Observations on getting used to being one of those gray-haired retired people

Rock Out!

Lisa Renee'

October 7, 2024

As we were driving around the other day, I noticed that a “Rock Show,” or more accurately, a “Gem and Mineral Show” was happening at the nearby event facility where I used to work. When The Fisherman asked me what it was, I explained it’s multiple “Rock Clubs” that put it on, with vendors and display cases of their rock collections. It’s hobby people do their entire life, and many of them really throw themselves into when they become “Seniors” or retire, meaning when they have more time to travel the country looking for those rocks and gems. I also think they view it as a social activity as well. I went on to remind The Fisherman that I used to be into collecting rocks when I was a kid. I say “remind” because it’s probably one of those stories where he goes, “You already told me that,” to which I reply, “Well, I’m telling you again.” That’s an entire story for another day, but today it’s about rocks. Riveting, I know.

I think I got into rocks as a little kid, because of my Grandfather’s friend, Mike. Mike had a rock tumbler and I was fascinated by it. I now can look back and understand that Mike and his wife, Nettie (there’s a name you don’t hear anymore, ) were themselves, “Rock Hounds,” the name those who hunt rocks give themselves.

I never went with my Grandpa to Mike’s house that I didn’t come away with some very shiny rocks that came out of the tumbler. I recall asking Mike a ton of questions about what kinds of rocks he had and what I should look for and he told me that, while agates are pretty easy to spot at the beach, remember that sometimes a rock can look plain on the outside but you’re surprised at how good it can look when it’s polished. Somewhere in there is some deep, philosophical lesson, right? But at the time, Mike and I were just talkin’ rocks.

Bottom line: I came away hell-bent on getting me a rock tumbler! I harped about it all the time, and while I worked on wearing-down my parents, in the meantime, I worked on gathering rocks for the tumbler that I was confident would soon be mine. Every time we went to the beach I brought along a bucket, but not to make sand castles, oh no——my bucket was along for gathering rocks! Sometimes I even convinced my younger brother that, after he was done digging in the sand, he should also donate his bucket to my rock-gathering cause.

Yes, I did find my share of agates I knew would polish well, but I remembered Mike telling me about those plain rocks that can surprise you when you polish them, so I gathered EVERYTHING! I saw potential EVERYWHERE! When it was time to head home after our day at the beach I would head to the car with my buckets of rocks and I will hand it to my Dad, he always let me bring them home. He would sigh and load them in the trunk of the car, where they would always end up tipping over on the drive home..

The funny thing is, to this day, I don’t really know what happened to those rocks. I remember saying I wanted to take them to Mike’s tumbler, and, at the same time, I would throw out my sales pitch for how it I simply had my OWN tumbler, I could polish them all myself. Then, being a little kid, I guess my attention would go elsewhere, and I never followed what happened to those buckets of rocks. I’ll wager my grandpa added a lot of rocks to his driveway over the years. I assumed they were being stockpiled for the glorious day my tumbler arrived.

My nephew, who is now in his early 30’s, had my same rock obsession when he was a kid. When he learned how plain a Thunder Egg looks on the outside, he saw no reason not to believe you could find one of them out in my Dad’s gravel driveway on the farm. My nephew was always out there gathering handfuls of 3/4-minus gravel, just sure one of them was valuable.

Lucky kid that he was, he DID get his own rock tumbler. Yes, I was jealous. Like me, he didn’t have a lot of patience when he realized it took days on end of tumbling before you got a shiny rock out of it. So, artistic, creative kid that he was, he took a different approach. When he was about 7 or 8, he loved to go with my Dad to the auto parts store, and one day he convinced his grandfather to buy him a can of chrome paint. The next thing we knew, he was out in the gravel driveway, picking up 3/4-minus gravel and spraying it with chrome paint. He walked into the house with these blindingly shiny nuggets and announced, “I decided just to make my own valuable rocks.”

Why didn’t I think of that?! Probably because I never went with my Dad to the auto parts store. Did they even sell chrome paint back then, and either way, I was too busy creating my campaign to get my own rock tumbler.

The other day when I remembered my obsession with wanting a rock tumbler, I recalled a conversation I had with my Mom asking her if she remembered how much I begged for a rock tumbler as a kid and how she refused to buy me one. She chuckled and said, “Yes, I remember it well and we didn’t buy you one because your Dad and I knew you didn’t have the patience for it, and we were right.” I laughed and agreed, adding, “So, then you bought me a wood-burning set I also teased for, and I proceeded to get a big burn on my thumb, and refused to ever use it again.” My Mom countered with “Yes, you burned your thumb because you were not patient enough to wait for me or your Dad to help you take the hot end off of it.”

Ah yes: That patience thing again. Of course, my mother was right about that. With time and maturity, I have learned how to have some patience, thankfully, about some things but I will admit, not about everything. The Fisherman can attest to that. When he reads this he will think, “Traffic: That’s one thing she has no patience for!” I will agree with that and I’ll add that I still probably don’t have patience for a rock tumbler….or a wood-burning set. Do they even make those things anymore, and for kids? That seems so odd looking back.

For many years I had a brandy snifter that sat on my coffee table full of 3/4-minus gravel. It was a conversation piece. People would ask, “Why do you have a glass brandy snifter full of gravel?” My response was, “Oh, those all came out of one of my dogs. He was a rock-eater. Thankfully, he would throw them up so he never had to go through surgery to remove them. I collected the biggest, most-impressive ones and keep them in that glass to just marvel that those were in him. Impressive, huh?” My answer would either freak them out or they would laugh and be impressed that he could swallow those rocks and vomit them back up. One day the glass cracked and broke, and since the dog had passed on many years earlier, and I think everyone had heard the story of the rocks in the brandy snifter, I went out in our side parking area and added those chunks of 3/4-minus to the rest of the gravel. Yet another rock collection of mine left in a driveway.

Maybe I should have bought a can of chrome spray paint.

