Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Mid May

We had wonderful work weather up until this weekend when it got cold again. The cooler weather is perfect for painting the back deck which I have found it needs to be touched up every spring to keep it looking nice. Jim used our new lawn mower for a second time this week and the lawn looks pretty nice. He loves a big yard with nothing but grass. Even with the warm weather, everything is very green. Rochester is windy city and Minnesota storms seem to roll in quickly without a lot of warning. My iPhone will tell me there is no rain all day in the morning and then it'll warn me it's going to rain soon in the middle of the day. Sometimes it will tell me there is going to be rain and nothing will happen. The winds pick up pretty wild sometimes. We have our trashcans outside on the side of the house and once in a while they'll get pushed out into the driveway. We found one of our patio chair cushions a block away once, so we have to make sure they get tied down because of the frequent winds. I bungie corded the trash can to our rain gutter and now it's all dented up, so I need to come up with another way to tie it down. I certainly enjoy our big house and I have plenty of time to work on upkeep now.

This week's happenings include starting every morning having coffee with Jim, the NYT Daily podcast and going to the gym for a workout every morning, each day varies but I typically get in several yoga classes, a couple of 3 mile walks, some elliptical work, a row work out and weight lifting. This week I did a ballet class. I go to Costco too often. I checked out a new book to read from the library -- a Barbara Kingsolver one I hadn't read yet. I made high protein ice cream for my Ninja Creami and a fresh batch of granola.

Mother's Day Memories

In 2005, I wrote all I wanted for Mother's Day was a pedicure. Jim took me to the Outback with the girls for lunch and we celebrated (photo included from a scrapbook scan). I'm not sure if I got my pedicure on that Sunday but I'm sure I got it eventually. Jim's done a great job of helping me celebrate my many Mother's Days (with an exception here or there). I thought about going down to Madison to celebrate with Monika and Erika but a day with Jim, a yoga class, maybe a manicure and a day of relaxing in my backyard sounds so much more relaxing. I have a family Facetime planned early in the afternoon. (see screenshot below)

I've been spending some time writing about my mom when I was younger. I don't have many Mother's Day memories with her. I don't think my dad did much to help us celebrate her but we always went out to eat on Sundays. I hadn't a clue of how much she did for me as a young mother until I became a mother. A lot of people I meet here in Rochester will ask me if I'm a grandmother. I almost always introduce myself as a retired teacher with 3 adult daughters. They next question is almost always if they have kids and when I say, no, there's a bit of disappointment, like somehow my life would be better if they had kids. I'm not so sure. There is so much work to motherhood. When I look back at the old photos of me with the girls, especailly on Mother's Day, I look pretty tired! 

The week leading up to Mother's Day was amazing-- great weather, tons of time for fun. Jim's classes are done so now he's home but grading. I'm working out a lot, so I'm also sore a lot. I work on my gardening a little bit everyday and finished painting my foyer. Jim and I watched a documentary on Vietnam (5 episodes) this week. I'll write up a spring watch list soon of all the shows I'm watching. I have tried to curtail some of my veiwing in order to spend more time reading and writing. It's hard!

Weekend in Madison

I drove down to Madison on Thursday after my morning yoga class to visit with Monika for the weekend. She had a list of projects to work on. She had to work on Thursday and Friday, so I just spent most of the time cleaning out the garage and organizing her basement, rebuilding shelving that was in the condo for her house. The footprint of her home is way smaller than the condo but her garage is quite a bit larger and her basement is almost the same size so she has storage space for things she doesn't have room for but wants to keep. I was hoping to have a big load of stuff to donate to Goodwill, but not so much. There were quite a few items that were left behind by the previous owners that I donated (like a big xmas tree - note, Monika does not celebrate xmas). Erika swung by to look over stuff I was donating on her way to a concert with her boyfriend. While Erika doesn't live as close to Monika, her boyfriend does, which is kind of nice. 

On Saturday we drove out to Ikea in Milwaukee to get some needed household items including the dining table. Monika does not have a dining room, so she needs to be very creative with how she wanted to do dining. It took her a while to decide what she wanted but she ended up with a cute set up for her living room. Erika came over for dinner so we could test the system out and it was great. She got a couple of folding chairs to put in a closet so she can host up to 4 around her table. 

I purchased Jim a new lawnmower for his birthday and gave Monika our old one. Monika got to mow her lawn for the very first time! She has a very nice back yard but it is in need of quite a bit of work. It will be exciting to see how she tackles the job. While I'm at Monika's, I eat vegan with her but my morning latte is just a block away as there is a very cute donut shop close by. It is my morning treat when I stay at Monika's making for a very pleasant time. We have a few more items to tackle today before I head back to Rochester.  May the 4th be with you.

