theinfamousmissbeth

It has been one year since I began this little adventure called retirement. During this time, I have continued to complete part time assignments for my employer, take care of my aging dad, and have been trying to answer the question, "what exactly do you do when you retire?" I stopped to talk with a neighbor the other day. We did some catching up and then she asked, "So what do you do now that you have retired?"  I answered, "Well, I walk the dogs."  (I'm sure she had already deduced that since they were slobbering all over her feet at the time). Then for some unknown reason I added, "and I vacuum a lot". What? Seriously? That's all I could come up with? Surely I have accomplished something! I later remembered that I could have told her that I am studying to be a Tai Chi master. However, that's a bit of a stretch since I am beginning to wonder if the class I am in (there are three), is the remedial class. The instructor s...

On a recent very early morning flight, a couple with two small children in tow struggled down the aisle towards me. The man resembled a pack animal of some sort and held the hand of a blond headed little girl. The woman had a diaper bag over one arm and carried a blond headed little boy in the other.  They all collapsed into the seats in the row behind me. They lived in Vermont and had spent the previous night with Grandma in Connecticut (they already missed her) and were on the way to Mexico for a family vacation. The little girl was Lily and the baby brother was Waylon. I know all of this because, with the exception of about three minutes , two minutes  one minute (of the two hour and 6 minute flight), when Lily enjoyed a juice box, she chattered non-stop.  As we waited to taxi out to the runway, Lily asked her mom if she could have the phone. I'm not sure what a 3 year old was going to do with the phone, but apparently very young children using phones is a "thing"...

I didn't grow up in a porch sitting kind of family. My house was ranch style and while we had what would pass as a patio, there was not a porch. You know the kind that had a railing and a place for a swing. I'm talking about that kind of porch. I do a lot of porch sitting now, however. Well, technically it's a deck with a screened in part that we call "the porch", but it certainly serves the purpose. It's my firm belief that porch sitting is essential to my physical and mental well being.  For me, it is a place to eat breakfast or lunch, read, write,  daydream, watch the birdies taking a bath, watch the pups  stalk squirrels, and simply "take the sun". My mother-in-law recently passed away. While thinking of what I could say at the funeral service, aside from the fact that she was a sweet and supportive mother to her three sons and a "non-invasive" mother-in-law to me and her other daughters-in-law, the main thing that came to my mi...

I recently read a blog post about "slow" blogging. Slow blogging is basically not stressing out over creating new posts and not getting in a hurry to post new items. Since it has been over a month since my last post, I guess I really took the advice from that article to heart! With that being said,  take what you will from that little nugget of information and let's continue on to today's post. As many people can attest, retirement has many perks. For example, an inordinate amount of "robo" calls for new hearing aids, back braces, chair lifts, and walk-in bathtubs can provide entertainment on a daily basis.  However, today I'm writing about one of the more, to me anyway, desirable perks: more time to travel.  I have several short trips planned in the near future, but today I would like to share some photos from my trip to the northeast.  In a way it was like a time travel experience. I left my house in the spring (trees were budding), travele...

So I've noticed there seems to be a plethora of articles on the subject of retirement. Apparently, old folks need an enormous amount of guidance on how to spend their days, money, and leisure time. One article encouraged moving into a community of "like minded" people, whatever that means, and another suggested getting a dog. I guess that one is so if all else fails, at least you'll have one loving and loyal friend.   Although there are numerous articles that  deal with different subjects, they all seem to end up  with:  You need to get up off the couch and get moving!   Apparently, lack of movement is the number one hazard for old folks. Who knew?  I would have thought the only way to avoid a hip fracture or other catastrophe would be to stay completely still. But I guess that's just me.  I am not going to waste any one's time by saying I have always been and continue to be a fitness buff.  I wouldn't even know how to start making up a story ...

Dear Baby Ben, While I am currently calling you Baby Ben, I know that the day will come when you say, "I'm not a baby" and I will have to call you just Ben or Benjamin, but that's okay. Even though you are only one month old, I know some things about you already and one of them is that you will grow and develop as intended so I'm not worried about that. You will learn to roll over, sit up by yourself, crawl, walk, run, feed yourself with a spoon (after a fashion), talk, and probably scream a little as well. Sorry, I almost forgot about climbing, throwing, and riding a bike! You'll have plenty of help learning the names and sounds of letters, how to count, how to read, and how to write because your parents and others will help you do that. You will also have plenty of time for all of that "stuff" so please feel free to remind grown ups not to rush you! I also know that you are and will be loved by lots and lots of people. You have parents, a...

The following conversation recently took place between two four year old little boys:  Boy #1-  You are suppose to share. Boy #2-  I know. Boy #1-  Well, you're not! Ahh. Sharing. Now that's an interesting concept in the world of young children.  What exactly is sharing? According to one definition, sharing  is agreeably giving one's possessions to others.  Sharing is also defined and viewed as a pro-social behavior. It is intended to benefit other people and society as a whole. For grown-ups this is not such a hard thing to do. We share our time, energy, and finances, among other things, with our family members and friends. For young children, "sharing" is not viewed in the same enlightened manner. This is sometimes hard for teachers and parents of young children to understand and come to terms with.  I n an article written for Early Childhood News , Sue Grossman, an assistant professor of early childhood education at Eastern Michigan ...