Retirement Musings and Everyday Delights
I've watched a couple of interviews recently that got me thinking about different personality types. More specifically, where do people get their drive from? The first interview was with Maria Shriver, who grew up as part of the Kennedy clan. At the dinner table, she and her siblings would have to share what they'd contributed … Continue reading Achievement or Contentment?
I've been thinking a lot about death and obituaries lately. The thoughts started when I attended a Celebration of Life, and were amplified when our latest book club pick was I See You've Called in Dead. When we moved in across the street from Loris, I was pregnant with Nick, and Loris was in her … Continue reading What Will Your Obituary Say?
My summer of cancellations has continued unabated. Tutoring is back off the table after only two sessions (just too much going on in their life right now). A Toronto meet-up with a friend from the UK was cancelled because she got sick, and a sister's weekend in Kingston got cancelled because Karen was sick. Keeping … Continue reading Is it lonely being an only?
One thing you have to figure out in retirement is how much structured time you need. How full do you want your calendar to be at the beginning of the week? My summer schedule includes tutoring twice a week and dragon boating three times a week. On top of that I'll usually have a few … Continue reading Amorphous Blobs of Time
I had a humbling experience this week. And not the, I'm-so-humbled-to-win-this-award kind, but the I'm-not-as-smart-as-I-think kind. Years ago, I read about The Four Agreements, which are: Be Impeccable With Your Word. Don’t Take Anything Personally. Don’t Make Assumptions. Always Do Your Best. If you can manage to do those things, it's quite powerful...but it's hard. … Continue reading Don’t Assume It’s Personal
Are you still the same person you've always been? I read an article this week where the author categorized people into 'dividers' and 'continuers'. Some people feel that they’ve altered profoundly through the years, and to them the past seems like a foreign country...others have a strong sense of connection with their younger selves, and … Continue reading Are you still the same you you used to be?
Like many Ontarians, our holiday plans were impacted by back-to-back winter storms. Fortunately, they didn't affect Nick and Megan's flight home from Vancouver, or our plans for Christmas Day. Nick spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Megan's family, while Ray and I drove to Georgetown to spend Christmas morning with his mom. In the … Continue reading Reflections on 2025
When I read about the top five regrets of the dying, the one that surprised me the most was not keeping in touch with friends. If you ask people what matters in life, most would put friends and family near the top of the list, but life gets busy and we don't always invest our … Continue reading Friends for a reason, a season or a lifetime
Nick successfully defended his masters thesis, and he and Megan have signed a lease for an apartment in Kitsilano, Vancouver, taking possession on November 15th. Big life changes ahead for them. They're very excited, and I'm excited for them, even though I'll miss having them close by. It came as no surprise that they decided … Continue reading Let’s Go Blue Jays, Let’s Go!
People often ask how I decide what to write about in my blog posts, and it's really just whatever is rattling around in my brain when I sit down to write. Sometimes a theme presents itself by showing up repeatedly in my life. That's what's happened recently with the topic of death. We had a … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Death (plus Nick’s Norwegian Adventures, part 2)
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