Why Autumn Means a Fresh Start: My Fall Rituals

Lisa Renee'

no comments

September 23, 2024

Yesterday Autumn officially arrived, or “Fall” if you prefer to call it that, and I, for one, am delighted. I know many don’t agree with me on that as there are those who lament the end of summer, but I have never been one of them. I’m a “Fall Person” at the minimum and I would even say I’m a Fall and WINTER person. Granted, in Oregon our winters are typically not too severe and I don’t dislike the rain. What I dislike is heat so, yes, that does mean I’m not a fan of summer. Never have been. I like having 4 distinct seasons, even if our winters here are not that frigid. Winter here is cloudy, and wet and once in a while we’ll see ice and snow, but not too often. Despite that, it’s a definite weather change and I like that. Sure, it gets wet and soggy and having dogs, that means a lot of wet footprints in the house all winter and I typically am ready for that to end by spring and summer, but it doesn’t take too much of the hot weather for me to start longing for some cloudy weather and rain. That’s just how I roll. The rain doesn’t usually arrive until mid-October, so we get some great Fall days: Sunny, but not hot, with cool evenings and mornings, with all the beautiful leaves. All that being said, I LOVE Autumn/Fall. It’s just the best to me. I love the leaves changing and we get treated to quite the sight here in the Pacific Northwest. I love cool, crisp Fall days. Sure, we can get a day in the 80’s in early-Autumn, (we likely will this week,) but as I always tell everyone, the temperature slowly rises in Autumn, and it only hits that big number long enough to register it, then it plummets fast and we still get a cool evening and morning so it’s not like 85 or 90 degrees in the month of July.

I just like the fresh start of Autumn or Fall. In my working life before retirement, I was in 2 professions where the summer was a busy, hectic, culmination of the entire year. We started our next “year” in September. It is much like school. As a result, that’s always how my life worked: You start fresh in September and the Fall. My mind just looks at it that way. You also get football and you roll into the holiday period with Fall. I love all parts of it.

The Fisherman, he’s currently doing his analyzation of the condition of our front lawn after the summer. He’s not super-satisfied with it for this year, so he has these big plans for what he’s doing with it here this Fall. I always joke with him about predicting when he will have the ceremonial “Last Mowing” meaning when he will admit that the weather has changed enough to where he declares he won’t mow again until about March. We have no trees in our front or back yards that shed leaves but our neighbors all around us do, and it never fails that we get a massive wind storm in the Fall and all those leaves end up in our yard and I’m raking without having trees but that’s fine. Hey, it’s part of Fall.

When I mentioned football being part of Autumn, I failed to mention that we are a Green Bay Packers household. The Fisherman comes from a long line of Cheeseheads because all his family was born in Wisconsin. He is the only one not born there, but he was born in Tillamook, Oregon, so there is clearly a cheese theme going on with his family. As a result of that, the football season is a big thing with us, and I know Fall has rolled around when we start putting the Packers flags on our house and he starts playing the game where, when we go out somewhere and he’s wearing Packers’ clothing, he asks, “How long do you think it will take before we hear someone yell, ‘Go Pack Go!’?” I never win that wager because it happens so fast…and often. Those Packers fans are everywhere and I swear they find each other like Jedi Knights: “I sense a Cheesehead is near” and they just spot each other and start yelling “GO PACK GO!” It’s funny and part of Autumn.

Fall also is a great time for one of our dogs who is obsessed with wearing coats. I’m serious. She LOVES her coats and she has many. If you take one off and lay it somewhere that enables her to get to it, she will grab it and come over and fling it at your feet to tell you she wants to wear it and go for a walk or a ride. She does not love that summer means no coat-wearing. I haven’t broken out her coats yet, but Autumn means it’s any day now, when I let her wear a coat when she goes for a walk and she will be beaming with happiness.

I’ll have to remember to tell The Fisherman that soon he too can now start wearing a coat again. He has one with a “G” on it for the Green Bay Packers, of course.

I’m The Ghost Pedaler–It’s Me! My E-Bike Learning Curve

Lisa Renee'

no comments

September 6, 2024

Like many others in retirement, “The Fisherman” and I have purchased e-bikes. Cannot say it was planned. My sister and her husband bought them and the next thing I knew, The Fisherman was shopping for one for himself and….well…..what was I to do? It sounded like fun, I used to ride a bike a lot as a kid, so why not? It would be something for us to do together in retirement. As we shopped at our local REI store, looking at gear, etc., we talked with a guy who works there who is in our age-range. I really wondered what he was going to think of e-bikes, but he said he’s all for them. To paraphrase him, he said, it’s our generation that really got into “cycling” and he said for himself and friends who have rode for years, they had worried and wondered if the day would come when they would have to give it up because their aging bodies might not make it as easy to ride as it once was. He said that has now entirely changed due to e-bikes. They are grateful they won’t have to give it up and he loves that these bikes are getting more people out and riding.

Now, let me say this if you’re someone “our age” considering an e-bike: You know that saying that goes something like, “it’s just like riding a bike—you never forget” alluding to the fact that once you learn to ride a bike, you can hop right on and do it again? Well, that’s not quite true with an e-bike. Don’t get me wrong–I’m all for the e-bikes, but there IS a learning curve, at least for those of us who rode the “old school” bikes of our youth. This e-bike is NOT my old banana-seat bike I had as a kid or even the 10-speed I saved my dollars for and got when I was 12. These e-bikes are HEAVY due to the battery and we have the “Fat Tire”-style e-bikes which adds to the weight (ours are the Lectric XPeak model and this isn’t a sponsored endorsement but their customer service is great and we love the bikes.) That was the first thing I noticed: How heavy the bike is. Then, thankfully my sister warned me to be ready for the Pedal Assist, because when you have that on, if you start to pedal, those pedals TAKE OFF when you pedal, and you better be ready for that blast of power. It’s probably why we’ve heard of many people crashing on them when they first ride one: They didn’t have my sister to caution them of how different it feels and to be ready. We’ve heard many people speak on how you need to work to get your confidence on one. I would agree with that and that’s been, at least for me, a little hard to accept because I used to be super-comfortable on a bike as a kid. I think “kid” is the key word. As I kid, I rode everywhere and I don’t recall any concern over traffic, dropping off a curb, taking a tight corner, starting from a stop, etc. I had no worries. Where did that kid go? I think it’s likely that old thinking of our youth that we are invincible. Now, I’m like some Safety Monitor. Sheesh! I’m concerned over traffic and crashing. I worry about tipping over. Now, in my defense, that’s partly due to the weight of the bike. Slowing down on the bike has me thinking, “Can I keep this sucker upright?” I also don’t feel like I can turn or maneuver it on a dime. I suspect it will come with time, but for now, I’m cautious.