Gardening Novice

Back in the early 90's when we lived in university housing at Eagle Heights in Madison, I rented my first garden plot. Erika and I created a garden together. She was very helpful and loved playing in the earth. She understood how to pick weeds and enjoyed the gardening experiences we shared. I grew tons of produce from zucchini to strawberries. Fast forward 6 years later when we returned to Madison after living in Germany for a year, Monika was a baby, Jessi was toddler and Erika was in school. It was too much. Jessi did not have the patience nor the interest. My gardening days were done. Once we purchased our condo, I built a cedar gardening box for herbs and a tomato plant that Monika eventually took over. She had a lot of interest in gardening and had a wealth of knowledge from working on an organic farm for a season. I continue to learn from her. 

Last summer, after moving to Rochester full time, I purchased 3 raised garden beds but only grew herbs in one. This is my first year back to gardening since I actually have the time to do all the work. I have been growing seeds since February but it has been slow going. I now realize I watered them too much. I finally purchased a grow light to help. This week I started transferring my seedling over to the boxes outside with mixed results. I also planted a few seeds only to find them doing a lot better than my transplants! I was hoping to share some of my seedlings with Monika as she embarks on her first gardening efforts this year in her new house but she'll probably do better just growing from seeds. I'm not sure how much time she'll have as she still has to work full time. But not me! I have all the time in the world for my gardening efforts. I'm eager to start pulling weeds!

April Showers

I spent the whole week in Rochester. When I'm home I have a lot of time to pick and choose what to do. I kicked off the week getting a new garage door. I made several purchases after the sale of my condo went through. Having a little extra money on hand made it easy to buy anything I wanted but Jim helps to keep things practical which is very good. I purchased a water softener, an insulated garage door and a pair of all terrain MTE vans. The rest went into our retirement fund which is losing money by the bucket loads right now. We talked about putting the money under our bed instead which might have weathered better-- but who knows how bad it will all get? Jim says we may be in for death squads in the future, but he keeps comparing what is happening in our country to Nazi Germany which he knows all too well. When I say that's crazy, he replies calmly that the many German people thought the very same thing. What is going on in our country politically has been upsetting but it hasn't kept us from doing all the things we do.

During the week after I take Jim to work, spend my mornings at the gym doing the elliptical machine, lifting weights, yoga, pilates or dance classes. This morning I went to barbell fitness class for the first time, lifting weights choreographed to music with 20 others is bit more fun than lifting on my own. I am enjoying finally having time to explore fitness for 2-3 hours a day but no, I am not losing loads of weight. That's because I am cooking a lot, making lots of fun recipes. Anytime Jim takes me out to eat I think about how much money we'd be saving if I just made the food, so we go out to less and less as I enjoy cooking more and more. I have begun gardening a bit as the weather is warming up but I have not fully transplanted my seedlings yet. We still have freezing temps at night occasionally. I have been spending a couple of hours a day writing this week which I have struggled to do in the past. Writing is not easy. I'd love to finish this first project before the end of the year. We'll see how productive I continue to be as I also spend a lot of time watching tv. I've been watching Star Trek Enterprise and/or 30 Rock in the evenings before bed. Last weekend I finished the first season of The Pitt and the third season of The White Lotus. Of course I don't miss Survivor but never watch it live anymore as I can't stand waiting thru commercials anymore. Yeah, my life is pretty nice.

April is Here

April showers are here but that doesn't mean we aren't getting snow showers along with rain. The happenings of March were somewhat life changing, so April is a welcome breath fresh air, warmer weather and calmer schedules. I had time to finish a quilt made of yearbook and newspaper sweatshirts I started in the winter. I have quite the list of things to do but I'm trying to make sure I spend an hour or two writing daily on top of using an elliptical machine at the gym or walking outside when the weather is nice, working out with weights, doing yoga in the morning after dropping off Jim at work and cooking homemade meals, including a weekly loaf of sourdough bread. I'm living the retirement dream and loving it.

On my list of the things to do:

• Strip & repaint upstairs Deck
• paint under the patio deck
• Finish replacing all light switches & electrical outlets
• Install new front door lock
• plant 3 raised garden beds
• finish adding stone to boulevard
• Paint downstairs Hallway
• Paint Bathroom Downstairs
• Create CX90 car bed for road tripping
• add top paneling on top of kitchen shelves
• finish novel on Summer 1979
• Create new triangle pillow cases
• Start new Large print 
• finish digital art series on girls
• Cambodian elephant art
• Create ceramic Vase with Mom's ashes
• Scan all film negatives 
• Digitize all old family scrapbooks
• Scan old emails from my mom >1995 book?
• get a puppy :)

The End of March

With Spring officially here, we've been having lots of weather-- freezing rain to 80's and sunshine. It's the great thing about living in the midwest, you just never know what kind of weather you might be in for and it's ever changing even within one day. This week was Erika's spring break and I promised her a visit to help out however she needed. The weather was too cold for gardening so I unclogged her bathroom sink and set up her tv with my Plex account and took her to 5 Guys for dinner. I also got one last trip to condo to gather all my garden stuff that I had left behind 2 weeks ago-- a couple of planters, a composter, a bbq and lots of dirt from my garden box that had been carefully cooked through the years with composted food. I took a couple loads to Monika's -- stuff that is still in storage in Erika's basement. My mom had a huge mirror at the end of her stairs that I put at the bottom of my stairs at the condo. Well, Monika is the only one with a long stairwell to add the mirror to and she's not sure she wants to. There are quite a few items like that, that we are trying to figure out what to do with. We don't have a lot of family heirlooms but if it was at my mom's house, it's something that is precious to us typically, even if I know she most likely bought that item at a garage sale.

