It's December already!

This retirement gig is very interesting. It seems like only yesterday was May 22nd, and I was retiring from teaching. Now, it is December 15th! Time really flies when you are having fun. I actually started this post on December 4th. I cannot seem to get it finished.

I am finally realizing that it is okay to just get up and take my time getting ready. I am actually sitting down to have breakfast, when I do have breakfast. My normal way to eat was standing up while running around doing things, either at home or at work. It is okay to do something for myself once in a while. It is okay to sit down and read a book or watch television. I tape my soap operas, so that I can watch them at night. There are only two left of the ones that I have been watching for years. My Mamma and Granna got me hooked on the CBS 'stories' when I was a teenager. Most soap operas have been cancelled.

The television industry now has an influx of reality shows, instead of regular shows. Comedies have been relegated to 'one liners' by the characters. They all use the same 'sing-song' type of voice and inflections in their voices. Many of the shows sound as though the people are dubbing their own voices over a close-up microphone in a studio. They do not even sound as though they are actually speaking while they are acting. I think that is just crazy.

We have had a touch of real winter here in the South, with some colder temperatures. Of course, we do not have anything like the weather up north, but we have enough cold for me. I do not like to be cold. The heat doesn't bother me, but the cold does! My yard is full of leaves from my pecan tree, so I do not need the mountains or snowy weather to make it feel like winter. haha  I love to look at the leaves. They make me feel good, so I do not rake them. The neighbors probably wish I would rake them, but I like to leave them on the lawn. They are pretty.  We have had many days of spring type weather, but today was actually cold.
Thanksgiving was awesome. I had the family over for the day. The children greatly enjoyed all of the leaves on my lawn. They got two brooms and swept up all the leaves they could possible sweep. Then, they enjoyed covering each other completely with leaves. Suffice it to say, the kids had a good old time!

My pecan tree had plenty of leaves to cover the entire lawn.

The leaves were spread all over the yard!

My porch and steps were also covered with leaves.

Now, the tree is bare!

Happy December!

It's been a while!

Well hello!  It has been quite a while since my last blog post. I was really busy with work and life in general. Retirement has finally arrived, and I am enjoying every minute of it!  For some odd reason, I fought the retiring thing. I am glad that I finally took my children's advice (strong encouragement) and just did it. Actually, I waited until the very last day of school to make the decision.  I am happy with that decision.
Bike rides, taking it easy, getting things done in bits and pieces, and just relaxing are some of the things that I can do now that were not available to me while I was working.
I am not sure if anyone is actually reading anything that I am writing, but it is nice to be doing it again. I thought that I had deleted this whole blog a few years ago. I did a search for my blog the other day, and it popped right up for me! How about that!
So, I may be getting on here every now and then to write and express my thoughts, or describe something fun that has happened.
I will start with a morning bike ride that I had a few weeks ago. I was rolling along slowly, as always, and saw a little animal hopping down the road. It looked like a little rabbit. Since I live in the city, I thought this animal must be someone's lost pet. As I rode closer, I realized the animal was actually a squirrel with NO tail.  Can you imagine that!  The little guy hopped along and then scooted right up the nearest tree!  I have ridden back by there several times, but the little squirrel has not reappeared for me.
This summer, I spent a lot of time at the beach. I went by myself and just sat there enjoying the day. I also started reading a series of four books by Eugenia Price called the Savannah Quartet. For someone who has always avoided reading, these books were really big ones to attempt. The first one is called Savannah. I read it many years ago, so I skipped right to the second book. Those books are really, really long!  There is a lot of history in them, also. The second book was very easy to go through. The third and fourth books took a while longer to read. They are loaded with historical facts as well as a great story line.  Being on the beach for hours at a time gave me ample time to get the books read. Also, it is easier for me to read outside in the sunshine than in the house!  So, I read the entire series this summer. Then, I read a very interesting book called, We Were the Lucky Ones, by Georgia Hunter. This story is about a Polish family during World War II. The book is awesome, and I recommend it to anyone who likes to read. Next, I reread an awesome children's book called Waterless Mountain, by Laura Adams Arner. It is an older book that won the Newbery Award Medal. This story is about a young Navajo boy living in what is now Arizona. The story is awesome. It describes the culture of the Navajo through the life of this little boy. I then read another children's book called The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. This book was a quick read. It is about the plight of a caged gorilla who lives in a Mall. It is a Newbery Award winning book, also. After reading some serious things, I borrowed some different types of books from my cousin. The first one was called The Perfect Dress, by Carolyn Brown. It was really good. It is about some women who opened a small wedding dress store and design and make wedding gowns to fit sizes 14 and up. It was heartwarming. Then, I read another Carolyn Brown book called Magnolia Inn. That was nice, also. Next, I switched to some really serious religious stuff and read Practicing Radical Discipleship, by Janet Wolf. This book took me a while to read, mainly because I was reading other things in between. I had to put it on the back burner a few times and go back to it in spurts. I finished in yesterday, finally. I am still trying to get through a smaller book called This Matter of Marriage, by Debbie Macomber, which I started while reading the other books. It is an easy read, but I have been reading it in between reading the discipleship book. During this time, I also read the book that many people are talking about these days called Where the Crawdads Sing, by by Delia Owens. It was an easy read, and it was really interesting. I see why so many people like it.
If you are wondering why I am so excited about these books, it is because I have not been able to read books for a long time, due to some vision things. So, I am really proud of myself at being able to read again.
Today, I rode with my cousin while she delivered Meals on Wheels. Then, we ate lunch at the historic Pirate's House restaurant. They had an awesome buffet today!  After that, we visited a wonderful little bookstore called  Books on Bay. It is a store with hundreds of vintage books. A retired English professor started this store. She has labeled each and every book by hand and can tell you about all of them. It is on what is called Factor's Walk, in the downtown area by the river. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon - just perusing through her store. She has the actual, original paintings for the covers of the Nancy Drew mystery books, too. She has several on loan from Boston. They are neat pieces to see.
I am still stuffed from my lunch buffet. A person cannot do that too often!  HA!
I may come on here from time to time. I may come on here more often than that, now that I have gotten back in the swing of things.
Have a great day!