Wed 30 Sept

Old health insurance and dental insurance expires today. Another phase of moving on. Discovered an old song when playing guitar on Monday that seems to epitomize retirement for me. It's John Denver's Sweet Surrender, talking about not knowing what the future has in store, but "there's a Spirit that guides me, a light that shines for me, my life is worth the living, I don't need to see the end." I'm going for a walk this morning with Kathy Hartman. There is something very satisfying about buzzing 10,000 on my Fitbit by 9:00 am! Kathy and I met and walked around Bukolt at a nice brisk pace. We are going to try to get together once a week for a morning walk. She gave me a retirement gift of a box of "bonbons" to relax with, aka Lindt gourmet truffles. Going to be a challenge to drop the 25 lbs on my retirement to-do list, though the brisk walks will help. Enjoyed attending a birthday lunch for Brad at Hilltop. Heather texted me at 10 today to let me know it was happening. Good to see a bunch of the coworkers. Rescheduled mani/pedi to next week Wed, so tomorrow is totally open at this point. Will try to get to the gym again, and then....? Made homemade applesauce and cranberry sauce to go with frozen pasties for dinner tonight. Tasted like autumn. Food: 6:55 am Pain aux raisin, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:00 pm Chicken sandwich w/mushrooms & swiss, 1 c fruit salad 2:45 pm 1 pc dark chocolate angel food candy 6:45 pm 6 oz pumpkin ale, pasty, 3/4 c applesauce, 2/3 c cranberry sauce Exercise: 7:30-9:00 am Walk w/Kathy

Tues 29 Sept

Yesterday was a good "first day", right up to the Packers winning and being able to stay up til the end of the game. Didn't get up this morning til about 7:20 am so I can have breakfast with Dad and then plan the day from there. Newman/Holy Spirit is having a lunchtime program at 11:30 with a Jesuit speaking about Pope Francis, so both Dad and I plan to go. The second half of Season 1 of Outlander comes out on DVD today, so I will need to get to Target to purchase that. I want to rematch the first DVD before I watch this one, so I'll get to it a little at a time but new-release DVDs are usually cheapest when they first come out. Made some progress cleaning the table yesterday, enough to energize me to finish the job today if I can. A nice side benefit to my doing more cleaning is that Bob was inspired to vacuum yesterday, something which has been increasingly rare. Maybe together we can get this house looking respectable again. Whoever thought retirement would be relaxing was sadly mistaken. After a little relaxation with my email after breakfast, the woman called with whom I had volunteered to do the school reading and scheduled an interview for tomorrow morning (after my walk with Kathy). She called back at about 9:17 to say that they had a scheduled required training session taking place at 10:00 am at the Bliss Center if I could make it. I hadn't yet showered as I had planned to go downstairs to work out, but I hurried through a quick shower and made it to the Bliss Center, dressed and put together, if somewhat breathless. I think I will really like the tutoring program which is not exactly what I had thought, but should be very interesting. Apparently I will be assigned to a specific 2nd or 3rd grade classroom for a scheduled hour each week to work with 2-3 children individually on reading goals. I hope to get into either St Steve's or St Stan's so I can walk. The training lasted til 11:15 and the lunch we were signed up for at St Stan's was at 11:30 so I rushed home and just barely had time to pee before Dad picked me up. The lunch was very nice, though most attendees were retirees, and the speaker was okay. The food was very nice, small wrap sandwiches, homemade chicken noodle soup, marinated veggies and cranberry fluff, and a pumpkin nut dessert. I walked home for the first real steps of the day, and plan a short nap before walking to the Suzuki office to pay for a semester with Mary which should start soon. We have agreed to do hour-long daytime lessons to make up for the time the semester has already been in session. Food: 7:30 am Chocolate croissant, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 102 g blackberries, coffee 11:45 am Cup chicken noodle soup, 2 small wrap slices, 1 c marinated veggies, 1/4 c cranberry fluff, sm piece pumpkin dessert, coffee, water 2:00 pm 1 pc dark chocolate angel food candy 6:30 pm 16 oz Seattle cider, alpine grilled cheese, 1 c applesauce Exercise: 12:50-1:05 pm Walk home from St Stan's 2:45-3:50 pm Walk to Schmeeckle via Suzuki office 5:00-6:05 pm Partial hike of Rib

