Tumbled Words

Thursday Thirteen -I want to stay retired

1. Because I don’t want to deal with personalities in the work force. I used to be the patient one, not so sure I want to be that person at work anymore.

2. I love doing anything I want within reason… sometimes not within reason.

3. I love that it bugs our son that I don’t work. He keeps putting the thought into Leon’s head that our lives would be better if I worked… Although, he may have succeeded this time… we will see. NOTE: My poor son is taking heat over this in the comments… not that he hasn’t deserved a bit of heat at times…. He is 29, married to a woman who is not afraid of work at all, they both work as hard as Leon does… not that I didn’t work that hard when I worked… I was just lucky enough to retire with great benefits.. life choices… And she is going to start doing the same job as her husband and Leon…. They live in Florida and it was his idea originally that his dad move out there and do the same job…. but it was also his idea that I help them all out…. In fairness… Leon works so incredibly hard, both at home and work… I feel guilty occasionally… but then I don’t. We are getting income from my retirement while it lasts… and it is my medical benefits that we use… And though I joke about it… and really DON’T want to work again… I have not worked since early May, 2000… helping Leon get started in his new career by working part time is the least I can do, but it better not interfere with my writing or blogging, grin.

4. I love that I don’t have to trudge to work when I would rather daydream

5. or sleep late

6. or stay in my pajamas, whatever they may consist of that day

7. I love that I do not have to fight ice, lightning, snow, floods, or rude drivers every morning.

8. I love that I can blog and write and eat whatever I want, even cook sauerkraut in the middle of the day and no one cares.

9. I love that I am available to be the go to person for Leon and our son when they need a map pulled up, an address found, a traffic report, or just someone to listen to how awful or great their day was.

10. I love that if something important is being delivered, I don’t have to wait to get home to get it… or, worse, go pick it up across town.

11. I love that if Leon has to travel I get to go with him, since I have no boss to fire me for missing work.

12. I love collecting my retirement money and not letting it sit and be there for someone after I am gone.

13. I love hearing the sounds of the neighborhood that I would not hear if I were at work: kids getting off school busses and calling out to their moms, the occasional afternoon cow moo, the stock cars practicing on Friday afternoons, the pilots doing touchdowns at the little airport, the dog barking at an animal, the train whistles and the rumble over the highway sounds, the wind blowing in the trees, and so on.

PS. Check out BohoRhap’s TT banners, they are so cool!

Thursday Thirteen -I actually do like about Florida

1. Sunshine, when it is not burning me or in my eyes. (And yes, Shelly , I went topless, too. Won’t say how many years after this photo at age 4, but it wasn’t just at this beautiful pier that was torn down to become an inverted pyramid… it was on a ferry.)

And yes, that is my baby brother, who grew up to become a songwriter/singer/guitar player (Blues-Rock-Country). Check him out, but he is one of ‘those’, he has the music start automatically, it is on Myspace afterall, and musicians want to be heard, so be warned. And, I get to see him (and Lina!) when we move!

2. Gentle rain falling for days, like it would never end.

Bonus: The days it would be raining in the backyard and not the front yard, etc.

3. Hard rain when I am going nowhere, the amount of water that poured off our roof used to amaze me. It felt impossible, as many times as I saw it.

4. An unidentified bird call that was haunting. I only heard it certain times of the year early in the morning. I never got enough of the sound.

5. Walking on the beach in cooler weather, not that I got to do that much.

6. What Mom and Dad called heat lightning. Lightning between clouds off in the distance at night, it was beautiful and the only lightning I was not afraid of. We were in the lightning capital of the world or United States or something.

7. The way the green of palm tree leaves contrasted against a storm filled deep gray sky after the poem passed. I used to stand outside and look off in the distance at the way the light and moisture left behind create a picture that has never left my head.

8. Watching the hundreds of motorcyclist ride in lines that went farther than the eye could see in the U.S. Marine Corp Toys for Tots Motorcycle Run with Santa leading the parade. It is quite a sight, I was able to see parts of it in South Florida as they came down the interstate ramp and parts several times in St. Petersburg.

9. Sailing in Tampa Bay with the wind in our faces, the sun shining, the salt air spraying up. (OK, that could get quite cold against sunburn, another reason to not get sunburn other than the obvious ones.)

10. Driving up to Gainesville to see our son. About the only hills I ever experienced.

11. Our above ground pool sunk 2 feet into the ground and placed on the diagonal, everyone else’s was placed straight; I didn’t want straight. Worked for me.

12. Our turtles, Jaws and TJ. Just red-eared sliders.

13. Excuses for trips away when we couldn’t really afford them. Hurricane running…. we couldn’t afford real vacations most of the time, but we did get to spend time in motels away from home when it looked like it was going to be a big one. We found an awesome place that served big old country breakfasts the one year we did get flooded while away. I had the theory that once you left the house you couldn’t protect it so you may as well relax and make it fun…. I was a party of one….

1. Get rid of still more stuff

2. Pack still more stuff for RV (so we can then unpack, find out we took too much and then get rid of things I don’t want to!)

3. Pack still more stuff to store and take to storage unit and balance carefully on and in between all that is already there

4. Steam clean and paint kitchen cabinets, lower half (Time got away from us) (And we have never used those, they are the original owner’s grime we kept them closed all these 2.5 years while we did the rest of the house… and they have that almost glued on shelf paper….yuck… Luckily they had a HUGE pantry for Leon to shelve early on.) (Sure would be easier to get fast food while our kitchen is down if I weren’t a vegetarian, especially way out here!

5. Find a tree removal company that will actually return calls, this will be my 4th attempt at a company… Hello out there!

6. Install front door - yes!

7. Steam clean front staircase and the back deck… I bet I get stuck helping there.

8. Steam clean driveway (and helping here)

9. Replace treads on steps after painter paints rails, etc. (only because we are running out of time to paint….)

10. Clean up mess we have made inside doing all this…

11. Reclaim the parts of the yard that weeds took control over while we were making this last mad dash at the inside…. oops.

12. Actually I think 11 will be a big enough job to be shared with 12!

13. Make fliers and post cards and advertise our house for sale…. Hurry hurry hurry, get it while you can, grin…. Those people looking for a bargain don’t think we will lower the price if we miss Thanksgiving with our son do you? Heck, if we miss that, we may as well raise the price, stay, and hold out for someone more desperate than us…. Desperate, us? No, not really… but….

14. All the stuff I forgot to add or have no room to add…. hmmm, like finding time to blog and figuring out what to cook that won’t make the house smell offensive, and getting the other part of what is to come AFTER the sale going…. all those calls and forms and questions….

And he has to return to work and long hours next week…. Then there is still more walls and doors for us to paint…

Fingers are crossed, right?!