Musings
About retirement… and random other things!
These blogs first appear as weekly columns in the Red Deer Advocate
Challenge to self: slow down
My second ‘65th year challenge to myself’ dawned on me slowly. Mostly because I was rushing around finishing projects before I met my friend for dinner prior to heading over to an antique typewriter display together – before all of which I had stopped for coffee with a different friend along the way. I’ve always dashed around from task to task,...
Lessons in lingerie
I’m not exactly sure that what I purchase now is still considered lingerie. There was a long stretch of time in my life when acquiring comfortable undergarments was the last thing on my mind! I used to succumb to marketing and wore itchy uncomfortable lacy items for years. Then I discovered yoga and, in so doing, found that yoga bras are...
The hills are still alive
I was excited to pick up a copy of the recent Life magazine that was celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music. Seeing that movie for the first time sixty years ago had broadened my tiny world ever so slightly. It was 1965, I was four years old, and my family was making a rare foray into a movie theatre to see the new Hollywood hit,...
The long and winding road to The Bay
“Meet you at The Bay” was a regular refrain for me growing up. As a young teenager it was to the Market Mall location, where me and my friends would scrutinize the make-up aisle and spritz on their free perfume samples. Then there was always a mission to some other store in the mall where someone wanted to spend their allowance or babysitting...
Challenge to self: don’t be stuck in my ways
My friend from yoga showed me what my first ‘65th year challenge to myself’ should be. When I wrote the column about spending my 65th year putting forth a little monthly challenge to myself, I started wondering what the heck that would look like and what I would do. But the very next day, my friend asked me if I had time for a quick lunch after...
Oh, how my view of aging has changed
You know when you have a spare bit of time and you devote it to clearing out one of the storage bins so your kids don’t have to deal with all of it when you die? Sounds harsh, but that’s sort of how I view organizing the clutter these days. Thing is, statistically I won’t die for a few more decades, so there’s certainly no rush. But I stumbled...
Unexpected detour down memory lane
(Here I am at my first office job in 1981 - rotary phone, ashtray and rolodex and all!) The year 2020 brings immediate thoughts to mind of huge events, including one for me that seemed inconsequential at the time. It was the year I became eligible to begin receiving my Canada Pension Plan benefits, if I chose to do so. I was still working full...
Will you still feed me when I’m sixty-four
How we used to laugh at those old Beatles lyrics way back when, feeling that the age of 64 was lightyears away. But I’m here now. Just turned 64 a few weeks ago and must say it has already caused a bit of confusion. It started when my dear school friend sent me a New Year’s card that said what a great time was coming up, as we would be going into...
Elbows up, standing shoulder to shoulder with linked arms
Gosh, that title sounds like a game of Twister, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t feel like a game these days. It got me thinking: What do you stand on guard for? Your word? Your livelihood? Your kids? I vividly remember the last time I took my daughter camping. She was about five years old and I was just getting used to being alone in the world with...