My Tireless Retirement - Week 195

 

The final full week of 2025 came quietly and joyously to a close with Christmas day being the highlight, of course.  I am very much looking forward to bidding the year adieu next week and embracing a new one.  I’m sure a lot of you probably feel the same way as well.  I am hoping and praying for change in the upcoming year.  Good change.

 

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, for those of you who celebrate.  It was a very lovely day for me – quiet, thoughtful and relaxed.  I spent time in the kitchen preparing a wonderful meal and dessert so I was pretty happy about that.  I was surrounded by love and spoiled with a handful of meaningful and useful gifts that I am quite excited about.

 

Discussions this past week revolved around future plans, hopes and dreams and making them into realities.  If this past year has taught us nothing else, it has given us a sense that we need to make the most of what we have and truly improve and enrich our lives in spite of outside influences and all of the ugliness out there in the world.  We need to protect ourselves, each other and do all that we can.  It almost feels like we need to build a special bubble to surround us and keep us safe.  We need to keep the ugly away.  Does that make sense and are any of you feeling the same way?

 

As I have already mentioned, I chose Focus as my word for 2026 and as we were talking they all agreed that it needs to be their word as well so I have comrades in arms, so to speak.  We will all be working hard to make tangible and intangible improvements to our lives in the coming months and supporting each along the way.  For some of us it is to eliminate debt and boost savings, cutting back on expenses, making a job change, making a relationship change, beginning a mental health journey, decluttering and making home improvements, planting a garden and so forth.  It sounds like we have a lot to do.  For me, it will be focusing on maintaining my mental and physical health and growing stronger while improving my quality of life.

 

I want to invite you to join us as well.  You are all welcome to be a part of our community.  After all, that is what this blog is all about.  Building a community.  What are some of the changes you would like to make in 2026?  How do you want to make improvements?  Are you ready for a new year and a brand new slate?  I am!  We can do totally this!  Let’s do it together.

 

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 194

 

Oh my gosh you guys!  Next week is Christmas!  Did that seem to sneak up on you really fast?  It sure did for me.  Our year is rapidly headed to a close, and to be perfectly honest with you, I’m ready to put this one in the books.  It has been a weird one.  Good, but kind of weird.

 

Fried egg on a beef patty with cheese

I worked a very full and busy Friday at the senior center so Saturday I gifted myself a jammie day with rest and relaxation.  I slept in a bit, did some writing, enjoyed my coffee, watched some TV, drank some wine and ate some delicious, healthy food.  It was exactly what I needed because Sunday I was in Fall leaf and yard clean up mode.  After a good day off I was ready for it too - fresh air, a little sunshine and a lot of activity.

 

The leaves finally fell from the trees (much later than usual) so I got out my Toro blower/mulcher and got busy blowing all of the leaves into piles before I switched to the mulcher and sucked them all up.  It took me over two and a half hours, but once it was all done the results were more than satisfying.  I gave the hens a bag full of mulched leaves which freaked them out initially (first time), but they quickly figured out what to do with them.  I also filled up the thirty two gallon trash can I keep in the backyard so they’ll be getting more of these throughout the year as well as my trash wheelie bin and a paper leaf bag.  It was a lot of leaves.

 

I went through my card making supplies and was able to purge quite a bit of stuff I no longer wish to keep.  By the time I combined some things and reorganized everything I had another empty large container.  Go me!

 

I worked Monday afternoon and on the way home I stopped at Albertson’s for one final Christmas gift (a gift card for someone in need).  While I was at it, I also picked up four packages of cream cheese (loss leader) and two cans of whipped cream on sale for 99¢ each so I’ll be adding that expense to my January grocery tally because I am officially done with all shopping for December and the entire year for that matter.

 

With Tuesday and Wednesday off I enjoyed two days of paper crafting and sewing which I felt was long overdue.  I have a friend going in for knee replacement surgery and bless her heart she is scared to death so I made a journal for her.  She loves to journal.  I also have plans to make her a couple freezer meals for when she has the actual surgery.

 

Moving into the new year ahead I will be devoting more time to crafting, sewing and creative endeavors because I realize how important it is for me and my quality of life to do these things.  I always said that once I retired I’d “have more time” and would spend a lot of my time creating, but as it has turned out, I really haven’t made that a priority the way I thought I would have.  Time for me to change that, don’t you think?  Less work; more joy!