I stayed at Monika's Wednesday to help with the overwhelming amount of work she has to do and made my way back home on Thursday. On Friday I had a water softener and new faucet put into my bathroom-- two splurges I purchased with my condo funds. When I'm in Rochester, I spent a good part of my day at the gym, doing yoga, swimming, working out etc. I really looking forward to nicer weather to start gardening more. I got started on Friday adding dirt from the condo to my garden beds here. Between the 3 girls' homes and mine, there seems to be a never ending amount of work to get to. Setting aside time to write has been difficult but on my list of things to get to in April. Note: photos below, picture of my new faucet, doing yoga and Jim playing piano for a student singer at a talent show.

 

Moving on Up!

Monika had her walk through and closing on Monday morning and I drove down to Madison with her cat (Perry, who used to be my mom's cat) later so that he would not have to wait in the car to get into the house. Lewy and Marty both stayed with Erika. They are about 17 years old and we knew this move was going to be hardest on them and the 3 hour drive to Rochester would be too much. Erika brought them over to Monika's new house on Wednesday night after Monika and I had gotten her bedroom, office and living room set up. I thought moving out of the condo was hard work. Moving into a new place is just as difficult. Monika wanted to scrub floors and paint walls. The reality is that she is downsizing in square footage from our condo to this house so she is having to make some difficult decisions. She decided to donate our old dining room table and chairs because her new place doesn't have a dining room. I have my mom's old dining set and preferred to keep that one. I left her on Thursday morning with a ton more work to do but the basics set up. She will have something to work on in that house most likely until she moves out!

Jim bought her a new car (a Toyota RAV4) last week so we would not have to worry about her being without transportation anymore. Monika had gone over a year without a car to save money for her house and to utilize the new bus system in front of our condo that was extremely convenient. She now lives on the north side of Madison where the bus system is not quite so convenient and Erika is no longer a block away (she's about a 1/2 hour away now). She is about 10 minutes closer to Rochester though!! I'm feeling quite content now knowing each of my daughters are settled in their own homes. I was thrilled to be back in my house in Rochester where all the comforts of my home are. It's been a long transition of retiring and moving out of Madison. Jim has been working in Rochester for 15 years already, so it's been a long time coming but Rochester is finally feeling like home for me.

The End of an Era!

It became official about 10am this morning but I will start at the beginning of the week. Jim and I drove down to Madison on Monday. It was Jim's spring break and the weather was very cooperative. We enjoyed very mild temperatures, perfect for nice walks and doing lots of work without coats on. The progress was slow going as there was still so much in the condo to unload. We started with clearing out the basement on Monday but the list of rooms to be cleared on Tuesday did not get finished. We picked up a U-Haul box on Wednesday to fill but it ended up being a lot smaller than I had hoped. I used a U-Haul box for my mom's stuff and stored it for nearly a year before transferring it to MN from CA. Monika only needed to keep her stuff safe for a week. 

Because the closing was so early on Friday, Jim and I went in early on Thursday to sign all of our paperwork so we could leave back for Rochester after clearing it out. Jim and Monika left once all the furniture was stored either in the U-Haul or at Erika's. Erika let us use her garage for the weekend and we filled it! I stayed late to return the Spectrum equipment (we had to have internet access right up to the very end) and finishe cleaning. I didn't leave until about 10pm Thursday evening. The 3 hour ride back home was good. While it is sad to see our home of nearly 25 years gone, I am thrilled to be done with the expense of the place. I will be at the mercy of either Monika or Erika when I want to visit Madison now. 

Monika was able to get her house closing moved up to Monday at the last minute. So instead of needing to stay in Rochester with Jim and I for a week, she is only here for the weekend. We are all so very tired from all the moving BUT we will be in for more. I'll be glad once Monika is settled in her new home> pictures next week!

Big Changes

I love March because it means the worst of winter is over. This week we got out of the freezing temps and into the 50's on Monday but got blasted with a blizzard on Wednesday. Jim got a snow day and I got a great workout shoveling snow but I didn't take any photos. I'm noticing I'm taking a lot less photos now that I'm retired. Sometimes I look at the time and what seems like 5 minutes goes by but in reality it has been an hour. It just drives me crazy. I have so much to do and never enough time to get much done. I'm watching a lot of tv shows too-- so that takes up time, plus I spend most mornings at the gym 2-3 hours as well.  On Thursday Jim left for his last army weekend event. He retires from army next month after his 60th birthday. It boggles my mind that Jim and I are turning 60 this year. I remember my mom being baffled by her age and telling me she wished she could talk to her mom about aging. When she got sick, she told me it was confusing-- to feel so young and healthy inside her head but then to deal with the frailty of her body. It's part of the reason I work out so much. I do not want to be frail as I get older. I am so glad my mom verbalized these things to me.