Mon 28 Sept

For me, I feel as though today is the first day of my retirement. Last week was a scheduled vacation, and weekends I would have been home anyway, but today I would have returned to the work routine and I don't have to! I do have to go get a crown finished at 9:00 am and then I will scoot across the street to Adventure 212 to get re-established. I have my gym bag packed and will do my morning workout there. Michael needs help applying for his Affordable Care insurance, so we will do that online this afternoon. Nice to have a to-do list for the day. Whatever time is left over, I really want to attack the things brought home from work and vacation that still fill the dining room table and then the kitchen counters. Making a sausage and bean stew in the crockpot for dinner during the Packer game tonight. Sounds yummy. Will likely make some fresh applesauce to go with it. Got my tuning device for my guitar/dulcimer today. Tried it on the guitar and sat out on my Adirondack chair playing some tunes for a bit this morning. Nice. Made some small dent on putting things away from the table. Only made it through 20 min on the elliptical at the gym this morning, but followed up with a small session on strength training machines for biceps, triceps, shoulders, and chest. Will try to last longer next time. Didn't want to push too hard after such a long absence at that particular form of exercise. Food: 7:35 am Gibassier pastry, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 103 g blackberries, coffee 1215 pm 1 c Shreddies, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 101 g raspberries, 3 triple-dipped malted milk balls 2:20 pm 1/3 chocolate peanut butter bar from Fayze's Exercise: 10:00-10:20 am Elliptical 10:20-10:35 am Strength training machines 3:40-4:10 pm Jessica Smith Power Walk YouTube 4:25-4:45 pm Jessica Smith Power Mile YouTube

Sun 27 Sept

Another lovely day is dawning. Plan for today is to drive down to La Crosse for apples. I got up and did a Jessica Smith which had a ballet component. Haven't used my feet in an articulated manner for awhile and it wasn't easy. Felt some less familiar muscles. Also haven't done much arm work lately and feel them as well. Beautiful day! Drove to La Crosse and lunched at Fayze's, then drove to La Crescent for many apples. Stopped for 5 lb of cranberries en route. On the way home, we stopped at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and hiked around. Saw some whooping cranes and a large group of sandhills. Food: 8:10 am Pear danish, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 99 g blackberries, coffee 7:45 pm 1 c Shreddies, 1/2 c soy milk Exercise: 7:00-7:45 am Jessica Smith Cardio Ball Ballet YouTube Late afternoon Hiking in wildlife refuge

Sat 26 Sept

Home again, home again, riggety jig. We walked down to get fresh pastries and a couple of small butternut squash this morning. Sheets are changed and in the wash. Plan for today to do all laundry and this weekend to clear the dining room table and put things away. I'd like to put on a fresh tablecloth as well. Got laundry done, and a few things put away. Went to evening Mass so we have tomorrow free, and we have decided to drive to LaCrosse for apples as we haven't done that for several years. We will likely try to get in a hike somewhere as well. The table will wait for the week. It has waited quite a while already, it's not going anywhere. I felt like I accomplished some things today. Including eating our North Shore caramel apples while they are fresh - a novelty! Food: 9:15 am Lingonberry danish, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 100 g blackberries, coffee 1:15 pm Slice Omega 3 bread, 61 g braunschweiger, med SweeTango apple, 12 oz diet ginger ale 2:30 pm 3 triple-dipped malted milk balls 7:00 pm 5 oz chianti, basil pesto tortellini, 1 tbl basil pesto, 5 g shredded parmesan, 3/4 c cooked carrots 7:45 pm Caramel apple Exercise: 7:45-8:45 am Walk to Farmer's Market and back 11:00-11:35 am Mowed lawn w/Fiskars 4:40-5:00 pm Walk to church 6:00-6:20 pm Walk home

Sun 20 Sept

It's very early. Brain is not functioning on all cylinders. Woke up at a good point in between sleep cycles, but definitely would have appreciated a couple more. Fortunately I slept soundly in the brief time I had. Food: 4:40 am Apple danish, 102 g blackberries, Nespresso espresso