The Fisherman?—He’s got mad skills. Seriously. He doesn’t seem to have a care. My worries on the bike began with adjusting the seat. I have short legs. I’m 5’6″ but very little of that is leg. I joke that I have a “Tall Butt” but I’m telling you–A good portion of my height is butt. My sister has long legs and I tell her some of that leg length should have been mine. So I get on the bike and I want at least some toe-touching-the-ground-capability. Now I know: Skilled cycling pros say that’s not necessary, but with this heavy bike, I want to feel like I can control it somewhat if I’m slowing down. Now, for The Fisherman, he’s really tall, like 6’3,” and he has really long legs. He had to crank his seat up so high I can practically rest my chin on his seat when I stand next to it. No chance I’ll be hopping on his bike! He jokes about how much we had to lower mine. I know if it’s too low it’s also not good for your knees, but actually I think I’m okay on mine. Refer back to my reference to my short legs. It’s all proportionate.

The other bit of advice I’ll give you is you’ll want to read the manual for the e-bike. I told you: There’s a learning curve. I didn’t take that serious enough. I don’t need no stinkin’ manual! I know how to ride a bike! Yeah, key word is “bike”—this new machine has an “e-” in front of the word bike. It’s a different animal. That “e” changes everything.

The Fisherman suggested we take our bikes out on the Banks to Vernonia Trail which is one of those great Rail to Trail paths, where they take an old abandoned railway and convert it into a bike and walking trail. It’s a brilliant concept and this one is a gorgeous ride. It’s 21 miles ONE WAY and we know we need to work up to that, even on e-bikes, so we road about 10 miles into it, then turned around.

I got out there and remembered why kids love riding bikes. You feel the breeze and we’re cruising along primarily with all of the other retired people on a weekday, although school was still out for the summer, so we did see some families with kids. Here is where my first “Safety Monitor” worry came in: I have to pass these kids on bikes and anyone else on the path. I’m sure the path is wide enough, but that didn’t stop me from going in my head “Don’t tip over….Stay upright…STAY UPRIGHT—DO NOT SWERVE!” All was well but that thought went through my brain every time I met someone else on a bike. Same thing for walkers. My “Don’t tip over!” mantra would go off in my head.

As for the pedal assist, THAT is so awesome! I said I was going to pedal on my own as much as possible for exercise and I still approach it that way, but hey, there’s no shame in my game. I’m 61 and I’m not going to lie: My legs got tired and I was happy to hit that pedal assist, and even the throttle at times. Here’s where my lack of studying the manual/handbook came to haunt me.

There’s a way to use the pedal assist and the gears. It’s different than that 10-speed you rode as a kid. Well, me, admittedly I thought “Why in the hell do I need gears when I have Pedal Assist?” Now The Fisherman, he is an expert on all things with motors, and technical stuff. He dove into it all and he read the manual, watched videos and studied—hard. But not me, oh NO, and here’s where the humor came into our ride.

We took turns following each other on the path, and I noticed while my feet were flying on the pedals (total blur of pedaling,) when The Fisherman was in front of me he was pedaling slowly, with a very slow amount of rotation. I finally yelled up to him, “How is it that you’re pedaling so slow?” I knew he was using Pedal Assist like me, so why was I like a squirrel on a wheel, scrambling with the pedals, and he was doing a cool, slow rotation?

He yells back over his shoulder “Ghost Pedaling” to which I yelled back ‘WHAT?” He then yells over his shoulder “Ghost Pedaling!! Ghost Pedaling!! You Are Ghost Pedaling!!!!!” At this moment, with me pedaling at warp speed like a maniac and him yelling over his shoulder “Ghost Pedaling!” it was like a scene from “I Love Lucy.” Had e-bikes been around back then, there would have been an episode where Lucy and Desi would have been on a ride with Lucy “Ghost Pedaling” in a frenzy and Desi would have been yelling “Ghost Pedaling!” back at her.

At the point that he’s yelling over his shoulder at me with that single phrase “Ghost Pedaling!” I started laughing because I knew he was rolling his eyes thinking “I told her to read up on this!” I was laughing because when I heard the words Ghost Pedaling, I DID recall him telling me about it. Without getting super-technical on you, “Ghost Pedaling” is the term used to describe when you’re pedaling on the e-bike and not really having any impact. It’s like you’re not there–like a ghost! What I failed to remember is that when you’re in the various levels of Pedal Assist on the e-bike, you MUST shift up (yeah, THAT’s what those gears are for!) so that YOUR pedaling contributes something along with the Pedal Assist so that you can pick-up speed. It’s like you’re assisting Pedal Assist! Otherwise your pedals are going crazy-fast and you’re contributing NOTHING. You’re a ghost using the pedals! That may not be a super-technical explanation, but that’s it…in my brain. The Fisherman probably could give you a better, more technical explanation, if he’s recovered from the embarrassment of being on the trail with a Ghost Pedaler.

