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.

ANOTHER Week of Being Sick

I received this postcard from Russia this week. It expresses exactly how I feel right now.

This post will not be long. I wrote the last one Sunday during the day. That same night, when I went to bed, I started coughing. I couldn't sleep because of all the coughing. Monday was worse, and Monday night even worse than that.

I gave up and went to see the doctor on Tuesday. A very nice young family practice resident told me he didn't think I had the actual flu like the whole rest of the word seems to have because I didn't have a fever. But he clearly saw I was miserable. He gave me some codeine to help me stop coughing and get some sleep. It worked. My friend Jan took me to the grocery store for a big stock up of sick food.

Best Laid Plans

Smokey Rose knows how to snuggle up very well.

I did travel to my hometown. I did attend the baby shower on the night I arrived. (sparkly red shell + silver poinsettia cardigan). I did have a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with the family (sparkly silver T-neck + sparkly black cardigan.)

Then I got sick. Started with a deep congested cough on Friday. Moved onto overall body aches, especially a head ache. Little flirting with really bad digestive system upset.

I Accept The Challenge

I was there .... on the beach at Santa Cruz CA

One of my very favorite bloggers, Sally, The Unbrave Girl, threw down a challenge recently. She asked all of us to post a full length photo of ourselves on the web and to just STOP being snarky about all the "faults" of our bodies. Here's the full post about the challenge and here is an update with responses from beautiful real women of many ages, from many places.

Ill Again

Smokey Rose and I have been spending a lot of time together taking naps during the day. I became ill again and that has kind of put my life on hold. I "just" have a cold, but it's been a bad one that just will not go away. I have taken off days from work officially. I have gone to work when I felt awful and just carried on.

Chief Life Officer

"Chief Life Officer" is a phrase from a company that I can't remember (failure of the advertising effort) who sponsors NPR a lot lately. I like that idea so I'm going to make it my own. I am now my own CLO. Not that I have been otherwise in the past, but I have renewed my intention to be responsible and accountable for my life.

As I wrote before I have been pondering that article about myths of retirement, thinking about what kind of actions I need to take to help insure that my life generally moves in directions that I prefer. the first idea that I have thought a lot about is the "myth" that "you will keep your health."

Refreshed and Gladdened

First of all, I am feeling much better. A few weeks ago I had my hemoglobin re-measured, and it was up to 11 which is much improved. No doubt it is higher now, but I won't have another test until April or so. My symptoms have mostly gone away, and now I just need to get some strength and stamina back.

The weather here seems to have turned a corner, and it looks like spring IS on the way in. I can go out and walk just fine now, and I have returned to my usual activities like taiko drumming and Tai Chi. Soon I'll be back to gardening at Red Butte too, and life will be back to normal.

"How are you?"

I ask it myself all the time. And I get asked this all the time. Of course, it's just a conversational convention. No one really wants the true answer, & no one expects one.

Right now the true answer is "I'm not well at all." I got the numbers from my complete blood count test (CBC). It was worse than I thought. About 10 days ago my hemoglobin was 7.9. When my health care friends hear that, they blanch. Jeeze1 That's low! Very low!

SAD?

I'm not dumb enough to complain about the weather. The weather is what it is, will be what it will be. But I know for sure that this whole month (January) I have been drastically affected by the weather, not in a good way. It kind of came to a head yesterday when I happened to look up out the window after spending too much time looking at the computer screen, and I just burst into tears because it was snowing AGAIN.

Cat Naps and the Will to Cook

I have a kind of new habit which really makes me happy .... napping with the cat. When I am working at home and feeling weary in the middle of the afternoon, I find I can refresh my spirit by taking a break and getting in some kitty love time.

What I Eat These Days

Our heat wave broke last week with a big rain overnight on Thursday followed by all day fog on Friday. I'm feeling so much better.

As I said before I have been eating a lot of salads, fruits and other things that require no or almost no cooking. This has been going pretty well, and I'm thinking this is not a bad way of eating overall. I've also been reading some books that have to do with good and bad ways to eat, and of course, even NPR has stories and news items and whatnot about what we all should be eating, and not eating, to keep us as healthy as possible.

I've decided on some general principles for myself that I think, overall, are good ideas, but that don't make me an obsessive nut about what should be an overall pleasurable part of living. Most importantly, it's a plan that I know I can actually live with.