NMD (North Michigan Dude)

Joy and Promise

Well it has become apparent to me that the reason I blog is for attention. Since I am not getting a great deal of that lately, except for loyal Feng, I have decided to blog anyway. Interesting the spell check keeps underlining blog. When are they going to update that thing? There are a zillion things I should be doing at the moment but anyone knows that is far too many things to do in a minute so I will write this instead. I had a great weekend filled with joy and promise. The joy was Curly, my grandgirl, and the promise was Stan’s nephew who went shopping with me to purchase tile for our shower. We have a space dedicated to a shower in our upstairs bathroom but Big Guy has been dragging his feet on finishing it. NMD(North Michigan Dude) however is going at it. He has been cementing on the orange membrane and getting ready to do the deed. I am thrilled, a shower and a tub on different floors, how decadent is that? We have the tile now and NMD is working today but very soon now we will have tile on the shower wall.

Work is really dragging lately because try though I might I can’t stop thinking about being free in December. I really make an effort to live in the moment but I wind up wondering how many more moments until retirement. When I consider how the remainder of my life is so much shorter than what has transpired so far I try to be here right now. But it will be so nice to be free!

The weather today is so hot all of a sudden. This am it was pleasant but at noon it went immediately to hot. It has been warm all September. I wonder if we will get frost in October. NMD remarked that we didn’t have much color here. I told him it was coming but when. I think it usually shows up in October after the first frost. I am ready for cooler weather.

Curly and the clover

Guilty as Charged

I am guilty of blogger neglect. For this I am most sorry, but life do go on and on. It has been busy but uneventful so what could I do but wait until something interesting presented itself. This weekend was good, I invited Curly for an overnight and we had a pleasant time. She is so dear and at the age where everything you say is taken literally which can be so funny at times. We enjoyed the hammock and reading books. She colored some pictures for me and we looked at photos of everyone. Our time ended with apple picking at a local orchard. Her parents and Many Hats were there. She enjoyed it as much as a trip to the toy store. She ran down the lane, squealing with delight as she vied with her sister for the best apple. When it was time to go she told her mom that she wanted to ride with grandma and go back to her house. Mom said no and then commenced the argument. Mom won of course. Life was so simple at that age, but then I think we tend to complicate it more than is necessary.

My work has been taking a lot of my attention. Hardly have time to read blogs let alone write one. Big Guy has been roofing a house with his nephew’s help and all I get done is cooking when I am home. The nephew is being paid in food and room, not a bad trade off. He is staying in the studio behind our place and plans on living in town for a while. He started a new job today. The roof has progressed rapidly since his arrival.

I also have been making plans for my financial situation since I want to retire in December. Had to sign up at the Social Security Office and get things lined up with my financial guy. Next I will have to meet with our HR person to choose my end date etc. Also have started a list of things I think of doing when I’m working that I can’t do because I am working. Plan to keep this handy for those days when I say there is nothing to do I’m bored. I am sure those days will come after I retire maybe 8-10 months down the road, maybe not. My sister is also semi-retired and we can get into all kinds of trouble together.

Plan to do more cooking and baking. There are a lot of meals I can’t make now that I would like to make. Curly is in pre-school and every so many weeks she has to take a treat so maybe she and I could make it. Might bring one to where I used to work sometimes as a surprise. It will be sooo fun.