I shifted up after he yelled back to me “Shift Up like I told you before” (you mean “before” when you told me to read the manual?!) and, wow, it made all the difference in the world. Who knew?! Well, The Fisherman knew, and when we stopped to turn around he was shaking his head laughing at me, and I was laughing thinking about how goofy I must have looked, with my feet flying away on the pedals.

Oh Lucy! Shift Up!

Embracing Old School Humor: Returning to Writing in Retirement

Lisa Renee'

no comments

August 21, 2024

I’ve been away from writing on purpose because I was kind of in conflict over what I was doing with the blog. I suddenly figured it out, and then decided on, or close to, my birthday I would start again now that I had cleared my head and my Birthday was this week.

I used to work heavily with social media in my job before retiring, and I have an understanding of how it works and what it now has evolved into. It may be an “old person” thing, but I see how controlling it is, plus, I’ve become a tad, shall we call it, “rebellious” over how much selling has overtaken social media, and I roll into that category podcasts, YouTube, you name it. In my working life, I came from advertising, sales, marketing, and sponsorship. I get all of it. As a result, maybe I am more skeptical and cynical when listening to a podcast and I hear the podcaster talking about the importance of something perhaps health-related or something and they go “here’s what I take/do and oh-by-the-way, use my coupon code”………what? Suddenly I pump the brakes……is this sincere or pure sales-sponsorship for a commission? I’ve been there. I once endorsed sunglasses for a broadcast I was doing. In this case, they were really outstanding,and I and my broadcast partner became believers in the brand but it only came AFTER the account was sold to the brand and we were then told we would do this as part of our job. Luckily, it was all good so I and my broadcast partner could be sincere on the endorsement but had that not been the case we would have been expected to fake it. We both chuckled over that and pondered how we would have handled it had we not been so impressed with the glasses. Does this still happen? Who knows, but it’s why I can be skeptical when I hear these things, and it’s contributing to my struggle with this blog. All you hear about is “monetizing” and figuring out how to make money on your blog podcast, or Social Media in general. Everyone is a “Content Creator” these days. The crazy videos of people pulling pranks, etc. is all there to get you to click on them so they can show how many clicks/followers they have so they can monetize it all. There are workshops online teaching how to do this, thus all of the recipe accounts with people teaching you how to cook something, as an example. Heck, there are even online workshops about how to have your own online workshop you can make money off of, and people DO make massive amounts of money. Me? I just want to write and make people laugh. It’s an old school belief, I know. Apparently that is my “product” I guess. I also ask myself what if an endorsement opportunity happened? I guess my only thought is to deal with it as it comes, if it even does. It’s not my goal.

I guess I’m going to stubbornly stick to my guns and write even though you hear marketers/influencers say blogs are dead. Oh well, there’s maybe some of you old folks out there who get it, like me. I don’t want to live my retirement life hampered by the pressure of creating digital content in every moment of my life, being that calculated over everything I do. “Wait, let’s stop and take a photo…this would be great content.” I will and can find time to write and share like my beloved Erma Bombeck did years ago with her newspaper column, and I’m going to stick to my “Old School” guns and do that.

I want to prove humans can still connect in that way: Reading words. I need to be true to me. (Long form videos on YouTube….who knows?…me and The Fisherman? I don’t know that I’m coordinated enough to fish and run a camera and do I really want to be consumed with editing videos or, rather, do I share it all simply with writing and photos?) Never say never, but relaxed time is also important. I understand that now in retirement. So I’m now just going to write and hopefully it can be funny at times and maybe you and others will like it and you’ll share it with your friends and point them towards this blog. That’s it. I just saw on the news last week that the “Gen Z” demographic (those born from 1997 onward meaning the oldest are only 27) are growing weary of all the selling on Social Media platforms but I’m not kidding myself into believing I’m writing for them anyway, or the Millennials. But never say never. Maybe my old school ways and belief I can simply write funny stuff people will want to read will come full circle. I wasn’t Erma Bombeck’s target audience with her syndicated newspaper column back in the day but my Mom turned me onto her writing, I loved it and couldn’t wait for the days her column appeared in the paper. I either read it while eating my cereal in the morning, or a plopped down on the couch later in the day and ready it. Either way, I loved what she wrote. Can I do that now for readers? I don’t know but I certainly can’t if I don’t write. So stay tuned and tell your friends if I make you laugh. Maybe we can do this in a grassroots way and build an audience. Or I’ll just be satisfied with making a few people laugh. I just like to write and I know I have to be true to myself in that and not get wrapped up in monetizing. What happens is what happens. If you made it this far, thank you! I promise to write more and to hopefully make you laugh with my observations.

My Sentimentality Over Daylight Savings Time.

Lisa Renee'

no comments

March 11, 2024

How can we already be in March? I wrote on New Year’s Eve that in 2024 I would write more about our Retirement “Wanderings.” Well, the good thing, I guess, is we haven’t wandered much because it’s been cold and winter, but my sights are set on things to do in Spring and Summer. The Fisherman is readying the boat, and I’m also ready for having the ability to spontaneously drive to the coast for breakfast on any random weekday morning. I’ve never really had a summer in my adult life because of the professions I was in. In Radio, back in the “Old Days” we were out and about doing broadcasts every weekend from summer events and festivals and then I moved into a position at an event facility where we produced our own summer event so having a summer like everyone else will be new to me this year and I cannot wait. Equally, the build-up towards the event all spring won’t be something occupying my brain anymore and I welcome that.

This past weekend was the time when we move the clocks ahead by one hour for Daylight Savings Time, “Springing Forward” and I was thinking a lot about it because again it’s been in the news about how we may do away with Daylight Savings Time and changing our clocks twice a year. What surprised me was how I was feeling sentimental about it all and possibly doing away with the change. What? Why was I feeling nostalgic about it? I’ve never loved losing an hour of sleep in the Spring, and on the opposite side, I relished getting that extra hour of sleep on that one weekend in the Fall. Why was this idea of someday ending all the clock changing bothering me? All I could come up with is it must be a matter of aging, getting older, and that “Old Person” thing of “Everything is changing from how it used to be!” Well yeah, that’s life. Things change. But really? I’m getting choked-up over ending Daylight Savings Time? Then I started really examining what was going through my mind. Hold on a moment: I’m making bread and I need to check if it’s ready to go in the oven. I’ll be right back. (Life of a retired person….bread-making!”) Nope, it’s not quite ready yet. Back to writing.