Sat 19 Sept

To be cliche, this is the first day of the rest of my life. in other words, the morning after the 37 years before. Nice that it dawned as beautiful and crisp as a September day should be. We walked down to the Farmer's Market for pastries, and when we finish eating, we'll head down to see Laura in Madison. Food: 8:40 am Prune danish, 100 g blackberries, Nespresso espresso 11:30 am 1/2 Eggs Benedict, sm slice cherry custard French toast, 16 oz Lake Louie 6:35 pm 8 oz pumpkin ale, Arby's beef sandwich, 1 c potato salad Exercise: 7:50-8:35 am Walk to Farmer's Market and back 4:25-5:00 pm Walk to church 6:00-6:25 pm Walk home

Fri 18 Sept

Taylor came after she got off work last night and helped me to put together and season the potato salad. She then stayed and visited over wine. I didn't get home from camp til 7 pm and worked steadily to boil eggs and peel and cook potatoes, so I was tired, and this morning I am wiped. I went back to bed for an hour in lieu of exercise but I'm still tired. What an excellent retirement party! So many good people, past and present, and such good conviviality. O'So's was a great environment. Food: 7:05 am Sm slice Costco coffee cake, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 100 g blackberries, coffee 9:15 am Piece chocolate cake w/whipped cream frosting 1:50 pm 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 101 g raspberries

Thurs 17 Sept

Lions Camp today, hopefully the weather will be nice. It looks to be warm and lovely. I got sunflowers and a really nice card from one client and homemade shortbread, a card, and a copy of a really lovely letter to my supervisor saying how much she had appreciated me from another. My coworkers gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers that they had delivered during staffing for me. Last night when I got my haircut, Sue gave me a card and a bottle of the good Aldi prosecco that we love to take to the North Shore and toast my retirement. I feel special! Food: 6:40 am Sm slice Costco coffee cake, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 103 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 4:45-5:35 am Leslie Sansone 4 Fast Miles DVD

Wed 16 Sept

The inexorable march of time toward retirement day amazes me. The last weeks have passed very quickly. I'm really starting to get excited about planning my next phase. Food: 6:55 am Sm slice Costco coffee cake, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:45 pm Subway 6" Black Forest Ham sub, Herb Cheese bread, spinach, tomato, cucumber, green pepper 3:00 pm 2 german chocolate caramel bars, slice shortbread 8:00 pm 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c light original soy milk Exercise: 4:45-5:45 am Jessica Smith Metabolism Booster DVD 4:45-5:00 pm Walk to haircut 730-7:45 pm Walk home

Tues 15 Sept

Made it to the top of the tower at Rib last night. We have been turning around early most times this year, either because of being tired or short on time. Yesterday we made a concerted effort to leave early enough to beat sundown and made it to the top! Felt good. My thighs are feeling it this morning. Making German chocolate caramel bars for tomorrow's staffing, my last. Dad kindly helped me unwrap a whole bag of caramels; nasty job. Haven't made these for a long time, but they were always a hit. Making spaetzle noodle casserole for dinner; will pop it in the oven for 5 min after the bars finish baking. Right now, wine time! Food: 6:45 am Honey bear pastry, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee 11:45 am Cinnamon pear Chobani Greek yogurt, 101 g raspberries, slice pumpkin bread, 2 sm heirloom tomatoes 12:30 pm 1 Toffifay 6:15 pm 5 oz white bordeaux Exercise: 4:45-5:15 am Jessica Smith Latin Dance Walk YouTube 5:15-5:35 am Jessica Smith 1 mile walk YouTube

Mon 14 Sept

I guess I haven't done my usual Jane Fonda for a while, for a variety of reasons. I noticed today that it was more difficult than usual when I'm out of practice. The upside is that maybe I'll burn more calories while I reaccustom to my previous level of workouts. Food: 6:55 am Baby's pillow danish, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 100 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm 3 sm fresh mozzarella balls, slice pumpkin bread, 87 g raspberries 4:15 pm 1/2 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c light original soy milk Exercise: 4:45-5:55 am Jane Fonda Complete Workout video

