retirementreflections

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Bloggers' Meet-Up - Palm Desert

Bloggers’ Meet-Up – Palm Desert

In a few recent posts, I’ve mentioned a Bloggers’ Meet Up that was planned with Janis from Retirementally Challenged,  Kathy from Smart Living 365 and me. This group also met last year and included Liesbet and Terri (who were unfortunately not able to join us this year).

I promised that I would share any blogging tidbits that we discussed. To be honest, it was sometimes difficult for us to stay…

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Turning Sixty Wasn't All That Bad!

Turning Sixty Wasn’t All That Bad!

I previously posted about Richard’s and my joint pre-birthday celebration last month, before we left for holidays. Below is how I spent the actual day in Palm Desert. Come and join me. I’ll give you a quick look-see!

Celebrity Tours

Back in the day, Hollywood’s ‘two-hour rule’ meant that celebrities (who were on contract with their studios) were required to remain within a two-hour drive of…

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Cool Things to do in Palm Desert (and Surrounding Area) -- Part Two

Cool Things to do in Palm Desert (and Surrounding Area) — Part Two

We have not run out of things to explore in the Palm Desert area — quite the opposite! Our week began by us celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with a home-made turkey dinner (cooked by friends). Throughout the week, we again managed to keep ourselves quite busy — without really trying. We browsed the Farmers’ Market, ate some amazing food, relaxed around the pool and hung out with friends some…

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Cool Things to do in Palm Desert (and Surrounding Area) -- Part One

Cool Things to do in Palm Desert (and Surrounding Area) — Part One

For the past three years, my husband and I have taken part in a six-week home exchange in Palm Desert each autumn. We love the balance of familiar routines nestled among new discoveries that we somehow missed during previous visits. Here are a few highlights from this year’s Week One. All offer free admission. Purchases are not required.

Backstreet Art District First Wednesday Art Walk

2600 S.…

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A Quick Question

Shortly, I’ll be meeting up with Janis (RetirementallyChallenged) and Kathy (SmartLiving365). After food, drinks, and catch-up, our conversation will turn to blogging. ‘How to use our blogging time wisely’ is one planned discussion topic. ‘Apps, plugins, and blogging resources’ is another, as is ‘what’s working and what’s not?’.

Reflecting, writing, recording, connecting and learning have all…

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This Past Week in Photos

This Past Week in Photos

Sunday (16th) – Combined Birthday Bash

  Last year (September 19), Richard turned 70. We celebrated with a big, end-of-summer BBQ with friends and family who lived nearby. It was warm and sunny, allowing us to have the full party outdoors. This October, I turn 60. I will be away on Home Exchange on the big day. Building on last year’s success, Richard and I combined our birthdays and prepared…

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Birthday Bash and Friends Who Blog

Birthday Bash and Friends Who Blog

This past Sunday, Richard and I combined our birthdays (131) and celebrated with Island friends. The feature photo shows two special guests who dropped by – Liesbet and Mark from Roaming About! As Liesbet, Mark and I are currently busy preparing their famous handmade vegetarian pizza, I promise to write more about the Bash and our Meetup in my next post. Both events were laughter-filled and…

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Nothing to fear but....

Nothing to fear but….

Look up “Fraidy Cat” in the dictionary. Go ahead; I’m happy to wait.

  Did you see my picture there? I’m not surprised.

The truth is, I can be a big chicken. Tons of things scare the heck out of me. Okay, maybe not in large enough proportions to officially be considered phobias, but still, scary enough.

Here’s a partial list. Some fears, I was too afraid to mention. Others were simply overkill.

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Why in the Heck Am I so Busy?!!

Why in the Heck Am I so Busy?!!

It’s been three full years since my retirement. I can still (faintly) hear well-intended voices saying, “You’ll regret leaving work early.” “You’ll be utterly and completely bored!”

Now that ample time has passed, I can honestly reply, “No” and “Not one little bit!”

You’ll be bored…if you choose to be.

Boredom never crosses my mind. As a matter of fact, it’s quite the opposite. A few friends and…

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Life Lessons Taught to Me by a Three-Year-Old

Life Lessons Taught to Me by a Three-Year-Old

I have recently had the privilege of hanging out with my three-year-old grandson while his daycare was closed for a few days. Having this private time with him was packed full of life lessons. Below are a few of my takeaways.

1. It’s time to ditch the stereotype of ‘little old grannies’ (and ‘grumpy old grandpas’).

Tea in the rocking chair, anyone? None for me, thanks! I’ve got an active…

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How Will You Preserve Your Blog?

How Will You Preserve Your Blog?

I am currently hanging out with my three-year-old grandson, Charlie, for the week. My next post will be about insights gained from this experience. Charlies is always a wise teacher!

In the meantime, I would like to reblog a post by Mike Nelson. Here, he explores the question of how to preserve your blog for your grandchildren (and theirs). Ironically, I had been thinking about the same…

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A Postcard from the Canadian Rockies

A Postcard from the Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rocky Mountains are stunning to behold. I have driven past them numerous times but have never previously stopped and stepped into their surrounding wilderness. This week, that finally changed.

Recently, we visited family in both Kelowna (BC) and Sherwood Park (AB). As a bonus, we were able to catch up with a close friend, from Beijing, who now lives in Edmonton (AB). When planning…

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Parkinson’s Law

I had promised that this post would be about what I did on my Technology Break–the time that I spent luxuriating with family, friends, fiction, fitness, food and fantasies about the Via Francigena. But, after I wrote the title, and published teaser photos, I felt that the rest was self-explanatory.

Adding to my concerns about sounding redundant, when I’ve tried to think of the best way to begin…

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What I Did During My Blogging Break

What I Did During My Blogging Break

Part One – What I Planned to Do

One of the first things that I had planned to do during my break was to ditch WordPress.org and switch to WordPress.com. During the past year, my self-hosting frustrations had escalated, and I was OVER IT!

I didn’t want to risk making the switch on my own (way too much room for irreversible error here). I had a small window of opportunity with someone who was…

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I'm Back (Kinda)

I’m Back (Kinda)

Thank you to all who are still reading after my six weeks away (and for those who stopped by my mid-break Guest Post for Joe Brunner.) I promise to write a catch-up post shortly sharing some of the things that have kept me on the go this summer.

First, I would like to thank Hugh Roberts for featuring me on his blog today. The timing of that blog feature is what originally set August 2 as the end…

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I'm Still on My Break, But....

I’m Still on My Break, But….

I’m still enjoying my break (building sandcastles with my grandson amongst other things).

I greatly miss connecting with each of you and look forward to catching up in August.

In the meantime, Joe and Helen, from Easin’ Along have recently published a Guest Post from me on their site. If you have time (and are not on a break yourself), we would love for you to check it out there.

See you soon! Don…

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Technology Break