The Best Stuff, Ideas, and Retirement Articles of 2022

This article is informative and actually fun to read. It's like one-stop shopping for book and TV ideas. I like all of book recommendations and will go for those, but I find I don't watch much TV any more for some reason, and if I do it's normally a series and it has to light. Right now I am watching Doc Martin which I enjoy both for the entertainment and the beautiful scenery of Port Issac in the UK.
I actually don't have any "new" ideas to add right now and wish I could say that we have recently traveled to a place as special as Scotland, as John did in this article, but we have become creatures of habit, and continue to travel several times a year to Colorado (daughter), Florida (sun) and Pennsylvania (cabin) But we are ready to travel and love the idea of a river cruise as mentioned in this blog, but I had a bout of seasickness on a sailboat years ago, so would a river cruise not be a good idea ? Hoping it's a lot different. A train trip through the Canadian Rockies may also be on the agenda. Has anyone done this and have recommendations?

When I first read this I didn’t think of anything really new to add because we still haven’t traveled and so have no fun experience to report. But then I thought we do have something new that I am grateful for everyday. We made the decision after several years of exhausting mind changing to “age in place” and have remodeled our home to fit our future needs and we love it. We have newly remodeled kitchen, bathrooms and master bedroom and a lovely screened in back sun porch. It all started because we needed a new dishwasher which made us start to think about some of the kitchens we saw in our search for a retirement community and the rest is history. I also got a new iPhone which is fun and my 12-year-old granddaughter is still showing me everything it can do. She of course enjoys it more than I do. A new concept that we got into was “meatless Mondays” which has grown into about 4 meatless days a week. We also were happy to be able to buy season tickets once again to our town’s performing arts series which helps the winter go by and is a fun evening, and the library is back to book clubs and a is fun place to volunteer. So it was a good year, and look forward to the new one. Over Christmas my son-in-law mentioned we may now want a dog to ring in 2023, I did nip that new idea in the bud.

I know this is ho-hum for some and been-there-done-that for many, but last year we received the gift of a second childhood (in a good way) by babysitting our 3 year old grandson several times a week. It banished the daily dose of doom from pandemic, political wars, war-wars and climate woes to a galaxy far far away. We played on slides, swings, and monkey bars for the first time in 40 years, splished in splash-pads, water slides, hand-fed goats, horses, llamas, and are on a first-name basis with all the animals in our local zoo. Rode roller coasters and merry-go-rounds, over and over subsisting on McNuggets and Mountain Dew. Reveled in the comfort of Little Blue Truck, Toe Truck Joe, and Firebuds where all friends support each other and work together for the benefit of everyone. How refreshing. He loved every second, and my husband and I are now happier and in better shape than a year ago. I know it won’t continue forever, but it was just what we needed this year. Happy New Year indeed.

Well done, Daryl, well done!

Planet Money just had an article highlighting the booming market for non-alcoholic beer and other drinks. They included mention of my favorite, the beers from Athletic Brewing Co. One of the most interesting observations is that 80% of the people who buy non-alcholic brews also buy alcoholic products. So they view the nons as a complement, rather than a substitute.

Well, John, I'd nominate you as the winner in the best retirement blog arena!

Cheers,
Jan Cullinane