I think the issue comes down to many imprinted thoughts/memories about Daylight Savings Time. My Mom always made somewhat of a big deal over changing the clocks, and as a kid, I wanted to help do it, so I guess there’s a “Mom Memory” there. Then I always identified “Springing Forward” as that signal that Spring/Summer doing things outside in the evening was upon us. It was kind of the kick-off of better weather, etc. You went all winter and then thought about “that weekend” when we go forward an hour and we kick things off for Spring and Summer. Soon the lawns will need to be mowed, we’ll plant flowers, gardens, as kids it meant more time to ride bikes and be outside. There are fond memories of it.

The Fall change back an hour also marked kind of the kick-off of holiday, warm-and-cozy things. It meant it gets dark earlier, the holidays are around the corner, and the cooler weather is on the way. Fall if my favorite time of year and this “Fall Back” weekend with the clocks just added to that. Overall, it occurred to me that in my life, this time-change weekends held some tradition, some significance. It never occurred to me we would ever change it. It was just something we did forever, right?

Alas, like so much, not changing time is another way things change with time. Deep, huh? More and more I’m seeing how, like so many who came before me, and like what will happen with those coming after me, there’s a lot we have to adapt to and accept as we age: The world as we’ve known it, is moving along and advancing. We have to learn to deal with the changes.

I’ve been reading a lot lately about generational differences and with my former job before retiring, I did a lot of training on “Generational Marketing”: the whole Boomers, versus, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, etc. and who is right, who is to blame, who is clueless, etc. Yawn—Blah-de-blah-blah. That’s how I feel about it because, I do not believe it’s anything new. I firmly maintain what my Mother and her mother believed: This difference in viewpoints between the generations has been going on forever and will continue. It’s human nature and life. When you’re young, you’re going to roll your eyes and sigh with exasperation at what the “Old People” say and believe and the “Old People” will yell “Get off of my lawn!” and wonder why those “Young kids” just don’t get it. Well, I recall rolling my eyes and sighing when I was young, and then later, when I got older, I cringed at the truly stupid things I used to say and mouth-off about, thinking, “Dang, I was so dumb. I cannot believe I ever spouted those things!” I also had moments of “Damn it! Mom WAS right!” or some other adult was right about the thing they warned me about when they said, “You just wait, here’s how this is going to turn out. You have been warned.” Now that I’m older, I understand why the “Old People” always want to offer their advice and thoughts. You live long enough and you see the patterns. You KNOW how it’s going to play-out because you’ve seen it or lived it, and you want to save the younger ones. Well, you know what? You CAN’T save them. They will never believe you just like YOU didn’t believe the “Old Folks” who came before you. It’s just human nature and life. They have to go through it to see it. They will be the “Old Folks” someday and they will understand, For now, just be cool and save your breath.

Speaking of things changing: I just saw a headline on TV that says the Green Bay Packers just released one of our favorite players, Aaron Jones, because they also just signed a new Running Back, Josh Jacobs. We are a BIG Cheesehead household. We’re Green Bay Shareholders (only team in the NFL where the fans can own shares.) The Fisherman will NOT be happy to see Jones leaving. He LOVES him. I maintain it is the kiss of death for a player on the Packers if we get that player’s jersey, autographed helmet, etc., It has happened over and over. Sorry Aaron Jones! We have your jersey. The curse has hit you, man! See…….things changing with time.

Speaking of time: It’s time to check the bread and it’s time for me to write more often. I will!

Here’s to 2024, Minus the Garlic Dip

Lisa Renee'

no comments

December 31, 2023

As I sit here on New Year’s Eve, I’m reminded of how this day/celebration has never been that big of a deal to me. As a kid, I can recall the first time when my brother and I begged for the chance to stay up until Midnight. There we were, sitting on the floor in the Living Room, our legs under the coffee table to where our chins were close to the top of the table, which was ideal for shoveling-in garlic dip and potato chips, while the adults were conversing in the Dining Room. I remember Mom checking-in and cautioning us to “go easy on that dip you two.” We didn’t listen. We got to Midnight, Dick Clark was on the T.V. counting down as the ball dropped in New York, and when everyone yelled “Happy New Year” I was underwhelmed. ”This is it?” I thought. I guess I expected some magical feeling to come over me with a new year, but it never happened. Oh, a feeling came over my brother and I a few hours later, but it was far from magical. It was us feeling the effects of the Garlic Dip Mom warned us about. Maybe that’s why New Year’s Eve has never been that big of a deal to me. I’m scarred from the “Garlic Dip Incident.” As I got older, I chose to adopt the belief that your Birthday, is your REAL New Year and we should give more focus to that. Individually, that’s truly what is our New Year if you really think about it. I mentioned that to a Life Coach and she said, “I love that!” That’s why I started writing in a 5-year journal on my birthday. I want to chronicle 5 years, birthday to birthday.

That being said, 2023 was a major year for me: The year of experiencing “firsts” without Mom. She passed away in late November last year so it basically made 2023 a year of things with her missing. She was a sports fanatic so it was a year of many instances of wanting to pick up the phone and call her to ask “Well, what did you think of that game?” And then remembering “oh yeah, can’t do that.” It marked we *kids* going through her things at the house and laughing over all the things she saved. For me there were those items that, on my own, I was glad to get to take home with me. 2023 was the first time to not spend Mothers Day with her, to not have her around for my birthday, to not be able to wish her a happy birthday, to experience countless times the thought “wait until Mom here’s THIS!” and then going “oh yeah…..can’t call her.” That doesn’t mean I didn’t have moments of talking to her anyway, though. I DO feel her often.

