My Tireless Retirement - Week 213

 

Another fabulous week is in the books.  I am now focusing solely on myself as I am marching onward after the disappointing outcome with our situation at work.  In order to save myself I need to take really good care of ME and that is what I am doing.  I’ve hit that point, where sadly, I have to stop caring so much.  It is especially sad because we are in a time in our lives where people need to care, but at what cost?  With the help of my therapist I am effectively heading into the “I don’t give a $h!t” zone”.  Moving forward in a friendly and positive way is really the best solution, regardless of what that may become of the future.

 

Over the last weekend I devoted a significant amount of time to revisiting and researching options for my 5 year plan, which is now more of a four year plan as nearly a year has passed since I started.  Travel ideas, relocation prospects, housing options, all that fun stuff.  It reinvigorated me and got me thinking.  A lot!  I also firmed up some plans I have for having fun this year too.  I even added a few small things to my camp gear that I had lying around the house.  I am getting excited to be outdoors and go exploring this summer.

 

On my last camping trip I found a Coleman camp griddle leaning up against a tree.  It was super sticky with grease so I slipped it inside a plastic trash bag and brought it home and stuck it in my garage.  Monday morning I brought it in and sprayed it down generously with oven cleaner.  Using my most aggressive scour pad I was able to remove all of the sticky greasy residue and get it all cleaned up.  Now I have a beautiful “new” griddle to add to my gear and use next time I go camping.

 

After much thought I ordered a complete set of window covers for the Subaru.  I had toggled back and forth between making something or buying something, even going so far as to make window templates to use as patterns.  Once I sat back and really thought about it though I decided it was not only going to be cost prohibitive and fairly labor intensive, but as picky as I can be about certain things it would probably be far less frustrating to just go ahead and order the set.  I am happy with that decision.  Next payday I am hoping to get a 12V refrigerator.  I am slowly ticking away on my list to off-grid efficiency and future travel.

 

Because I embarked on a pantry challenge recently I am working on clearing out the freezer on top of my refrigerator.  I pulled out enough items to feed myself all week without much cooking at all.  Mostly, I just reheated items and it was a nice little break from cooking.  I enjoyed leftover meatballs in sauce, some stuffed bell peppers from the freezer, beef burritos, soup and cornbread muffins, smoothies, eggs and toast, etc.  It was a delicious week!