I tend to like quite a bit of structure in my life, and one of the fun ways I provide it for myself is to choose themes and carry them out.  What qualifies as a theme doesn't have a strict criteria (a person doesn't want to be TOO structured).  It can be a one-time theme, short in duration, or a theme over time.  It can be dropped and picked up again.  It can change in the middle.

Here's some discussion of topics for which I have themes:

 Reading

 

This is a topic that has so many possible themes it could get out of control.  Here are some I've thought of; some are in place.

•               Read every book a favorite author has written.
•               Read or re-read an author's series in order.
•               Read books I like more than once.
•               When a book references another book that seems                    interesting, read that book too.
•               Read the books I've collected but haven't read yet. 
•               Re-read books I've kept because I thought they                     were important and see if they still are.      
•               Around the World in 80 Books: topic and books                     suggested by my e-book's Reader Store website.
•               Special topic books:  dog training, violin playing,                   How To Retire Happy, Wild & Free.
•              Suggestions from friends.     

                     

Any book can be part of more than one theme, so the themes are not strictly defined.  I'm currently reading in an overall theme I call "FI80".  

•               F is for FUN.  Books in this category can be                           favorite authors, re-reads, and random books I                       pick up at the thrift store that look interesting                         (very shallow criteria here:  the title or cover                           attract me.)  Often they're quick reads or an                         author series, but sometimes they're meaty.           
•              I is for INFORMATIONAL:  Books in this                            category right now are ones I've collected but                        didn't choose to read when I was working because                I preferred no-brainer reading.  They are books                      with topics I find interesting, but are not page                        turners.  The one I'm reading now, for instance,                      is "The Right To Privacy" by Ellen Alderman                        and Caroline Kennedy, both attorneys, who                            use legal cases to explore what we think is our                      right to privacy, what the law says is our right to                    privacy, and how the law has evolved and is still                    evolving to define this right.
•              80 is for AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BOOKS,                a SO COOL theme which, as noted above, came to                me through an e-mail from the book website for                    my e-book.  Of course, the Reader Store would                      like me to buy all 80 books from them, at nearly-                  full price.  I'm too canny for that.  I'm buying them                used from half.com and Amazon.com.  

I've got a book from each of these areas available-meaning at the couch or my reading chair or the nightstand, at all times.  I'm also going through "How To Retire Happy, Wild & Free" again to spend some time on areas that I found helpful.    

Movies

Watching movies has always been an enjoyable pastime for Ron and I, but due to thriftiness and time/schedule constraints, we've mostly chosen to watch movies at home.  Local video/dvd stores for years, and more recently 

 
My movie themes are:

•              Continue our one-movie-a-week Netflix schedule
•              Go to the theater for EVERY SINGLE MOVIE WE                     WANT TO.  Every one. Whenever we like. 
•              I have a small collection of movies that were                               special enough for me to purchase.  A sub-theme                        could be this combo:  Favorite Movies & Pizza Nite.                  (This one is currently unrealized.   Might only do it                     during weeks we don't go to the theater.  Don't want                   to watch TOO many movies.)  

Dabbling

From merriam-webster.com:

 

: a superficial or intermittent interest, investigation, or experiment <his dabblings in philosophy and art> 

See the previous post "Going Off The Deep End" for a look at all the dabbling I'm doing.

Charity of the Month

 I'm not yet ready to do charitible giving in the form of volunteering time.  Ron and I have some financial giving already in place, and it occurred to me it would be fun to expand it with this theme.  It will be a modest fixed amount given locally.  Some months it will given to established charities.  Other months it will be in response to a fund-raising or special situation that catches our eye. 

 

 Theme Of Life

Play in the splashing water
Sit under the setting sun
Sing the song of joy
Before your life is done

And know that now is the moment
For life to take a turn
So dig deep in each layer
And see from it what you can learn

For this is the magical moment
So drown deeply in its beauty
And know only with zest
You can amazingly perform life's duty

So choose your theme carefully
And decorate your beautiful life
And learn to solve the puzzle
To overcome obstacles that survive

Just start the process of change
And grow and learn today
Before your life meets its end
Find plenty of encouraging ways

To take the challenge of time
And sit under the sun of joy
And sing melodiously with hope
And learn life's techniques to enjoy.

---Seema Chowdhury

    

HEAVEN ON EARTH!!

Our house has a simple design..1000 square foot rectangle on the bottom floor, and 500 square foot open loft covering 1/2 of the bottom floor, cabin style.  Over the course of living here since 1993, it has developed that Ron uses the living room area for TV watching, computer, painting, watching over the woodstove, snoozing in his recliner, etc.  I use the loft for my desk and work area, playing music, doing yoga and other exercise, and reading, as well as keeping a large cage with parakeets and a nice area of live plants.  Our outside pond goldfish also winter over in an aquarium.

Shortly before I retired, I proposed to Ron that the loft as it was would not serve my retired purposes, and asked if he would be part of a major renovation.  He agreed to assist.  At work, I happened to mention this project to a friend, Kristin, since I knew she enjoys interior decorating.  As the plans progressed, I found that though Ron is quite good with decorating ideas, I wanted fresh input.  With amazing generosity, Kristin volunteered to act as interior decorating for the project.  I agreed with alacrity.  Kristin's condition was that it would need to be around her already busy schedule as the Mom of two youngsters, full time dispatcher, wife of a husband working full time and pursuing a bachelor's degree, as well as having lively ongoing relationships with family and friends.  I readily accepted her conditions. 

Kristin came over for a look-see, and here is what she saw:

 This was the main area, with the desk and reading chair, and a yard-sale rug.

 The rolltop desk was beautiful, but had such a limited work area that I set up this card table for many projects.

 This recliner had a home in the corner, but I didn't use it much.

