I think it’s safe to say my first year of retirement has been a success since I haven’t considered going back to work – even for a minute – nor have I gotten divorced. Only joking on the second part, but admittedly it was an adjustment as our house is small and our personalities are not. I anticipated as much, which is where the “She Shed” dream was hatched. (One woman described her She Shed as a “Mini me version of my home.”)

I learned that building a house – even a tiny one – comes with frustration. Alas, after almost a year the She Shed is finally a reality. Of course, when I was schlepping a dustmop out there recently, I thought, now didn’t I just add another room to clean? Then as we enjoyed a lunch on the patio with a construction-type friend, he gazed out at my “perfect” little shed and said in between bites, “Are you gonna put hurricane shutters on that thing?”

The year has gone by surprisingly quickly and like many people I wonder how I ever had time to work. The part of being retired that I have yet to perfect is the slowing down part. I am doing my best to embrace the motto of hubby’s longtime friend (who just happens to be retired Air Force). When he came to visit and we were rushing him about, he said: Cool your jets! Great advice yet easier said than done as fifty years of dashing here and there makes for one deep-rooted habit. This is where the She Shed really shines as the space in which I continue my attempt at meditation, as well as play piano, both of which seem like good ways to cool one’s jets.

When I started my blog I figured it would be for a small group of friends and family, which it has been – for the most part.

Except, after my first post I received an email from someone I did not recognize. The subject line read: Dear Miss Scribbles. The email simply read, “Cute dogs.” I replied by sending a smiley face. After all, I didn’t really want to put people on the spot by asking questions. I had welcomed anyone on my homepage to “feel free to email me,” and I am on Facebook and LinkedIn. Strangers could easily stumble upon my page and read a post or two, which I know they have because I can see where my traffic originates. No biggie.

So, I thought.

Then a couple of weeks later my Puppy Love story posted. My mystery reader’s email said, “Donny’s loss.” It was silly and funny, of course, but still I was taken aback and just a little bit curious. I did not respond. I did not hear back from him/her/them, so I kind of forgot about it.

Months went by and many posts with no mystery emails. I knew there was nothing to worry about. I was mad at myself for – even for a second – buying into the paranoia.

In January, six months after I started my blog, I posted, One Snowy Day in Washington, D. C. I remember the dread I felt as I hovered over the message I received after that post. The emails had always been the same: short, normal font, no greeting or salutations inside the mail, just the same “Dear Miss Scribbles” in the subject line. This one was no different. It read: “I’m just glad you found your way to Florida.”

I immediately got a weird feeling and quickly closed my laptop. There was nothing really threatening. Was I just becoming the paranoid person I had been resisting?

I’ve always prided myself on not bringing my phone everywhere I go – even on long walks. After all, as I’ve said a million times, I lived for fifty years without a cell phone. But now, I was bringing my phone on walks. And I found myself looking over my shoulder a little too much. I even started to position my fingers on each side of the phone to be able to quickly access “SOS Emergency Call.” I hated what I was becoming as I’ve always been someone who likes to trust folks.

With overprotective loved ones who watch a little too much Forensics Files, I didn’t dare mention this because I knew they would immediately go all Defcon on the situation.

When I started replacing my outside walks with treadmill walks in the gym, I could no longer stand it.

I drafted and redrafted a response email to the mystery person and repeatedly resisted hitting send.

When my curiosity and paranoia finally got the best of me, I settled on a reply. It was short and succinct, “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”

The answer to the mystery was simple.

sloof lirpa

I couldn’t tell you how, why or when our family mantra came to be. But, if you’ve spent any time with my family, you’ve heard the expression, “I thought they’d never leave.”

I remember my beloved patriarch uncle telling me that after a day-long love fest with the entire family, my husband and I left for the evening and he heard the mantra for the first time. He told me he almost died laughing.

Recently I had the joy of hosting a group of friends for the weekend. I have a few different groups of friends, but these are the OG, my childhood friends. The kind of friends with whom you have shared everything from broken hearts to weddings, from births to deaths – and everything in between. Friends who have seen you at your best, and your worst.

I was asked, will you take them to the beach? Will you do the theme parks? Nope and nope. That’s not what this weekend was about. Basically, it was a three-day slumber party with plenty of food, laughs, reminiscing, and no shortage of wine or coffee. Family members dropped in and out throughout the weekend adding to the nostalgia and blurring the lines even further between family and friends.

It was all I hoped it would be.

I’m writing this in my head as I drive home from the airport after dropping them off thinking about our family mantra, the irony of which – obviously not lost on my uncle – is that the less it is meant, the funnier it is.

 I thought they’d never leave…

NOTE: I’ll be going to posting every three weeks. Of course, I reserve the right to change that at any time. 😁

It was years before I discovered why we got married in February.

When planning our wedding, hubby-to-be didn’t care to have much input. But, he said, “I want to choose the date.” Okay, I thought. Not a big deal.

