A swinging family

One of the biggest times when I still feel like a kid is when I'm on a swing set. It's. So. Much. Fun. Why am I talking about it? Because a family that swings together, stays at the park together. Or something like that.

Now some pictures.

You won't be scared if you don't look down!

"Mother, I'm shocked, just shocked that you placed me in this."

Believe it or not, but there are 3 people in this shot, even if you can't see anyone's face.

Some changes

It's funny how quickly things change. For the first child you boil and double steralize things. Maybe do it 3 times to be sure. For the second child you use the steralizer as a cake container. 

Not Where have I been, but with whom

I've been documenting where I've been - latest is #5. Partly this is out of habit, partly because my memory is crappy and this blog is an easy way to remember. Partly because my grandma always was so proud of all the places they had gone to. Collecting countries seemed pretty important.

I've been thinking about it. Even though it is wonderful to travel to new countries and meet new people and all the fun / troubles / memory building that goes with it, that's not the important part. The important part is who you are traveling with. Whether it's half way around the world or to the corner store. The who is what makes the memories, what makes that trip important.

So here's a picture of my favorite travelers on a adventure in the exotic B'ack Yar'de.

Notice the traditional clothes of their tribe while they perform an intricate Dance of The DoodleBop

Post retirement, Year 4

Well, it's been 4 years since Laura hosted a party with a "Happy Retirement" banner. So far, so good with Freedom 30. I don't get out to play shuffle board as much as I thought that I would, but with the weather these days, who would want to?

Happy Retirement to Me

What is important to do when retired is to keep active and continue to learn. I no longer read as much programming books as I did pre-retirement, but I read a lot more in general. I read for fun, for learning how to be a better photographer, father, etc. I read the news, I make up fictional events and post them to the internet (which is a lot like some news organizations...)

One good thing is that the kids make sure that I get out of the house. It's important once you are retired to get air. Some times I don't have a lot of strength so Alice pushes me around to help out.

FSM willing, I'll be around for many more years of my retirement.

Sitting around to enjoy the outside. But not in the sun because it burns us so.

Alice helping me by pushing me around in my assistive technology

Should we stay or should we go?

It's the most talked about thing on our home right now. Should we stay in our current house or move? Should we stay and reno? Should we buy and reno? What's best for the kids? What's best for us? We change our "this is what we are going to do" plan hourly, if not more. 

I honestly have no idea what the right decision is, or if there is even a wrong one. 

Only history will tell what our decision was. 

Big plates, not little dishes

Well, it all comes around I guess. I once talked about how I thought that dishes full of prepreped dishes were stupid but I guess that things come full circle. I'm making a stir fry tonight and I preped the various ingredients onto easy to clean dinner plates. All lined up nicely. I guess 5 years later things change. Funny that.

Classic simple pleasures

There are many pleasures that I enjoy. With food, complex ones like tiramisu, creme brulee, and others. I've newly discovered (or rediscovered?) a classic: peaches and cream. Fresh peaches being key here. How did this happen? Like many great discoveries, via a mistake. Table cream was purchased instead of whipping cream. I even tried to whip it but no luck.

Fresh, never frozen, local food is so good compared to anything else. After going through food shipped from half way around the world for 6 months of the year, every year, I forget this. Maybe one year we'll actually do that "pay a local farmer for a year" for fresh food. Who knows.