Sun 13 Sept

Yummy-looking apricot danish today, tastes as good as they look. Choir starts this afternoon. I cantor this morning with this arrogant St Stan's guy; I'll make the best of it. Won't be the same now that Deb is gone. Did a Jessica Smith Cardio Ball Ballet this morning. I have been focusing too much on just walking workouts to get maximum steps to the expense of exercising the rest of my body. I can tell when I do so that it is out of shape. Need to work on that when I will have more exercise time available to me to get enough steps and other exercise as well. I actually look forward to doing Pilates mat work again. Kathy Hartman brought me some fun socks for my birthday that say I Love My Job.....Ha ha! Just kidding! I need to wear them next week. Also some chocolates that I'll wear internally. Food: 7:30 am Smaller apricot danish, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm Almond Dresden slice, cold chicken drumstick, 100 g raspberries 6:55 pm 3.5 oz Costco rotisserie chicken breast, slice pumpkin bread, 2/3 c cooked carrots Exercise: 6:30-7:15 am Jessica Smith Cardio Ball Ballet YouTube 7:15-5:30 pm Neighborhood walk

Sat 12 Sept

Beautiful morning for the annual Walk for Hope. We had time to walk down early for the week's pastries, but will take the car for the Walk so we can head out immediately after for Cedarburg. I have a coupon for a wine tasting at Chiselled Grape that needs to be used. We can have BBQ lunch at Atlas in Grafton and maybe a Costco run since I need to replenish my blackberries. David made his poached pear danish again - they are my new favorite. Food: 8:25 am Pear Helene danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 7:40-8:15 am Walk to Farmer's Market for pastries

Fri 11 Sept

The memory of 9/11/01 is still pretty clear. I thought this morning of how many people got up on a normal day and headed to work, only to have it be their last. Good to remember the regular folks. Food: 6:55 am 46 g cinnamon brioche, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee 10:00 am Sm Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte 11:40 am Slice pumpkin bread, 100 cal blackberry Greek yogurt, 101 g raspberries 3:45 pm Sm oatmeal raisin cookie 6:45 pm 2 pc fried cod w/tartar sauce, 1/2 c steak fries, few bites coleslaw, 1/2 slice buttered marble rye bread, sm bowl chicken dumpling soup, 1/2 c rum cherry ice cream, 8 oz Mudpuppy Porter Exercise: 4:45-5:45 am Jessica Smith HIIT and band toning DVD

Thurs 10 Sept

Nice hike at Rib last night. Have not been there for a while due to the heat/humidity/other things to do, so it was nice to get back. Mushrooms are sprouting and a few tiny peeks of color. Found those glutes again. Food: 6:55 am Honey bear pastry, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:35 pm 1 slice Omega 3 bread, 50 g braunschweiger, 108 g raspberries 1:30 pm 15 g Dark Chocolate Super Fruits 6:30 pm 2 large grilled chicken drumsticks (no skin), 3 slices grilled pineapple 7:35 pm Slice fresh baked pumpkin bread Exercise: 4:45-5:50 am Jessica Smith 4/5 Fat Burning Miles DVD 7:10-7:30 pm Walk with Dad

Wed 9 Sept

The time seems to be passing very quickly toward retirement. Got an email from Deb McComas yesterday that she quietly retired. I assume the new parish wasn't going to keep both music ministers indefinitely, but they wanted her to stick around long enough to establish the Newman ministers so we wouldn't all bail with her. I will need to see if the music now reverts to all the old St Stan's stuff. If so, they don't need an old Newman cantor any more. If it stays a good mix, I'll hang around awhile longer. Food: 6:45 am Pain aux raisins, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 4:50-5:40 am Various Jessica Smith YouTubes

Tues 8 Sept

My penultimate week of work at PCHHS. Simultaneously ready to be done and hanging on to the familiar for just a little longer. Excited and apprehensive about "reinventing" myself as a retired person. Food: 7:00 am Chocolate croissant, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 100 g blackberries, coffee 11:45 am Slice Omega 3 bread, 46 g Trig's braunschweiger, 102 g raspberries 1:30 pm 2 Coffee Nips 4:50 pm 1 c kettle corn 6:00 pm Culver's roast beef sandwich, sm cup mint Oreo custard Exercise: 4:45-5:45 am Jessica Smith 4 15-min Fat Blast DVD 6:45-7:30 pm Walk through Iverson w/Bob