When he chose February 19, I remember thinking it was kind of an odd choice, but okay.

Years later, I’m not sure how or why it came up, but the truth came out.

My husband is a huge sports fan. I knew this going in. It’s okay. I come from a family of sports fans. He is pretty much interested in all sports, but baseball and football are his passion. Turns out there is a very small window in any given year where no football or baseball are played. (This year there were only twelve days from the super bowl to the start of spring training.) Guess what date falls in that small window.

When I realized this, my response, of course, was, “So, you didn’t want our anniversary to interfere with any of your sports?”

“No, baby,” he said in his always hilarious style. “I didn’t want sports to ever interfere with our anniversary.”

How could I be mad? I actually admired his ingenuity, which, by the way is still working 25 years later. We returned three days ago from our celebratory cruise, which “just happened” to coincide with opening day of spring training.

Play ball.

That little piece, written in January 1998, would ultimately cause me to change paths with reverberations even into retirement.

Not only did I learn how great an outlet writing could be, but the response I received when the article was published really touched me. Friends, family, neighbors, even strangers reached out.

Shortly afterwards, I started thinking about going back to school.

A friend connected me with a professor at the University of Central Florida (UCF). After reading some of my writing, he asked, “Why do you want to come back to school?”

“Because I want to be a writer,” I told him.

“But you’re already a writer,” he said.

It’s amazing how those simple words affected me. It’s not like he said I was a good writer. And, he actually even added, “I’d stay away from poetry.”

But I took it and ran. It was as though I was waiting for any nugget of encouragement.

By the end of the year, I was enrolled as a full-time student in English at UCF.

At my “retirement” party from the Kennedy Space Center, the cake read: “You’re Doing the Write Thing!”

They were right. Although it was not the most financially sound decision I could have made, I have never regretted it.

And, I learned to always be generous with those nuggets of encouragement.

A neighbor I don’t even know stopped by while walking her dog and asked, “Will you get another dog?” I get the question a lot. After all, I was rarely seen without a Golden by my side for thirty years; I even started SusanScribbles professing my love for my trio of canines. It’s a fair question.

When I told a friend that one of the reasons I haven’t taken the plunge is that the heartbreak is so difficult, she said, “But, they’re worth it.” She’s not wrong. But you do get to the point where the heartbreak is, well, too heartbreaking. One friend told her husband, “Seal up the dog door; I can’t take this anymore.” (Remember, Kath?)

I will say, however, that even though we are technically petless, I have somehow been reaping the benefits, and rewards, and responsibilities of having one.

When my 86-year-old neighbor adopted a puppy (you may recall, Shame on Me), she asked if I would help train Tasha, the Standard Poodle. This has been a challenge, to put it mildly. I took her to six-week obedience training, which turned into 12 weeks. She graduated, but I have to say they must have graded on a curve. A big curve. Put it this way, we are still struggling with training to this day. She is adorable though.

Then, a couple of months ago a tiny little orange kitten showed up in our shed. After spending two weeks coaxing him to eat from afar, I was still not able to get close. So, I borrowed a trap. I’m not sure who this stressed more. I then spent two days in the bathroom with him trying to get him socialized – all the while fighting off falling in love. I called him Jules and he was beyond adorable. With two upcoming trips fast approaching, I made the very difficult decision to find another home for him. He is now called Pistachio, and he lives with a loving family that also includes a feline sibling.

Fast forward to today. We just returned from delivering a ten-week old puppy to our aunt and uncle in Connecticut. I know what you’re thinking, but we did it for love. Ten years ago when they could not find a reasonably priced Dachshund pup, we did the same thing with much success, but their beloved Moxie passed away in November. They were heartbroken. So, off we went again to a breeder in the middle of the state. We were reminded of all the reasons we would never get a puppy for ourselves. But, besides the sleepless nights, potty training, vet visits and mounds of laundry, there has been some comic relief.

At one point I was voice texting with a couple of my fellow retired co-workers when hubby mentioned something about the pup going “pee pee.” It wasn’t until one of these former vice presidents texted back, “Well, when you have to go, you have to go” that I realized the “pee pee” comment was picked up in my text.

Then during my exercise class on Zoom, the little devil zoomed across my keyboard. A few minutes later, the instructor said, “Someone’s mic is on.” I was forgiven when at the end of the class I introduced the culprit that interrupted yoga, the adorable and rambunctious, three and half pound Charlie.

So, I can safely say that although we have not yet adopted a pet, we’ve had no shortage of fuzz therapy or fuzz responsibility since my retirement.

          TASHA                JULES/PISTACHIO             CHARLIE

I could not let the passing of Jimmy Carter go by without weighing in. Most of you know I have a special fondness for the 39th president because of my chance meeting with him more than four decades ago. But, now I’m reading “A Full Life” – which he wrote at ninety – and finding even more reason to respect him.