2023 was significant in that I turned the big 6-0. I believe you should be grateful to be around to get to have another birthday, but 60 does make you pause and think, or at least it did that for me. I’m 60. I still don’t know that I fully grasp that. How quickly that happened! 2023 was the year of retiring. Retirement came with its own observations. It has felt so good and changed me to the point that a lesson learned is the importance of not letting work control your life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of those “Old School” types who believes in having a good work ethic. It’s how I was raised, and I think all that I have achieved is because I have that work ethic. I realize, though, that I had no work/life balance—-ZERO—-I didn’t have it in the 18 years I worked in Radio nor in the 25 years working in the “Event World.” That’s all on me, I suppose. I COULD have probably had it. I can now pull back and see that Radio was me doing something that I had a passion for that fit my natural self so well. I left that world for financial reasons and more stability. You know–the end justifying the means. Not sure it was the wisest choice for personal satisfaction, but the past can’t be changed so no point in dwelling on it. Life Coaching has taught me that. The past is like re-watching a movie. The ending is always the same. Through my career choices, I did get the financial reward and stability, there’s no denying that. It’s how I retired at 60. I’m choosing to soak that up.

Other things I’ve observed in the last 4 months of 2023 being retired:

—Friday is no longer a special day. Kind of sad to see Friday’s shine go away. Friday’s sex appeal is gone. Just saying “Friday” used to make me so happy. Now it’s just another day.

—On the flip side every day is great now! Seriously. It’s as it should be. I appreciate each day now. I truly do. Too bad we cannot figure out how to see this while working which would mean Friday wouldn’t have so much chrome and shine.

—That moment early in retirement when you hit about 2 p.m. on a Sunday and realize you DON’T have to prep for returning to the job the next day is a fabulous feeling and triggers the biggest smile. For me, I was in a sports bar watching a Green Bay Packers game when that wonderful realization came over me for the first time. I remember that moment well. It was a 2023 highlight.

—For me, apparently the appeal of Christmas vacation and my obsession with the holiday period was heavily centered around the time off. Professionally, all my adult life I primarily took vacation over the Christmas holiday period. Even when I was in Radio. It was an easier time to be away from the office with less phone calls and email to catch-up on. This year, being retired, I came to realize how the Christmas period no longer meant relishing kicking back binge-watching something. That’s life now. The Christmas period was great but I found myself not counting-down the days. It seems my love for the holidays and Fall and Winter was more related to absorbing the period of time that did not involve planning for a big summer event that was part of my previous work life. For years I always knew in the back of my mind that once the holidays were over the pressure-cooker period would begin shortly after the first of the year and would build through July. There was no relaxing summer experiences until August. No summer vacations, etc. My fellow staff members and I knew that was not in the cards for us. This year I find myself eagerly looking forward to Spring and Summer for the first time in my adult life. Better late than never. I’m going to experience morning coffee outside at the patio table right after the sun comes up, fishing with The Fisherman, planning out a garden I will have time to take care of, and barbecues outside on any evening we want to have them without me working late and being a ball of stress when I eventually get home, which The Fisherman will appreciate. Bring it on!

In my professional working life at some point right before New Year’s Day, I would make sure I had any calendars I wanted for my office and then I would do my annual cleaning/purging of my briefcase. Not this year. Mentally, the change is staggering.

Somewhere in all this is a monumental lesson. I think we’ve all heard that quote (I don’t know who said it,): ”Do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Mindset work is clearly key, it’s not a “Woo-Woo” concept. Life Coaching has taught me that.. I get it all now. With the clarity that I now have, I can say I would have done a lot of things differently, but I’ve also learned NOT to dwell on the past. It’s over. I know how that movie ends.

2023 and retirement found me really accepting, finally, the work that I knew needed to be done on ME based on things I learned in Life Coaching. I took that deep-dive in November. I took a weekend workshop and immediately could see/understand what it did for me and while I’m still working on it/me, I know it will help me AND The Fisherman in 2024. I’m grateful for his patience. I had a LOT of baggage to unpack. I’m not ashamed to admit it, but I’m slowly sorting through it. I told The Fisherman the money spent on that workshop might very well be some of the best I’ve ever spent.

In a few hours, 2024 rolls in and I’m ready for it. I plan to write more often about our “wanderings.” Stay tuned!

Happy New Year and go easy on the garlic dip!

Merry Christmas!

Lisa Renee'

no comments

December 25, 2023

Where did December go? I won’t make this long but I can assure you more writing is on the way this next year with more frequency. When I retired in September I told myself I would give myself 4 months/through the holidays to just kick-back and “decompress” or acclimate and I did just that. I truly had to learn how to do nothing. It was not an easy adjustment but I got there and as part of it, I almost resented when there was something I had to do or somewhere I was expected to show up. I got to that relaxed state I wanted to be in, and now I’m ready to start planning things to do, but not in the frantic, stressed-out, high pressure way that I used to operate. This will be things I really want to do with no pressure of perfection. See—–Life Coaching is getting through to me. The striving for perfection and people-pleasing, well, I’ve learned the importance and value of letting that all go. After being that way for 60 years it’s not an easy change but I’m getting there and I think The Fisherman will appreciate that. A meditation coach suggested saying/thinking, “Up and out of my head” when those thoughts do, indeed, come in my head, and they still do from time to time, but I’m better now at fighting them off.

I was listening to the Mel Robbins podcast this morning (LOVE HER) and her latest episode is her encouraging everyone to do NOTHING today and the rest of this week, and the importance of learning to just do nothing. Hey, I’ve been working on that for the last 4 months since retiring, and it’s not easy, but yes, it IS a valuable skill to learn.