 

I worked all day Thursday covering for a co worker that smashed her hand in a door.  Ouch!  It pains me to even think about it.  This weekend will be a three day one for me so I’m going to make it a Christmasey funfest.  I hope all is well in your world.  Take care and enjoy the week ahead!  Ho, ho, ho!

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 193

 

Hello!  How is everybody doing?!  Do you have all of your gifts wrapped and ready?

 

We are definitely shifting into winter weather now, or so I thought.  Frosty cold mornings, fog and rain.  But, then we got a warm up and temperatures soared into the 60s – a typical El Nino winter, I suppose.  Regardless of the weather, I am so incredibly grateful to have a warm and solid home to live in and shelter me.  Everything I need is right here.  My heart if full as I look around and realize that all of my life’s hard work has led to this and with Christmas coming I find it very difficult to want for another single thing.  I am blessed.

 

It was a super busy week for me as I worked extra hours covering for a fellow employee that was on vacation and we had a lot going on at the senior center last week.  I started off with a full and extremely busy day at work on Friday.  Saturday morning I took my time, enjoyed my coffee and slowly started my day before jumping into a project to declutter unfinished projects that had worn out their welcome in my sewing & craft room.

 

I worked Sunday morning taking a group of seniors to the Basque Christmas Market for a few hours.  It was misty and cool, but not too cold, which was good as the market was held outdoors.  Monday I also worked all day and it was super busy.  I barely sat down all day.  I was off Tuesday and Wednesday and happily spent Tuesday enjoying some “me time” which proved to be my most productive day all week.  I got all kinds of little tasks completed including putting the final touches on my 2026 journal and getting it ready for the new year.  I am getting super excited to get to use it.

 

Wednesday I ran errands dropping off a package at the post office as I sold another piece of my decluttered Pyrex.  I filled up the gas tank on the Subaru, picked up a few grocery items here and there, did a little bit of extra Christmas shopping, I couldn’t help myself, and then headed home to get all of my gifts wrapped.  Then I was back at work all day again Thursday which included setting up for the annual Christmas dance and party at the senior center.

 

Basque sheep herder's wagon

I could totally camp in this! 😁

Everything you could possible need

So cute!

I love a good busy week and I had a lot of fun doing all of the holiday related things that needed to be done this past week.  I am very much looking forward to more holiday fun in the week ahead.  Have a great weekend!  I love the holidays!

 

Vintage Cookery - Christmas Cookies!

 

I bought this cookbook from a seller on eBay as a treat to myself last Christmas.  It was originally published in 1963 and I am so happy to have a copy of it.  It is one I keep with my handful of treasured vintage cookbooks.  I’ve made a few recipes out of it and I’m eager to use it again this Christmas to make many more.

 

The spritz cookie recipe is fabulous!  And fun!  I used my Pampered Chef Cookie Press to make these wonderful little cookies last year.

 

This year I plan to use the lemon squares recipe.  I’ve already picked up fresh lemons at the grocery store.

 

I remember my mom making these peppermint stick candy can cookies.  She even used peppermint extract in the dough.

 

Here are some more excellent cookie options I wanted to show you.

 

Isn’t this just darling?!  This would be a fun project to do as a family or with your grandchildren.

 

I hope you get to bake lots of yummy delicious cookies to enjoy and share with others this holiday season.  Happy baking!

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 192

 

Hello my lovelies!  Happiest of holidays to all of you as we head into the Christmas season!  In so many ways it is difficult to believe this is where we are at the moment, but in hindsight this year seems to me to have lasted an eternity, in many respects.  Nonetheless, I plan to make it as spectacular as always with good food, fun and celebrations.  How about you?  Are you in?

 

To start things off rightly enough I woke up last Friday morning with a migraine.  I can’t really complain about that because it has been well over two years since my last one, I think, and that is a HUGE improvement over how I used to have two per month.  Instead of getting upset I just canceled my plans, took some medicine and stayed in my jammies all day recuperating.  My supper was a pre-prepared dish of Thanksgiving leftovers I had made the day before.  All I had to do was reheat it in the microwave and I was all set.

 

Saturday morning I was relieved to wake up to no headache and a long list of things I wanted to do.  First up was to start the laundry and then gather up all of the Fall décor I had set out in my house back in September and get it all stored away in its bin and on the shelf in the garage.  Then I brought in the Christmas bins and got busy.  I took my time dusting, vacuuming and deciding what I wanted to put where.  By the end of the day I was happy to see my humble home transformed into a cozy Christmas abode.