Mon 7 Sept

Had a very lovely weekend in Mpls, visiting with Kurt and Barb and doing the fair. Mad at myself for forgetting to do the SparkPoints on Saturday morning in my hurry to leave in that I broke a 176 day streak. I had managed to remember even when traveling to just log in, but somehow I forgot before we left. Oh, well. I once had over 200 and broke the streak, so time to start over again. There are two movies out now that I really want to see and I discovered that both are at Cedar Creek. We could watch them back-to-back. Both are sufficiently small that I don't believe either are being shown in town, so we're going to do the movie marathon this afternoon. Food: 7:45 am Baby's pillow danish pastry, 2 sm plums, 100 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm Fit & Active protein bar 6:15 pm 8 oz Whole Hog pumpkin ale 6:35 pm 2 slices med Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable Connie's pizza, Jello sugar-free rice pudding cup Exercise: 10:20-11:40 am Leslie Sansone 5 Mega Miles DVD

Fri 4 Sept

The old gal is 60 now. Oh, my! I thank the Lord that everything still works and there are no major health problems. As far as I can tell, my mind is still working properly. I'm looking forward to planning the next phase of my life. My children are grown and beginning to establish themselves. My husband is my good friend and companion and we enjoy pursuing the same activities so our life is full. God is good. Food: 7:00 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 1/2 large grapefruit, 100 g blackberries, coffee 11:55 am Slice Omega 3 bread, 1 tbl Jif, 1/2 tbl raspberry jam, 103 g raspberries 2:145 pm Chocolate cupcake w/frosting Exercise: 4:50-5:50 am Jessica Smith Metabolism Booster weights and cardio DVD

Thurs 3 Sept

The movie was showing last night at Cedar Creek, but they moved the showtime to 7:50 pm. By the time you drive home after a movie, it would be too late for me to enjoy it. We will have to try to catch a matinee sometime or wait for the DVD release. We went out for sushi instead (and ice cream!) Afterward, we went to Lowe's and Bob bought me two teal Adirondack chairs for my birthday! Mary Hofer took me out to Grazie's for dessert for a birthday treat tonight. Food: 6:55 am Morning bun, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 103 g blackberries, coffee 12:45 am 2 scrambled duck eggs w/chives, slice Omega 3 toast w/.25 tbl butter & 1 tbl raspberry jam, 107 g raspberries 2:30 pm 1 Milky Way Midnight mini 4:00 pm 1 bar/2 bar pkg Nature Valley dark chocolate oat granola bar 6:10 pm Macaroni and cheese, cranberry/raspberry sauce 8:30 pm Grazie's berry crisp w/ice cream Exercise: 4:55-5:50 am Jessica Smith 15- and 40-min Weight Loss walks 5:45-6:00 pm Walk with Bob

Wed 2 Sept

Finally got money transferred to Bob to cover my share of bills before new ones arrive. It never ends. Food: 7:00 am Pain aux raisin, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:00 pm 80 cal Dannon blueberry yogurt, 99 g raspberries, orange pastry thing 3:15 pm 1 bar/2 bar pkg Nature Valley dark chocolate oat granola bar 5:45 pm Sushi rolls(Manhattan, Kamikaze, Caterpillar rolls), 5 oz Relax riesling 6:45 pm Small dish King Kone ice cream Exercise: 4:45-5:45 am Jessica Smith weights and walking DVDs 5:00-5:15 pm Walk with Bob

Tues 1 Sept

Did NOT like where my bathroom scale is heading. Hope it's an anomaly, but need to get serious about watching what I eat. I was low on energy for morning exercise so backed out of a couple of dance routines. Somehow the mega chocolate croissant for breakfast doesn't seem the best way to address the situation. I have a new (temporary) crown in my mouth. I'm special. We were excited to drive up to Cedar Creek Cinema tonight for the opening of A Walk in the Woods, a movie based on the Bill Bryson book about hiking the Appalachian Trail. We got there and found out that someone at the theater in charge of booking the movie had not done so, so drove home disappointed. Food: 6:40 am Mega chocolate croissant, 1/4 extra large cantaloupe, 104 g blackberries, coffee 11:45 am Slice 12 grain bread, 71 g braunschweiger, 101 g raspberries 5:30 pm 1 c cheese ravioli stars, 1/2 c tomato basil sauce, 1/2 tbl shredded parmesan, 1 c fresh garden tomatoes 7:25 pm Light & Fit Chocolate on Top banana Greek Yogurt 100 cal Exercise: 4:45-5:35 am DWTS DVDs 4:50-5:05 pm Walk with Bob (sweaty)