Tuesday, May 5, 2015

A new lease on life!

Well, I'll get to the "new lease on life" part in a minute. First of all, I'm enjoying a day of reading, watching videos and baking cookies.

Reading: mostly Facebook and articles linked from there.

I've also been doing a little proofreading over at Distributed Proofreaders, which is dedicated to "Preserving history one page at a time." If you love old books you might consider being a volunteer proofreader!

Baking cookies: Peanut butter. Betty Crocker mix. That's complicated enough for a day off. ;)

MK and I have been enjoying this video today. I think this idea is pretty cool! You can find some actual "slow" videos on YouTube.

The swamp willows next door (at our old place) are getting their new foliage and it's a sunny, windy day. My favorite kind!
Earlier I made an appointment for an oil change. That's one item ticked off the list. That will be on Thursday. My car's been telling me I needed one for the last 600 miles! Now maybe it will be quiet! (I checked with my Ford guy earlier and he said it was safe to ignore that warning since my car wasn't due yet.)

Just bought this book for my Kindle. I loved Bill Powers' book New Slow City, and this should be good!

The "new lease on life" moment has to do with finding out about my widow's benefits. (It's weird some of the personal info we share on our blogs, but I think this is encouraging and I don't care who knows!) I've been wondering for quite some time just how widow's benefits work and when I should apply, etc. I had been told to go in 6 weeks before my 60th birthday, which is about 1-1/2 years from now. The nice lady at the SS office took all my info and gave me an estimate of my benefits at age 60 and age 66 (full retirement age). The benefits at 60 are enough that I could semi-retire, find a little job that I enjoy, and that won't exhaust me, and be comfortable. Working at my present job until age 66 isn't an option and there are no other jobs around here that I could do and afford to pay bills. I'm allowed to earn quite a bit on top of the benefits, so I look forward to being able to give more to causes I support. Anyway, it was encouraging to know what's down the road. I'm praising God for His provision!

Now I'm going to spend some time reading MK's book. The suspense is building!
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Against-Dark-M-K-Christiansen-ebook/dp/B007CL9E1G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430854700&sr=8-1&keywords=three+against+the+dark

And now I will take my brother Mark's advice. He told me to make the world a better place on my day off. That sounded like a lot of work! But, no. He explained that making the world a better place meant drinking a glass of iced tea on the front porch. Enlightened brother! :)

A good day to all! Shalom, friends and family.

9 comments:

  1. I like your brother's idea for making the world a better place. Slowing down and being more relaxed is the way to be. ( I say this after getting all stressed out making supper tonight as it was my turn to cook for all six of us. I always intend for it to be simple but it somehow I get uptight anyway.)
    The whole financial thing sounds quite encouraging. I see why it would be a "new lease on life".

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  2. I'm so glad that you spoke with the SS lady and now you've determined what the future can look like financially. Yay!
    I love the way God meets us in the simple, the quiet.

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  3. Dear Lisa, It's late in the night now here in Bavaria, but I like to look in your room for saying good night and just say, that I like the new header-photo very much! Good night, dear friend!

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  4. You're so sweet to tout my book for me! I'm glad you're enjoying it. My kids (and nieces/nephews) liked it too, years ago.
    I'm glad you wrote about your widow's benefits and financial plans. It really, really needs to be talked about among us women b/c it happens to SO many of us, and many are left totally unprepared for their future. Glad you are the ball.
    Your cookies look so good I might have to break down and make some. PB are my absolute FAVORITE.
    Thanks for sharing the video of the train with me. I've watched it on and off, and immediately I feel totally relaxed, as if I were on the train myself. Sigh.

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    1. I have to get back to that video! I might have time this weekend! Yes, I agree it's good if we discuss some of these widow issues because they effect most of us.

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  5. Could you work it out so that you can watch the slow train video while drinking the tea on the porch? Oh, but you have your own "slow TV" just looking out on the landscape!

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Thanks for dropping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)