 

 

Ron and I had talked for some time without much enthusiasm about the need to refloor the house.  With this project involving many changes, including large furniture, it was obvious the timing was right to refloor.   This is the original flooring which was tongue and groove pine.

 After much consideration, we chose vinyl planking in a wood grain pattern.  With the flooring purchased, the work started.  Because the existing flooring was structural, Ron put the new flooring down on top of it.  It needed to be perfectly level, and that involved a sander....which in turn involved a significant amount of dust.  That I would be involved in a major amount of cleaning became abundantly clear.  Next came underlayment, a type of sub-floor.  Finally the planks went down, one by one.  Ron did this in sections, moving ALL THAT STUFF back and forth, back and forth, as he worked the sections.  We were able to find a new home for the roll top desk right away, so he didn't have to move that.  Here's what in-progress looked like:

 

and this:  

 

and this.  If you called it chaotic, you'd be right.

 

Ron's a master at this kind of work.  Here's the absolutely beautiful result:

 

 We were both amazed and exceedingly pleased at how much the new flooring improved the area.  With the flooring in place, it was time for a new desk.  We shopped and I found the L-shaped office desk I wanted at Office Max.  They shipped it right to the house, and Ron put it together.

  

Here's the finished result, shown with my very own computer and printer, as well as the overhead light we chose.  

With the flooring and the desk in place, Kristin came and began to work her magic.  Shopping became a priority, and we found this gorgeous rug:

Kristin also worked with existing pieces, which included these four large paintings of  Ron's with Hart Prairie Preserve as the subject:

 

 

 With lots more wall space to fill, it occurred to me we might be able to use some of the quilt tops of my Mom's that I kept.  Kristin came over one morning and we pulled all 35 of them out for a look.  Kristin loved them all, and with her magic eye was able to pick the ones that would best compliment the colors she wanted in the room.  

Here's what they look like hanging:

 

And some closer looks:

I wanted something of my Dad's up, too, so Ron created this piece to hang above the closet door between the quilts.  This is the text of a poem my Dad wrote, which is not visible.  Ron's picture is behind it, with special effects added.

"Memories are like mist

Blowing through the valleys of your mind

A memory is never right or wrong

It is a remnant of the past

From a single point of view"

For the last of the wall space, Ron made a file of photos of nature scenes he'd taken, and Kristin chose 6 of those to hang in different sized frames.  Below them is a floating shelf containing antique cups and dogs that were collected by my grandmothers. 

There's a corner for exercise equipment: 

  

playing music:  

 and the recliner is now the main reading area.

  

 

A few plants were replaced; the bird cage stayed as it was.

I'm intensely grateful to both Kristin and Ron for making the loft what it now is. It's gorgeous, warm, welcoming, and completely functional.  Their vision and work made my unformed idea a reality.  Friends and husbands don't get any better.

Going off the......

 

 

Definition:  To go too far with something; to do something crazy

 

 

Yep, that's what I've decided to do.  Go right off the deep end.  When retirement was still in my future and someone asked what I was going to do, one of several answers was that I wanted to do many of the things I was already doing, but be able to go deeper..spend more time doing them, explore them in different ways, take more time to relish them.  I also had an interest in new learning, for instance playing violin.   Deep learning could be called vertical learning, new learning could be called horizontal learning.      

 

 

With the New Year upon us, I've found my interest has veered sharply to horizontal learning.  What's more, I'm interested in doing it all, RIGHT NOW.  No more waiting....THIS IS IT! 

 

The new activities I've chosen for the year:

 

Violin lessons & daily practice

Swimming lessons & lap swimming (winter only)

Tai Chi classes

Pilates classes

Piano practice

Quilt finishing

Travel

 

Continuing activities include:

 

Yoga class & morning practice

Running

Hiking & biking (spring/summer/fall)

Strength training

Dog training

Special house projects

 

This is in addition to:

 

Routine housework: cleaning, laundry, dishes

Preparing meals

Daily animal chores: dogs, cats, birds

Routine shopping

Reading: newspaper, magazines, books galore

Emailing, doing research, shopping & otherwise being distracted by the Internet

Phone calls to family & friends

Blogging

Movies & TV

Sleep

 

Of the new activities, swimming lessons start January 14, Pilates classes will start after swimming lessons are over, our first travel is planned for the third week in January, and quilt finishing is pending.  All other new activities, continuing activities and additional activities are HAPPENING!

 

Go ahead and call me crazy....I'll agree!!

 

 



 

 

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little course, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble. 

 

                                                                                     ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A happy New Year! Grant that I

May bring no tear to any eye.

When this New Year in time shall end

Let it be said I've played the friend,

Have lived and loved and labored here,

And made of it a happy year.

                                                   Edgar A. Guest

 

The New Year is a time of both reflection and anticipation.  Reflection to recall the changes and events of the past year, planned and unplanned, that brought meaning and depth to my life.   Anticipation of the year to come, knowing that while much of life unfolds (known here as WILLY-NILLY), it's fun to start out with a framework of possibilities.  This year has the special cachet of being my first "retired" year, allowing for the possibilities to be greatly expanded.

Our New Year celebration plans are simple:  last night we toasted out 2012 at dinner (no midnight Pine Cone Drop for us!).  Today we'll talk about potential travel plans and projects around the house.  For several years we've made chili as our special New Year's meal; I think it's made the transition to a tradition.  Both of us make chili; this year I'm the cook.  The recipe I'm using today is loosely based on my Mom's chili recipe.  Here are the ingredients:

It's bubbling away in the crockpot now, making the house smell good.  We'll eat around 5:00.  Ron's watching NE get beat by GA in the Capitol One Bowl.  The dogs are snoozed out on the rug behind me.  I'll be making some personal plans (NOT resolutions, more like directions). 

We wish all of our family and friends a great New Year!