October 8, 2010

Moments in Retirement




1980, laughing out in the yard on Lotus Street.


Yesterday and Today

Himself: He worked long hours yesterday and is finishing yesterday today.

Herself: with the quilt blog too: Had a putter kind of day.

Herself: …and the quilt blog too: Had a putter kind of day.

My Babylonian Captivity: Do stop in and read Tugster's experience as a human shield. He writes that, “ i was captured in kuwait (where i was teaching in the kuwaiti air force)….”

Gratitude: The sewing machine tension is ok.

It was a smalls kind of day. In the antique/collectable business, smalls are small things like butter plates or salt and pepper shakers that fill up corners in your shop. My smalls are slightly larger, but collections of them run loose through the house and are overtaking it.

For instance….there’s a book basket behind my chair that was threatening to overflow. Next to the Geezers seat is another pile. It had overflowed. Lessa’s magazine pile had overtaken the hall. The refrigerator was constipated. I won’t tell you what the cleaning stuff looked like.

So I read “Civil Campaign,” and I sorted, played with pagination, read, and I sewed. I tidied, picked up, sorted, and was amazed before I was half way through. I became aware that I need to find some way to sew these very individual blocks row by row and not get confused, then I read some more. I repaginated the chap book manuscript, and I read. I got the cover letter written, a bio written, and I sat on my rear.

A mountain of little to middle sized small things got done, and some thinking got poked and prodded and organized. While I reinvented that roasted chicken, I thought about reinventing Judy’s Meatballs. That’s a high fat, high salt, high calorie recipe that our family and friends are very fond of. What would it taste like with turkey instead of beef? What would happen if I used fake sour cream….and the new ones are really good, instead of the real stuff. Judy’s recipe calls for Campbell’s cream of Chicken soup. High salt indeed. I’ve never found a no salt creamed soup, but the newer low salt soups aren’t bad. Then, once on the plate over steamed rice, I used to salt it. Oh my.

No puttering in the kitchen today. Using the leftover roast chicken in a grilled sandwich with spicy cheese was a really good idea. I used the leftover roasted pears combined apple sauce and called them a compote. A tablespoon of honey made them far less leftover. Nothing fancy tonight. When I get home from the Discovery Shop, I’m just roasting potatoes and steaming green beans….and reading. Why not order from Amazon? This series is so very good that I want instant gratification. And the CD Rom that comes with the first edition.

So, no more running rampant through the corners of my house….today. I need to get reading fast since the new Mile’s book is coming out on Thursday, October 21st as Bujold says on her MySpace blog.

There are moments in retirement that are pure heaven.

7 comments:

  1. Whew, I'm out of breath at your "small" mountain of accomplishments!

    I love the 'randomness' of retirement -- I go from job to task in the true nature of ADHD and love every minute of it.

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  2. Yes, yesterday was one of those glorious days. I got so much done and had fun too. Feeling good is a part of it. :)

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  3. WOW! I would be lucky if I got to half of that. You amaze me!

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  4. I agree. I love the kind of day you described. The joys of retirement.

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  5. Retirement is fun. I used to have to work many Saturday mornings, but no more. Tomorrow is the big Scott Antique Market in Atlanta, which comes once a month and we can go. I just have to be firm and not buy anything because the house is full.

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  6. Good to see you are finding a little distraction, making good food, and reading the time away. Everyone needs days like that.

    P.S. Haven't been writing since I injured my neck last weekend helping friend to move. Metal chair feel down on me. Vertigo and tinnitus... yuck, but feeling better today for the first time. Just wanted to let you know all is well and I am still reading your blog post but not so regularly (because of the dizziness, which is hopefully over).

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  7. Retirement is definitely something to be savored everyday. I'm so glad you're making the most of it.

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