I have been in the process of writing a novel. It's an account of my summer of 1979. I had to pick a very short period of my life to write about to make it doable but I am adding stories and memories of events that happened prior to that summer. It's been a slow process. Writing is not easy and I often put it off to get other things done. I've been watching Masterclass programs on writing to help inspire me as well. I'd like to get this project done by the end of the summer but we'll see. I started this blog decades ago as a practice to write regularly to prepare me for writing a novel. I can't believe how I long I put this project off.

This week > Paint the hallway and dining room, replace and add lighting to the living/dining area, replace vanity lights and switches in my bathroom, replace kitchen outlets, order new insulated garage door, finish my taxes (I owe $$), walk and write. 

Pseudo Golden Birthday

Monika turns 29 this year but there is no 29th of February. Last year she turned 28 but not on the 28th as there WAS a 29th! So the reality is she just doesn't get a golden birthday, but I'm celebrating for her this year as it's a big one with lots of changes coming in March. I drove down to Madison on Wednesday and got to sub at Memorial on Thursday and Friday. I really enjoy subbing for Joe once in a while but this week I got to sub for my replacement (who's name is Joe as well). It was wonderful to connect with a lot of my teacher friends as well as hang out with Erika for lunch. Friday after school Erika and I took Monika to the Nitty Gritty for drinks and waffle fries to celebrate! I'm taking her out to lunch later today and made an appointment for her to get a massage tomorrow. So we are still celebrating!

It's March!! I'll return to Rochester on Sunday for the first week of March and Jim will leave for his last army assignment. The second week of March is Jim's spring break and we will return to Madison to finish cleaning out the condo and to help Monika move out. We close on the condo mid-month and the end of an era will ensue. Not having the condo doesn't mean I can't come to visit and sub in Madison. Erika has a condo nearby and has an extra bed for me. Monika is hoping to close on her first home on the east side of Madison on March 19th. We will need to store all of her stuff for the week between closings. We have been taking stuff to Erika's basement -- luckily she has a large one that is open and empty. There is still a lot of work to do! I'll be so happy once everyone is settled.

 

 

Frigid Week

Any hope that global warming might mean milder winters in the midwest have not turned out as hoped quite yet. Arctic blasts from the north made life uncomfortable this week. We did not get quite as much snow up here in Rochester as family in Madison. Even Jessi got another round of snow this week. For me, the cold is always a nice excuse to take things easy, stay inside and watch more tv. Because when I'm in Rochester, I am Jim's chauffeur (the cost of parking downtown is more expensive then lunch out), it is a very nice schedule for me to get up and out of the house. Jim and I always start our day with coffee and news at 5am. We enjoy listening to NYT Daily if it's interesting, which is almost always is, but we have tired of dire political news (and yes, it's so often dire). Some days we just sit in the quiet or talk of plans. I get ready for the gym while Jim gets ready for his day at school/work by 7am. I see how much energy he spends with his work that I grateful that I don't have that aspect of life anymore. I missed it at first a lot, but not so much anymore. Jim likes to get into the university early, by 8am. My mornings are usually spent at the gym with a class or two of yoga or pilates. I started a ballet fit class once a week as well. I took a ballet class in college (at CSUN) so I could follow along some instruction but it's all very repetitive (tendu! saute!) and I caught on quickly. I've added weight lifting to the mix as well and the gym has added a new training area to make it all that much more fun. I ask my AI chatbot to set me up with a program and it's quite thorough. I often don't get home until noon. I spend a bit of time making lunch, I usually watch a show (or two) and then decide how my afternoon will be spent before picking up Jim between 5pm or 6pm. Evenings aren't always spent with Jim, as he often has work to do but we sometimes will have dinner together, watch some news or a movie or read. I joined Masterclass and am watching programing from authors. Judy Blume suggested a book that I am currently reading now. While I should be working on writing everyday, I don't. I get easily distracted with projects around the house, starting a new quilt or working on my Plex account. I have so much to chose from, I'm never bored... but I don't ever feel busy either.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jim and I celebrated Valentine's with a very easy going day! Jim was able to stay home and I made us a very nice meal. We watched a movie together and enjoyed time by the fire while it snowed outside. It's been a very cold February with a bit of snow but nothing major-- not enough to test out my cc skis yet. I have avoided any exercise outside but have made it to the gym everyday. After our European xmas trip, I came home with plantar fasciitis -- walking has been painful. I've dealt with this issue before but I went to the doctor this morning only to find there isn't much I can do other than avoid more impact on my feet. I've been trying to keep up with yoga, pilates, weight lifting and swimming. I would say the one thing I've been able to do since retiring is keep up with exercise more consistently. I spent time working on writing, running errands, watching movies, and  cooking. I made my second successful loaf of sourdough bread this week. 

