Hi Ho, It’s Off to Work I Go

On last week’s blog I talked about some big changes around here and this is the deal.  I am a retirement failure.  I struggled long and hard before I made the decision to quit my job in April.  I liked my job, my boss and my team, but I needed more time and more balance […]

Finding a Minute’s Peace and Quiet

What a week.  I literally pray for rain during the monsoons and then the week we get our roof replaced, we get a record-breaking rain that came from who knows where and really screwed things up.  We had buckets everywhere and I walked around with my Clorox wipes every day.  The noise and all the […]

How Keeping Organized Changed my Life

I took so many Sociology classes in college; I could have been considered a Sociology minor.Ā  I loved those classes.Ā  I loved the professor.Ā  I loved her vocabulary.Ā  I loved thinking in new ways quite different from how I’d been exposed to the world.Ā  I especially loved that I could vomit on paper and get […]

What I Learned Taking a Night Tour

Among all of last week’s activities, probably the biggest was visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and architectural school, Taliesin West.Ā  It’s located about 30 minutes from our home in the desert hills of Scottsdale.Ā  We went with the University of Denver alum group to a Night Lights Tour which is a comprehensive two-hour guided […]

Having a Ball in Fall

I’ve mentioned before how much fun we start to have in the desert after paying the price of living here in August and September (although we had a mild summer, in my opinion).  For all things weather in Arizona, I check my friend Stu’s blog.  Stu has weather stations in Flagstaff and Anthem, so if […]

The Getty

For years when visiting LA, I would see the white building at the top of the hill and think, ā€œOne day I’d like to visit the Getty.ā€  I had no expectations or thoughts about what it might be, other than a well-known museum.  Last week, we finally made that visit happen, and boy oh boy, […]

A Little History from the American West

Sometimes my little brain makes some crazy connections.  So, here we go, and please stick with me – I promise to wrap this all together at some point. I am taking a R.I.P.P.E.D. exercise class which is new at our gym (big shout out to Kelly, our fantastic instructor!)  RIPPED is a crazy acronym for […]

There’s No Business Like Show Business

At the risk of sounding a little looney, I’ll make a confession.Ā  There is generally a song running through my mind and many times that song is from a Broadway musical.Ā  This is nothing new – I’ve been like this since I was a kid.Ā  In fact, as a kid, I’d see musicals and feel […]

What’s on Your Device?

Back in the old days – well, not all that long ago – most people on planes were reading books or magazines.Ā  There weren’t devices with movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, etc. handily downloaded onto them.Ā  If I ever finished a book, or heaven forbid, forgot a book, I’d have to purchase one at the […]

Getting Back on Track

We are just back from a two-week road trip, and I cannot lie, we spent a lot of downtime over the weekend recovering.  We had such a wonderful time seeing family and friends and enjoying beautiful scenery.  My usual routine of halfway-healthy eating and exercising regularly was severely compromised.  Excuse #1 on eating: One thing […]