I will write a year-end blog later this week, I promise, but for today, Christmas, work at doing nothing except enjoying those around you. I’ll leave you with this photo for the holiday:

While we have multiple dogs, this boy, Urchin, has made a significant impact on us this last year, after joining our home in November of 2022. He is deaf, and we have learned SO much from him. The Fisherman and I both come from decades of showing dogs, and I’ve learned to treasure this dog for just who he is and his resilience. He cannot be shown because A) he is white and that’s not an accepted color in the Boxer breed standard, and B) he is deaf. He doesn’t have to measure up to anything and that’s a relief to me who used to stress over whether my dogs who were show dogs would be “good enough.” He simply gets to be our dog and he is so smart and devoted. His focus is amazing. Losing one of his senses heightens all his other senses, and he is one amazing creature to live with. In my focus on slowing down and enjoying life, he is my constant reminder to do that. He has no idea he is different from any other dog. He just deals with what comes his way. We are blessed to have him in our home and I love knowing he just gets to be himself.

Enjoy your holiday, and remember: Do Nothing. If you need the push to do that, go listen to the Mel Robbins podcast and the most-recent episode of it.

Freeze-Dried Date Night

Lisa Renee'

no comments

November 26, 2023

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a great one this year. The Fisherman and I had a quiet dinner at home with just us and our dogs. He no longer has any immediate family, and on my side, both of my parents are gone and my siblings were off doing their own celebrating. We lost our Mom last year in November, and I think, in time, we might all get together for Thanksgiving again, but right now, it’s almost like there’s no desire to do anything in a similar fashion that in any way reminds us that Mom, the driving force behind the holidays, is gone. At least that’s how it is for me. I’m fine to do something entirely different than the way it was done for years. So, The Fisherman and I did our own Thanksgiving and, with no children, just dogs, it was us and the 4-legged ones and football on T.V. The Fisherman loves to cook a turkey so with just two of us, we still had an 11-pound bird and all the fixings which meant plenty of leftovers. Just today we each ate another round of turkey and almost simultaneously said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m done with turkey,” which was perfect timing because we had pretty-much finished it off. We had the last of the pumpkin pie as well. Thinking of my Mom, she used to tease me about eating pumpkin pie a few days after Thanksgiving because one year, I had a piece at lunch, and at about 3 p.m. she announced, “Hey everybody, there’s a spot of mold on the pie so I’m throwing it out. It’s time.” I freaked-out, saying, “I just ate a piece at lunch!” She laughed and said, “Well, you got it pre-the-hairy-mold. I think you’ll live. If not, we’ll know it was the pie,” and she giggled. See, Fisherman: More proof of where I get my wicked humor from!

Overall, The Fisherman and I like to cook. He’s into all things barbecue more than anything. Me? Cooking, baking, I like it all. That’s why I laugh over our latest experiment. Last month when the Great Shakeout Earthquake drill was all over the news, I made mention to The Fisherman, that now that I’m retired and have time to do things, we should really work on our “Survival Kit.” Mind you, I fully understand the importance of every household having one of these, but our household, like so many, I’m sure, had *some* things, but not really *together* in an organized fashion. I guess we figured we would wing it, if and when the time came, we needed it. I’m not saying that’s the wise thing to do, but it’s how we had rolled. However, when I saw the news stories on the Earthquake Drill this year, it nudged me to say we need to get to work on getting ourselves organized with our emergency supplies, and I certainly have the time now to do it.

Well, this lit a fire under The Fisherman. He’s great at researching products, finding the best things out there, etc. He is a “Provider” in every sense, so by that evening, he sat me down to watch a YouTube video he had found of these two guys doing a taste-test review of all of the various freeze-dried “Survival Food” out there. I had no idea so much of this existed. From full-on planning for the apocalypse to those who want lightweight dehydrated food to carry on hunting, camping, and mountain-climbing trips, there are a ton of companies and options and just as many videos of people trying them out. We watched videos of taste-tests from the Equip 2 Endure guys at www.equip2endure.com where you can find all their various videos but there are plenty more out there and I’m not endorsing anybody.

The Fisherman was pumped! He ordered a few meals/items from one of the companies so we could try them. They arrived and here we were on this one particular Saturday night. What was for dinner? “DEHYDRATED SURVIVAL FOOD.” It was hilarious. Here we were, making our selections, boiling the water, (yes, when *surviving* you’re going to need to figure out how to boil water) and setting the timer, waiting for our culinary survival experience in the comfort of our own home. Of course, me, ever the wise-cracker, I said, “Wow, this takes ‘Date Night’ to a whole new level.” The one thing we learned: It’s important to buy the long-handled spoon or “Spork” that apparently any good survivalist has, because you need one to do a good job of stirring in the bag to make sure the boiling water and all that dehydrated goodness becomes one. Ever the MacGyver, I knew we had long-handled ice cream spoons, usually reserved for a milkshake or parfait glass, but hey, they work super-good in the dehydrated meal bag. So how was it? I must say the brand we tried, Peak Refuel, was far better than I expected. Many reviews tell you they have the best-tasting meals out there, but I’m not doing an endorsement for them, and we are trying others too. One thing many of the reviewers will say is: You pay for the better taste, and I get that. I’m sure it takes a lot of research and testing to get the improved taste. Like I said to The Fisherman: When you’re needing to break into this emergency food ration, my guess is you’ll just be grateful for something to eat, and that big disaster might never happen, so how much are you willing to pour into the great taste? Anyway, our taste-tests continue. The other thing we laughed at was the fact that one bag is supposed to be two meals. We weren’t so sure of that, but I said, “Hey, maybe if it didn’t taste so good, you wouldn’t want to eat more of it!”

So, if it’s time for Date Night, and you’re baffled over how to make it special, light a candle, boil some water, and open-up one of those freeze-dried bad boys and say you’re going to treat your date to a culinary experience like no other. I dare you!

Portable Urinal/Gravy Boat—YOU Decide.