It's February!

I started the month in Norfolk all alone. Jessi left for a Navy trip in Mississippi and I was needed to watch and care for her cats. She has two very cute cats and they kept me company while spent my time working out, walking on the beach, watching tv and writing. I was very diligent to exercise every morning with weights and although Jessi has a wonderful gym in her garage, it was often too cold in the morning so I made a nice space in her living room. By noon it would get past 50 degrees with several days reaching past 60. It was not hot, but it was quite wonderful for long walks typically with view all to myself. Although I have started with some writing, I've been very inconsistent, so this was a good week of daily writing for 2 to 4 hours a day. I'm hoping to get back to it once I get home in Rochester.

I flew back to Madison late Thursday so I could sub at Memorial on Friday. Jessi returned on Friday, so the cats were fine. Erika and I had lunch together on Friday at school and ran errands after school. Monika and I did a Costco run together, had some time to do some packing and got to look at houses on Saturday morning. I spent Saturday afternoon at Erika's helping her set up a guest room so that I will have a place to stay once the condo is sold! I left late Saturday afternoon for home. Sunday morning I was back at the gym, doing yoga and on the treadmill. Jim still enjoys walks out on the trail but I do my walking at the gym when it gets below 30! So I'm back home after 3 weeks away! I hope to spend most of the month here.

Week #5 in Norfolk

My second week in Norfolk was much warmer. The snow is all gone and my daily beach walks are so wonderful. I'm doing a good job of working out every morning after Jessi goes to work. I was able to replace her kitchen and bathroom faucets as well as two light fixtures in her upstairs bathroom. I've been making us dinner and together we've been watching Oscar nominated movies. I also have been re-watching Star Trek Discovery. My days are very quiet with the cats and I have actually started writing regularly again. I tell myself I only have to write for 15 minutes, but always go at it for more than hour. I wrote for a bit in November and then dropped off. It's hard work but once I get going, I fall into it easily. I think if I could just get thru one finished writing project, I will have some sense of accomplishment. Like my art, I don't expect it to take over my life. I'm a dabbler. 

Week #4 in Norfolk

Jessi asked me to stay in Virginia for a few weeks to help her with some house projects and also to watch her cats while she is away on a Navy trip. I decided to fly this time as much as I love a good drive. The cost to fly alone is actually a bit cheaper than driving. I used to always drive so that I could take Balt along, but now it's just me. I left Madison on a cold day-- school had been cancelled, but no snow. I had no problems with my flights! BUT once I got to Norfolk a big snow storm flew in behind me. I was hoping for warm weather but it's all relative. It's a lot warmer in Virginia than Minnesota but snow on the beach was not what I was hoping for. 

Week #3 in Rochester

I got back to Rochester on Saturday and got right back to working out, walking and yoga classes. One the very best things about my schedule in Rochester, is that I spend most of the morning at the gym. I make it a point to do at least 3 things, usually a yoga or pilates class, a walk or swim and weight lifting.  I often finish my time with a sauna or hot tub soak. It is blissful and easier to stay in shape. My afternoons are spent making food, cleaning, crafting, writing or watching tv. I do try not to watch too much tv. This week re-watched Severance Season 1 and finished the Star Wars series Skeleton Crew. Jim is a lot busier than I am but we spend our mornings together by the fire, drinking coffee and setting up the day's schedule. I love it if he has errands for me as I'm typically eager for more on my plate, even though I have plenty to chose from. 

This week I made my first loaf of sourdough bread from a starter Monika shared with me. I lined up a buyer for the condo (very exciting if it goes through) and Jim took me shooting for the first time. Jim has a gun in our home, which I really don't like, but it helps him feel safe. He wanted to train me. I'm not comfortable but at least I now know how to use if I had to. I really don't think we'll ever need it.

Next week I'm off to Virginia!

Week #2 in Madison

This week was about working on the condo. I decided not to open myself up to subbing until Friday so I could get work done. I could have subbed all week had I been available! I feel the juggle in my life constantly-- deciding what to do with my time. If I sub, I don't have time to work on the condo and right now the priority is getting the condo ready to sell. The progress on the condo was fairly significant. 

1. Replacing my basement utility sink turned into a huge project as the copper pipes leading to the sink from the kitchen upstairs were rotted with green patina and it sprung leaks throughout the pipes as we jostled them, so fixing one area created a new leak and the process ended up taking a whole extra day of work.
2. Replacing the kitchen sink with a shiny new Costco Kohler sink was delayed due to the pipes leaking but we got it done. The Costco sink was a lot deeper than my previous sink so I needed to replace my huge garbage disposal with a smaller one. 
3. A dining room light fixture/fan was gutted, cleaned, oiled and rebuilt to eliminate the squealing it made. AND new light fixtures were added to all my hallways (5 new light fixtures total).
4. I had an electrician fix the wiring in the primary bedroom so the the light switch turns on/off plugs in the room.
5. The subfloor in the upstairs bathroom was fixed and supported with cement boards and then a water proof membrane was poured and left to cure all week. The tiling will begin this weekend. I decided since I was paying contractors to fix the subfloor, the added cost to have them do the tile was so affordable, it wasn't worth my time to DYI it.
6. While the contractors were working I worked on the baseboards in the living room, cleaning and adding caulk to the edges. I will need to finish the baseboards in the dining room in February. 
7. I took both of my bathroom large mirrors to a Brunke glass to trim rotten edges off. The cost to make my mirrors a few inches smaller was about $15 each-- a lot cheaper than new mirrors.
8. I took a load of stuff in the garage to Erika's (her bike, glass equipment, etc) AND I chipped away at clearing out the basement and garage with a few bags to take to Rochester and large donation to the Restore.

