... a short civil ceremony at city hall with just a few family members who all lived nearby followed by a dinner at a nice restaurant for those same few people. Maybe she is like me, in that I hate giving parities and I simply don't do it. She debated about some kind of get together for those who could not attend the actual wedding and finally settled on having another dinner at a restaurant on Thanksgiving Saturday.