Lisa Renee'

no comments

November 9, 2023

Today is two weeks from Thanksgiving and as I was out doing my dog poop-scooping chores, I started chuckling, thinking of an exchange The Fisherman and I had this morning related to Thanksgiving gravy, and since I do some of my best thinking and problem-solving while scooping dog poop, I said to myself, “Self…..you need to write about this today and it’s Thursday, exactly 2 weeks from Thanksgiving, so you need to share it TODAY.” Before I retired, it was always known at the office that if I came up with a solution for a challenge we were having, it was achieved while I was out scooping dog poop. I think it may be one of those things where the brain wants to protect you from something unpleasant so while dog poop is being scooped, the brain goes into full-on thinking mode as a distraction from the task at hand. I swear by it. If you need to solve something or come up with a great idea, find some dog poop to scoop and you’ll get your solution every time. You’re welcome.

The Fisherman and I laugh a LOT. When we first got together he told me “I can promise you there will be lots of laughter with me.” He was right about that. Some of MY laughter comes from things he does that he probably doesn’t intend to be funny, but I’ll laugh and he will roll his eyes and say, “What was I thinking?!” In all, though, he keeps me laughing with his sharp wit. He has an extremely dry, sarcastic sense of humor and I mean EXTREMELY dry and sarcastic. So much so that, sometimes, it goes over other’s heads and they don’t get that he’s kidding with them. We don’t necessarily have the same sense of humor but for the most part we are in sync in knowing what will make the other one laugh. That being said, this morning I saw this meme and just knew I had to send it to him:

Now for a little back-story on this to know why I was giggling so hard when I sent this to his phone, with the message, “I think we’re all set for Thanksgiving”: When The Fisherman was in having a knee-replacement surgery a few months back, he remarked that he needed to order some portable urinals for when he’s on the boat or when I take too long in the bathroom. Really?! Sure enough, one day a box arrived and there they were. He really ordered a box or portable urinals! I couldn’t believe it but that is SO him so I don’t now why I was shocked. Right on cue this morning when I sent this meme to him, he walks out waving a portable urinal saying something like, “Where’s the gravy? I’m ready!”

Life is never dull when you can laugh with your favorite person about using a portable urinal for turkey gravy at Thanksgiving! That’s how we roll. Speaking of rolls, they can be dunked in the gravy from the urinal! I just sent the meme to my sister and she freaked-out and said, “That’s gross!” I think we need to present her with a portable urinal/gravy boat as a Hostess Gift.

Giving Up My Box-Collecting Habit

Lisa Renee'

no comments

November 6, 2023

Among the many projects we were determined to get done upon me having more time once I retired was REALLY cleaning our garage. We got it done a few weeks back, thanks to having a dumpster delivered and a trip with a car full of donations to Goodwill. The other thing we got rid of? BOXES. I don’t mean boxes with stuff in them, but rather empty boxes. I’ve been, shall we say, a cardboard box “collector” for years. I never met a box I didn’t want to save. Hey, you never know when you’re going to need a cardboard box of just the right size and that’s why I’ve always hated to part with them. When you get the itch to get rid of them, I promise you, the very next day you will need that perfect box you got rid of. Just you wait and see!

Now that we have the garage orderly, and The Fisherman has set-up a workplace for projects, we have to be diligent about NOT saving boxes and, instead, breaking them down right away and getting them into the recycling container. So far, we have kept on top of it. Who knew it could be so easy? It used to be that the cardboard breakdown process was something The Fisherman and I did together and often we would get into a “recycling debate” before it was over. He calls me a “Girl Scout” about many things. Yes, I’m a Rule-Follower. I will own that. When it comes to the recycling containers, I follow the rules on what the collection company wants put into the container. That means no food containers, and you break the cardboard down to sizes that aren’t too large. Yes, I read the rules/guidelines and I follow them. The Fisherman believes it’s up for negotiation as to what goes in there and breaking down the boxes. If we do the project together, he gets exasperated if I say the cardboard pieces he cuts down need to be smaller. I don’t know if he has spotted me on the security camera “Policing” the cardboard container to see if he’s broken the recycling rules, but he probably has and when he reads this, he will start watching, I’m sure. Actually, he does a great job these days on the cardboard. He’s learned from the “Cardboard Sheriff.”

The worst boxes to break down are the ones from Costco that they give you to hold your groceries. Those are some STURDY, heavy boxes. I have no doubt I have, on more than one occasion, provided comic relief in the Costco parking lot when I attempted to lift one of those filled boxes out of the cart. Now I’m not overly short at 5′ 6″, but I have short legs and arms to match and by the time one of those heavy Costco boxes gets packed full, I would get to my car by myself and I couldn’t reach in and get it lifted up and out of the cart. Sometimes a tall guy would see me struggling and offer to help and other times I would unload some items in order to get the box out of the cart. Now that I’m retired, The Fisherman and I trek to Costco together (as he says, “What else do I have to do?”) and he’s really tall, so he has zero problem with getting the box out of the cart and into the car. What he will struggle with, though, is sawing through that heavy box to break it down for the recycling container. That’s another thing that having him around takes care of–When I was single I had dull knives, dull box-cutters, you name it. Sharp utensils were few and far between in my house. Along came The Fisherman, and now we have sharp tools to make any Samurai proud! Generally, they make the Costco box breakdown much easier, as compared to the days when I would try things like ripping the glue on the box to try and tear them, or I would put them on the ground and try to jump on them to break them down. The first time The Fisherman saw me doing that move he just rolled his eyes……and then whipped out one of his Samurai-sharp pocket knives. Oh and I cannot talk cardboard without mentioning that The Fisherman used to work for a paper manufacturing plant so he can tell you all about grades of cardboard and why those Costco boxes are as strong as they are—Think Sheldon Cooper on the Big Bang Theory telling you all about cardboard strength. I’ve heard the Cardboard Teachings while attempting to jump on a Costco super-strong-box to flatten it. You know what came next in the lesson—The whipping out of the Samurai-sharp pocket knife!