Hello 2025!

I'm starting the new year in Rochester, taking it easy but getting organized. I love starting a new calendar, making goals and planning new projects. There's a lot on my list of things to accomplish in 2025. As my first year being retired, I have a lot more time on my hands to get things done.

#1 on the list is getting fit. My doctor has me on a new blood pressure monitoring program. I already began weight lifting but it's inconsistent because of travel. I upped my exercise minutes on my watch from 30 per day to 60! I'm 3 days in and am pretty sore. I have to be careful not to hurt myself (which is what happened the last time I started lifting weights a few years ago with Tony Horton's program).

#2 is sell my condo and all that is involved in getting that done. Having watched Erika sell and buy last year, I am fully aware of the process and know it is no easy task. I'll be in Madison next week to work on it. I didn't do a very good job of working on the condo while I was subbing so my list is just as long as it was a few months ago. #3 is work on writing. I've started working on a memoir of sorts. I've talked about writing a book for decades now and I finally have no excuses to work one. In November I started working on daily writing but failed to keep it up. I'd like to start with 15 minutes a day but am already 3 days behind! #4 is to try help Jim with retirement. He's retiring from the army this April and the process has been very stressful. #5 is to actually get to gardening this spring/summer. I also have a list of projects for the Rochester house to work on once I've unloaded the Madison condo. Both Jessi and Erika have asked me to help them with projects on their places as well! I'll be going to Norfolk at the end of January to help Jessi out with a few projects.

Travel has been the most wonderful part of retirement but also the hardest part as it is keeps me inconsistent. At first what I missed the most about working was the students and the people but I grow into a new lifestyle I am feeling that lack of regular scheduling kind of difficult. I have an "I have all the time in the world" attitude but that makes it easy to put things off. I suppose the underlining goal for the year is accomplish some stuff regardless of where I am!

Saying Goodbye to 2024 in Vienna!

We said goodbye to 2024 with the final leg of our xmas market tour in Vienna, Austria. We stayed in the heart of the city, near St. Stephen's Cathederal, enjoying wonderful times together, lots of walking and sightseeing. I am coming home with soar feet (a few blisters) and ready to go on a diet! Here's my Instagram post.

It was a good year and I accomplished a huge hurdle that I'd been planning for years-- retirement and moving to Minnesota. While I was financially ready (so to speak) at 57, it took a while to get emotionally ready. The transition worked out wonderfully in part because of the long term sub gig at West that offered me a longer transition. 

I have so much on the docket for 2025 and it's a particular special year because Jim and I turn 60. I never imaged ever being this old really. In my younger years I occasionally thought about retiring at 70 and being able to care for my parents in their late 80's. I thought I would have time with my younger parents in my old age but it wasn't meant to be. I had no idea being this old (currently 59) would feel so young! I'm planning to make it to my 80's but there is a lot of work to be done to get there.

Christmas Card Time!

Here's an extended version of the annual summary: We are grateful for an abundant and healthy 2024 (despite the deep disappointment in the election results).

Jim continues to serve in the Army Reserve but is gearing up to retire in 2025. He loves teaching at the University of Minnesota - Rochester and has no plans to retire there any time soon. He got to spend his 2 week summer training in Korea which was a highlight for him.

Teri, on the other hand,  retired in June after 26 years of teaching art for Madison Metro School District. She enjoyed several retirement parties & big art show. Teri finally moved permanently to Rochester to live with Jim full time but that did not put an end to commuting back and forth. She picked up a long term sub gig at West High school in the fall for 5 weeks and subs occasionally only for very special art teachers.

Erika sold her Fitchburg condo and purchased a new condo in Madison. She returned to Madison Memorial to work with high school special ed students. She loves her new digs and the shorter commute.

Jessi still lives in Virginia, flying helicopters for the US Navy. She recently became a weapons and tactics instructor after spend a few months in Nevada for training. She seems to be up for a new adventure every year. She happily hosted the family for Thanksgiving this year and we all enjoyed wonderful Norfolk weather in November.

Monika is creating media for Overture Center in Madison, doing photography, and makes time to travel and play with her cats. Her photography was recently featured in the Cap Times. We love that she is able to connect us with all kinds of art events in Madison. She is hoping to buy her own home in 2025.

