My Tireless Retirement – Week 184

 

Good chilly morning to you!  We are dipping into the 40s overnight now, brrrrr.  The days have been warm enough though that I have yet to turn on any heating.  I do not want to warm up the house in the morning just to be opening windows in the afternoon so I am waiting.  With my slippers on and a sweater I am plenty comfortable in the morning anyway.  I have, however, swapped out the Egyptian cotton sheets for flannel and I imagine soon I will also need to add my winter blanket.

 

I only worked a short half day Friday afternoon instead of my usual all day because I worked all day on Saturday.  I took a group of seniors up to McCall for lunch and to shop and just walk around.  It was sunny, windy and chilly but we had a really nice time and lunch was delicious.  Definitely worth the drive and it is always nice to have a change of scenery.  A friend and I are planning to do something very similar soon as neither one of us wants to be overly housebound this winter.  I also worked Monday and Tuesday in the afternoon and was off the remainder.

 

It was a good week to slow down and enjoy all of the accomplishments I have made this past spring and summer and I am feeling really good about where I am at personally.  Our nation, however is a whole other thing as I am feeling very scared about where we may be heading.  I am trying not of focus too much attention on it each day, but it is hard when you hear about young children dragged out of their beds at night, zip tied and hauled outdoors by masked militia.  They must have been petrified, their parents too, and it breaks my heart for them.  I find myself praying all the time and wondering how I, alone, can make a difference.  I decided it was time (probably past time) to write letters to my congressmen.  I hope they will listen.

 

Instead of fretting about things I have limited control over I decided it was a better use of my time to just get myself busy.  Wednesday was my day to run errands so I left the house with a list and a plan and headed off to Albertson’s to empty my glass recycling collection bin and then inside to purchase some organic cucumbers they had on sale.  Next I headed off to the post office to drop off a package.  I sold some Pyrex!  Then I was off to Fred Meyer, first to top up the gas tank on my truck and then to pick up a couple items they had on sale.  Next, I was off to the feed store.

 

The timing could not have been any better if I had planned it, but when I got home Tuesday evening there was a $25 OFF a $25 Purchase coupon from the feed store in my mailbox.  Needless to say I took that right in and picked up two 50# bags of feed and the 40# bag of wood horse pellets I needed for the bunny (her litter pan) and was able to cross those items of my winter stock up list.  My total out of pocket after using the coupon was $11.  I was thrilled!  When I got home I was able to get all of the feed bins refilled and I have one full bag and a partial bag of chicken feed in reserve.

 

A couple weeks ago I got a $15 OFF coupon from Chewy so I used that to order three cases of canned food for the kitties and some fancy stuff for them for their Christmas present.  The only thing left on the list is to get another bag of cat food the next time I go to Costco.  I also want to get the bunny another bag of veggie pellets before the end of the year, right now she still has plenty.

 

I spent some time in my happy place - the kitchen!  I meal prepped some delicious red enchiladas.  I ate two servings this past week and then put two away in the freezer for later.  I also had leftover filling I plan to use next week to make some burrito bowls.

 

Using those cucumbers I picked up at Albertson’s I made a small batch of bread and butter pickles.  I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to get to make any this year because the pickling cucumbers I was given over the summer were super bitter and inedible.  When Albertson’s had these long skinny organic pickles on sale I decided it was worth the stop to check them out.  Since they seemed to be good ones I got four and now I have pickles!  Hurray!

 

Another very good and somewhat productive and relaxed week in retirement is in the books!  I hope you all had a wonderful week and remember, even when the news seems bleak and prices continue to climb, we can always find something to be grateful for and happy about.  We need to keep ourselves busy, keep praying and do whatever we can, no matter how small, to try to make things better.  NO Bad Days!  Be blessed.