I’m Retiring! (Again)

Well, here’s the big news around here.  I’m retiring.  By which I mean I’m retiring again.  I tried this three years ago and my retirement lasted seven months. 

But.  This time, I think I’m ready.

And.  We’re hitting the road.  For a month.  Yep.  We’re loading up John’s Big Red and heading out.

I’ll have some new journeys to share with you soon including, for now, the planning out of our road trip.

My goal is to have a happy and healthy road trip.  Not to put in too many miles a day, eat as healthfully as possible and get in plenty of fresh air and exercise.

Dear Son Ryan will be moving in for the month of February and holding down the fort here.  We haven’t told the girls yet, but very soon they’ll figure out something is going on.

I know missing them will be the hardest part of leaving home.

We now have less than two weeks to get ourselves ready and I’ll be sharing our preparations, but if you’ve taken an extended road trip and have any suggestions, please share them!

Killer Playlist

Today’s goal is to decide on a killer playlist and find a couple of audio books we’ll both enjoy listening to.  On past road trips we’ve passed the time listening to true crime podcasts so that’s an option too.

Again, any suggestions are welcome.

What I’m Reading

Two books somehow ended up in my Kindle queue that are not my normal style (READ:  romance).  I know I’ve said before that I’m not too big on that genre.  Sometimes I feel a bit tricked.

Oh well, these weren’t too bad, took very little time to read and I would probably recommend them for light-reading days.

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand is a Nantucket summer whodunit (which is probably why I thought I’d like it).  The writing and location are good.  The characters are not so likable.  The mystery wasn’t too much of a mystery and what I can’t figure out is why it took the sheriff so long to figure it out.

I also cannot figure out how it got so many four and five star ratings on Goodreads.  But there you go.  Different strokes, as we used to say back in the day.

I would probably give this 2.5 stars.  I finished it and I didn’t hate it.

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews is pure romance and it’s clean and everyone is nice and likable and it’s short and super easy to read.  In other words, ripe for Hallmark.

If you’ve got a free afternoon and want a pick-me-up, read this.  Seriously.  Solid 3.5 stars.

What I’m Eating

An extra tube of refrigerator crescent rolls needed to be used up and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them.  So I tried a very easy cinnamon roll recipe to surprise hub with on a Sunday morning.  Not too bad.

For myself I was very sorry I ate a hot-out-of-the-oven treat because starting my day with sugar was bad, bad, bad.  Sugar really is my enemy.

I also found out it’s time to read the manual on our new oven because these took TWICE as long to bake as they should have.

Do not go out and purchase refrigerator crescent rolls to make this recipe, but if you have some you need to use up, this recipe is just fine.

Oh, and did I mention the aroma of cinnamon and sugar baking.  Awwww.

Wrap Up

This is my last week at work and it will be a short one since MLK is now a company holiday.  This will be a bittersweet week because I do love my colleagues and my customers.  But I need a little more freedom in my day.  And who can plan a month-long trip when they’re working, for heaven’s sake.

Many, many dear friends are facing health scares, concerns and sadness right now.  Please know that whether or not I personally know you and whether or not I know what’s going on with you, I am lifting you up to Heaven and asking God’s grace on you and yours.

Thank you for walking my journey with you and have a good week.