May the New Year bless you all with peace, love and happiness! We all have high hopes for a peaceful and productive 2025.

Winter Art Sale Success

I drove down to Madison on Tuesday to have brunch with a friend and help set up the Memorial Winter Art Sale. Every year I make loads of chocolate covered pretzels and other crafts to sell at the sale. Every year I try to up my game but this year's plan was a bit inhibited by my subbing schedule. I managed to get a couple jean purses, fleece blankets, candles and hand crafted phone straps made-- none of which sold well. I also made 3 loads of cookies (pumpkin pecan, almond joy and cranberry white chocolate) which completely sold out. Here's a photo album of the sale merch!

I subbed at West on Wednesday and got to volunteer to work the sale for the first time on Thursday and Friday. I really enjoyed hanging out at school most of the day to chat with teacher friends, alumni and students. I worked on Thursday with the retired teacher who's job I took and then got to introduce him to the teacher who took my place. I'm sad I did not think to get a photo of the 3 of us! What I did get a photo of was the 2 new posters that the art department put up at the end of a hallway honoring Geof and I as resent retirees. It's pretty meaningful for me!

While I was in Madison, I also met up with someone who I hired to finish my bathroom project for me as well as pick up some of the slack to fixing up the condo in time for a spring sale. Time is ticking! 

Back to Minnesota!

After 6 weeks away and lots of travel, it was wonderful to be home. It is a little odd that Rochester feels like home now. I had a lot of stuff to do to get settled back into life here but high on the priority list was getting all the xmas stuff out and organizing it. I wanted to get rid of the excess stuff but it's so hard to get rid of older items that have sentimental value, even if it's broken! I managed to take a few bags of stuff to Goodwill. We got our tree at Menards and I was shocked at the prices. A small live tree cost us $60 but the nice fake ones at Costco cost $400, so I have not made the switch. Jim and I love the smells of the real tree and of course, our memories of the holiday always included real trees. I am at a place in my life where I love xmas but I don't want any religious trappings of the holiday. Jim likes to tease me about how hard it is to get rid of the christ in christmas. 

I spent the week going to the gym every morning and getting back to nice weight lifting schedule. I'll be traveling again in the coming weeks, so it will be hard to stay regular, but I have to try. I also spent a lot of time working on crafts for the art sale next week. I made two fleece tie blankets and several jeans purses. I started baking cookies yesterday and still have plans to make brownies and chocolate covered pretzels!

Happy Thanksgiving

Monika and I left for Virginia on Saturday morning and enjoyed an all day car ride to Jessi's listening to music and Cher's new bio book. I can do the drive all by myself but it is a lot nicer sharing it with someone else. Jessi had just got back to Virginia herself after several months in Nevada doing weapons and tactical training. It was great to have the whole week with her and Connor to help with a few house projects and prep for the Thanksgiving meal. Jim flew in to Norfolk from Rochester late Wednesday evening. Jim, Jessi and Connor did a fun run in the morning. I got two walks to the beach. We spent time playing games, watching movies and of course eating on Thanksgiving. I made my very first charcuterie board for early Thanksgiving snacking. Monika loves to make all the side fixings and I made sure to get the turkey in the oven early and out with plenty of time for all the other sides to have plenty of oven time. We've got it down to a good schedule but decided to eat a bit later than usual this year (typical for our family is 2pm, and this year we ate at 4pm). 

5 weeks later...

Today is the last day of my long term sub gig at West high school in Madison! My friend, Jenn needed someone for 6 weeks but I opted out of the last week so that I could spend Thanksgiving week with Jessi, who just graduated from a weapons and tactics program in Nevada. We are so proud of her and look forward to spending the holiday week with her next week!

As for my time at West, it was a really great time but I am eager to get back to retired living. I haven't had nearly enough time for exercising as I had before. Also, I haven't been putting in enough work into the condo in order to get it up for sale by next spring. I did manage to get all the tile out of the upstairs bathroom last week only to find my subfloor subpar. I will need to repair it before getting to the tiling, which I am hoping is kind of fun. I am tempted to hire someone to do the work but I have been assured by a teacher friend of mine that I can do this! I have found that all the DIY projects can be quite time consuming when you don't know what you are doing!! There are plenty of Youtube videos with instructions.

Mid November Mindset

I had a short work week having taken Monday off and getting Friday off too! I am enjoying another long weekend because Friday was parent teacher conferences. Yeah, they don't pay subs overtime to stay late for conferences. I took my Friday off to start working on the bathroom tile project. I went into Memorial to pick up a tool from Joe and chat with Grace about the coming art sale and other dept chair stuff. I said hello to Erika. While I miss working at times, I really love having so much freedom to do all the things I want, but boy, do I feel like I have a lot of things to do. The best part of hanging out in Madison is hanging out with Erika and Monika, but I miss Jim. 

With the election over and the feeling of uncertainty lingering in the air, it is nice just to focus on getting work done. I'd been listening to so many election podcasts and YouTubes that it is hard to find other media to focus on sometimes. I need a good book to listen to. Routine has been very hard as I navigate traveling back and forth from Madison to Rochester and look forward to travel to Virginia. The one exercise I've been able to keep consistent is walking!  

