Time

It's amazing how much time we have when free of most of our responsibilities. No house to clean, maintain, no yard to maintain, no job commitments, no children.  I am so thankful that we were able to retire so young (Deb at 53 and Scott at just under 55). I never took my job for granted, as many of the younger employees did. I was thankful I had a good job that was secure with benefits. I worked 32 yrs. for the Post Office in case you weren't aware. 10 of those years was on the midnight shift. But even though I did not hate my job &  did appreciate the job I had, I also resented HAVING to be there 40+ hours a week. The time it took out of my day, my life. It felt like a jail sentence, counting the years, months, days until I would have the freedom to do what I WANTED to do, and not what I HAD to do.

"For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work."  ~Doug Larson

 I can't say it enough. I am so thankful and lucky to have been able to retire while I hopefully still have a long quality of life ahead.


I'm so happy! I just had to jump up and give hubby a hug.
Weather is great, dogs are well and mostly behaving, haven't heard about any issues with the house in NJ (yet), my husband is happy because he doesn't have to work on the Turnpike, I'm really enjoying the book I'm reading.
 I have TIME to do my crafts, I have TIME to watch a movie, I have TIME  to read,  I have TIME to organize files on the computer, I have TIME to keep up with grooming the dogs, I have TIME to exercise, I have TIME to clean what is needed, I have TIME to explore the country, I have TIME to keep up with this blog.
TIME IS PRECIOUS.

"One must learn a different... sense of time, one that depends more on small amounts than big ones."  ~Sister Mary Paul

RV: I found myself today trying to decide what to do instead of trying to squeeze what needed to be done into the day. Such an odd feeling.  I'm actually now looking for chores to do!  Cleaning of the RV is quite simple. Not much here.  So I'll start working on putting a coat of protectant on the outside little by little.
Scott also is looking for things to do. Don't think for one second we are bored! No way! Just need to give ourselves permission to do things we want instead of chores. To realize it's ok to watch a lot of TV, or knit a lot, or read a lot.

RV MOD: Scott decided to put an outlet in the ceiling of the bedroom. Our RV has the wiring for a 2nd AC unit, but we seem to do just fine with just the one in the living area. We've found that when it gets cold, we need a heater in both the bedroom and the living area. We have a little square ceramic type heater for the bedroom and a flat MICA PANEL HEATER in the living room. These work fine in cooler weather.  When we were in NJ and it was freezing & below, we used the propane RV heat to get up to 66 - 68° degrees and then switch to electric to maintain. But, if I wanted to make coffee in the morning, I had to make sure to turn off the bedroom heater. Not a big deal, but just a nuisance.
Scott wanted me to mention that he used a "heavy duty" extension cord and a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlet. I guess that means he knew what he was doing.
Here are the results

The ceiling outlet goes towards the wall and then down the side of the cabinet. See the white female end by the TV. That is where we will plug in our heater (as long as we have 50amp service).

FOOD:  Went into Crystal River & found NATALIA'S PIZZA & PASTA. It wasn't the pizza & pasta that caught my eye, but the Cuban menu! Picked up some Cuban style pork roast...delicious.

CRAFTS: I've caught up with rescue work.
I'm starting a new knit project. THIS  is what I hope to knit.
While traveling in the truck from site to site, I work on crocheting or something else that does not take detailed work. The truck can be quite bumpy at times and I don't want to lose a knit stitch. I'm not experienced enough to correct my dropped stitch easily. So previously I was making Shamrock potholders.

Now I'm working on a plastic canvas project. I'm designing a tote for our plates, utensils, etc when we go to pot luck dinners. Below is the "in progress".

Also, with all this TIME on my hands, I brought out my counted cross stitch that I haven't touched in years. This I do outside at the picnic table with the fabulous bright sunlight. Now that I've aged since last working on it, I not only need glasses, but good, bright, true light.