Most of us know Carter as a farmer, but did you know during his time in the Navy, he was hand chosen to help design and build the original nuclear power plant? On a submarine, no less! I was impressed with all aspects of his life, like at twelve years old when he was finally “permitted” to break land in the field using a plow and mules, which was “the most boring and challenging duty.” By his account, his mind was “relatively unfocused,” so he would compute how many miles he would have to walk before completing the task (between 22 and 25). He said of this time that he “enjoyed a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction, knowing that (he) had done all that was humanly possible.”

Born in 1924 in the south, Race, of course, played a part in Carter’s life. He credits his mother, Lillian, for “never observing the principle of white supremacy,” which helped shape his commitment to the protection of human rights. This commitment, along with “keeping the peace” were Carter’s primary goals for his administration – admirable goals for an admirable man.

Carter’s gentle demeanor and down-to-earth persona were evident when I was fortunate enough to have that encounter with him one snowy day in Washington, D.C.

The story goes that when I worked for the Secret Service, my office was in the Old Executive Office Building, which is connected to the White House. On days when it was snowing or raining, I would cut through the White House as I made my way from my bus stop to work.

I was so dumbfounded one morning to see the president coming toward me down that long hallway, that in my twenty-year-old naiveté, I said, “What are you doing here?”

He had the biggest grin on his face as he stopped and shook my hand saying, “I live here. What are you doing here?”

I have to wonder if he relayed that story to anyone afterwards laughing at the silly young girl in the hallway. I know that in my office of wise cracking secret service agents, I didn’t soon live it down.

I must say if I am to have only one significant VIP encounter in my lifetime, I can’t think of a nobler person than Jimmy Carter with whom to have it.

Welcome, 2025. Farewell, fun.

Well…at least for a while.

Like many people, I get serious about “shaping up” in January. Then, for the most part I try to stay focused until December when all bets are off.

This past year was no different. Well, it may have been a little worse. Maybe it was the European vacation at the beginning of the month that kicked things off, next level.

Eating cookies for breakfast; skipping exercise class; ordering wine with lunch; celebrating happy hour in the middle of the week; hell, we even ordered dessert the other day! I was like an out of control 18-year-old who just arrived at college with no guardrails for the first time. (Hopefully I didn’t also gain the dreaded “Freshmen 15.”)

The party is officially over. Dry January has started, the cookies are all gone, and I am back to my regular exercise classes.

In looking for a bright spot (behind the good health thing, of course), there is actually a huge one. Since I’m now retired, this is the first time I do not have to go back to work after the December break. And this year, because of the way the calendar fell, it was actually three full weeks off, so it would have been really hard to face that Monday morning.

Now, that’s what I call a bright side.

Happy New Year!

I was trying to avoid posting for Christmas. It’s a lot of pressure to come up with something that hasn’t already been said “many times, many ways.” But then my biweekly Tuesday post day fell on Christmas Eve so now what?

There’s always the grateful thing… But I’ve done that (maybe ad nauseum), and I did not want to make you endure yet another telling of how grateful I am. (Very!)

Favorite Christmas movie? So cliché.
(Charlie Brown’s Christmas, with A Christmas Story as a close second.)

Favorite Christmas song? So many great classics, but the relatively new (1989) Grown Up Christmas List moves me every time with its touching and relevant lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jax1ZmfOXE

How about a simple Merry Christmas? I do hope your Christmas is all you want it to be. And, I sincerely wish you and your loved ones good health in the new year.

Extra prayers and thoughts for those of you who are struggling this holiday season as I know it can sometimes be a tough time of the year.

I also want to thank you for reading my blog and indulging me as I practice my writing. I so appreciate the support.

S.

The saying goes something like, The best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry.

I was reminded of the line from the Burns poem when the best laid plans of our recent European vacation took a couple of left turns.

It was a good opportunity to remember my favorite advice/mantra/lesson about control and how little we ultimately have. I try to focus on the most important part of that lesson, which is that we do have control over how we choose to react to those left turns. This choice can make the difference between things going “awry” or not.

So, ask me how my vacation was and I will tell you, Wunderbah! The primary purpose of the trip –the 60th birthday celebration of a favorite German family member – went as planned in a fabulous villa on the sun kissed jewel of the Mediterranean that is Mallorca, Spain.

The vibrant city of Barcelona did not disappoint with its incredible churches, cathedrals and city history, not to mention the Sangria and the great fun that was paella making.

And, finally, the winter wonderland of Bavaria – to me one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Being there so close to Christmas made it even more special. Some folks thought us crazy for visiting in winter, but even for this Floridian who does prefer to be warm, it was a welcome change, especially since we were properly outfitted by the best hosts ever.

We were treated so kindly by all, had great fun along the way, arrived home safely, and the cat survived!

What left turn?