 

Thoughts on Aging

Over the Veteran's Day weekend I made my way to Las Vegas after school on Friday and took Monday off to meet up with 3 "old" friends who all had Monday off. The four of us attended the same church in high school and were heavily involved. We had spent many nights together in high school, staying up all night pouring our guts out to each other and decided to do it again as 59 year old women. Interestingly, while the four of us went to the same church, we graduated from different high schools and different colleges in California/Nevada BUT we all ended up in education-- a former 1st grade teacher, a high school English teacher who works at a Jr. College working in a dual enrollment program, a school communications director who works at the district office directly under the superintendent and me, a retired high school art teacher. Our vocations bonded us most. Not all of us were mothers, not all of us attended church, not all of us were retired, nor did all of us vote for Kamala but each of us had a heart for education, kids and our husbands. Each of us had tons of stories to share. We stayed up late, ate great food, enjoyed wonderful LV weather and decided to do it again next year!

We all shared the very same sensation of not feeling our age. We each remembered thinking (as young people) about older adults who were younger than we were at the present, as being decrepitude! We each saw each other as not having changed, and yet, we each had changed quite a bit-- certainly we were a lot more wise than our younger selves! We had so much fun just basking each others company and love. There were tons of hugs and a few kisses, lots of smiles and constant laughter. Getting old is wonderful when you realize that old friends are true friends.

Just hoping for the best!

I took Monday off and spent a long weekend in Minnesota in part because Jim and I had tickets to Beat at the State Theater in downtown Minneapolis. We had a grand time at the concert enjoying King Crimson music played by Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai and Danny Carey (of Tool). When I go to progressive rock concerts with Jim I am quite in the minority as the crowd is mostly middle aged to older men. There were a lot of really old folks rocking out at this one!

I drove back to Madison on Tuesday. There was no school since most schools in Madison are used for voting. Teachers had PD but subs don't do PD! I went to bed with an uneasy feeling to wake on Wednesday to a red wave. In Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin (the Democratic Senator who referred Jessi to the Naval Academy way back when) survived and both MMSD school district referendums were voted in offering all teachers raises for the school year. Hurray for small victories. Of course my property taxes will go up by about $400 but the hope is to sell the condo soon. The disappointment in the results was difficult for my family members and students. Wednesday was a difficult day. I wore black to work and shared some very personal thoughts with my first hour who were quite despondent. I've thought about writing about those thoughts but I've haven't yet. I have a lot on my mind but I am an optimist. I've heard both that our nation has either elected the anti-christ and/or Adolf Hitler. I'm an optimist and am hoping for the best outcomes. I'd like to think that was not the last election I will get to vote in (as indicated by the new president). But hearing "promises made, promises kept" isn't comforting to me. BUT hey, my retirement funds are making money, so no complaints yet.

 

Election Season

I did a 2nd week at West without issues. I'm enjoying the students and they seem to be offering me a lot of grace and understanding in part because they love their teacher (not necessarily me) and because most are just super nice kids. The teacher I am subbing for is recovering splendidly and I suspect will be back sooner than later which is nice for me. As much as I have enjoyed the job, I miss being home and I have missed having all the time in the world to work out and putz around. 

When I moved to Minnesota, I knew I wanted to keep my Wisconsin drivers license in order to be able to vote in Wisconsin. It seemed kind of crazy but I knew my vote in WI would be more valuable. Minnesota is not a swing state, it is wonderfully progressively blue. I loved that Madison was a progressive city but the state is very purple with the northern regions quite red. Madison and Milwaukee have vote hard to win against the rest of the state! The nice thing about that is that there are lots of political rallies in Madison. Monika made it to several. I could not take the time off to stand in line for hours but here's a photo from Monika's view at the Dane County Coliseum. It was a packed house of 10K!

Harvest Time

I was back in Rochester this week enjoying the cool autumn weather. We live near several farms and I can see all the corn is harvested and the fields are golden. I was at a yoga class yesterday where the teacher asked about the harvest in our own lives. I was really struck with the idea of the change in my mind set without school overbearing my thoughts and schedule. I have come to really enjoy my mornings walking with Jim, going to morning yoga and pilates classes, and having time to sit in a sauna. I did a rowing workout yesterday for the first time as I am trying to keep my workout varied-- doing 2-3 different things a day. I would say the thing I have yielded most is time to exercise and time with Jim on a daily basis rather than only having time with him once or twice a month.

That changes next week as I begin a long term sub situation at West, but I'm not really prepping for it at all. I'm stepping into a new situation that will be brand new-- new school, new students. My goal is to walk and bus every morning rather than drive and park, keep the time enjoyable, positive, productive and fun. I have a personal project I'd like to work on while students are working when there's time-- maybe there'll be lots!? We'll see. I'm good either way. It's a different feeling to be quite unencumbered as its all so temporary.