 

I used the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers – mainly dressing, gravy and mashed potatoes along with a jar of home canned chicken and a half bag of leftover frozen broccoli to make myself a nice little casserole that I was able to “bake” in the microwave.  I served the mashed potatoes on the side with a little bit more gravy and it was delicious.  I had enough left over of my leftovers for three more meals, just without the mashed potatoes as I only had one serving of those left.  The casserole on its own however, was just fine, but after this I was officially carbed out.

 

Tuesday morning I left the house with a short shopping list.  I went to Cash & Carry to pick up cream, Winco for fresh produce and a few packages of meat – beef, pork and chicken, then to the mall to pick up a freebie from Bath & Body Works and to walk around and see all of the Christmas displays.  I have to say the Mall was not decorated at all as in years past and to be honest was more than a little bit disappointing.

 

On the way home I made a quick stop into Fred Meyer with a $2.00 OFF meat coupon that was set to expire hoping to find something affordable.  I was not at the store I normally shop at and was sad to see the meat department was far from fully stocked and the prices outrageous.  Fortunately I found a package of assorted pre-seasoned taco meats with a fairly clean ingredient list and was thrilled to leave with three pounds of meat for just over a dollar per pound.  Inside of the package were three vacuum sealed bags so I was able to just put them away in the deep freezer until I need them.

 

Wednesday morning I portioned out three of the five boneless skinless chicken breasts I had purchased at Winco and after vacuum sealing them I put them away in the deep freezer.  I cut up the pork loin into nice thick chops and vacuum sealed and froze those as well.  The carne asada style beef I ended up putting into the slow cooker with onions, mushrooms and beef broth and cooking until tender. I used that to make a few pre-prepared entrees to tuck away in the kitchen freezer.  The rest of the chicken was also used to make my meals this past week.

 

I worked a half day Monday and then again on Thursday evening taking a group of seniors out for dinner at a local brewery and then to a Christmas play A Sherlock Carole.  The performance was wonderful and I got home way past my bedtime, but it was worth it.

 

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful first week of December.  Have any of you put up your tree and decorated yet?  How is your Christmas shopping going?  Take care and have a wonderful weekend!

 

Simple Holiday Décor

 

With all of the decluttering I have done in the last few years I have far less Christmas décor than what I used to and I absolutely love it!  It used to take me all day, sometimes more than one day, to decorate for Christmas but now I can to it in about an hour or two and the house is just as festive, in my opinion, as it has always been.  I don’t miss anything I let go of either.

 

When I did my last round of decluttering I was able to test the string of lights I had for my tree so I knew going into it this year that I had functioning lights.  At least I thought that at the time, however by the time I got ready to decorate the tree only half of the lights on that pre-tested string weren’t working.  Because I also had two brand new strings I had picked up at Home Depot on clearance a couple years ago still in the box (that I assumed worked) as my back up lights I was able to toss out the faulty ones and use one of the new strings.

 

This year I swapped the table with the stereo on it with my maternal great grandmother’s side table with in order to accommodate the tree.  Other than that, I left everything else in place.  I dusted and vacuumed everything before I put up the tree.  I think it looks perfect decorated with ornaments my paternal grandparents used on their tree along with my own that I have accumulated over the years.

 

The fireplace mantle is another focal point I like to decorate and I try to do something a little bit differently each year.  Again simple, but festive.

 

On my sofa I switched out the Fall pillow covers for the Christmas ones I made several years ago.  They are easy to wash and iron and the pillow inserts are simply travel size pillows I picked up at Wal-Mart for about $3 each.  I also added a winter themed throw to the back of the sofa.

 

Upstairs

Downstairs

In my bathrooms I added Christmas themed towels to my regular set up along with appropriate soap dispensers and lotions from Bath & Body Works.  I reuse these each year and make my own foaming hand soap solution to refill the dispensers.  I got the cute little towels at Honk’s 99¢ store back when my girls were just babies.  Like most of my holiday décor I’ve had them a long time!

 

In the kitchen

I repeated the Christmas theme with a soap dispenser and hanging dish towel in my kitchen as well.  I added the two red dish towels I keep in my china cabinet off season to the kitchen drawer.  I also added a quilted holiday table matte and a balsam scented candle to the dining room table.

 

Once again, I did not purchase any new holiday décor.  Instead, I opted to use only what I already had on hand.  If I decide I do want to add something new I told myself I will need to make it myself using things I already have in my house.  No new purchases.  I like that.  And I love how my home looks and feels right now.  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!