Walking is another one of my core pursuits. I have my own personal walking partner – a 65 pound Labradoodle. Other friends and their dogs/children also join us on occasion. Sadie and I like to explore the various parks and walking trails in the area. Big Girl is good for about 3 miles. If I want to go farther, I go by myself with a favorite playlist cued up.

I guess this core pursuit could also be referred to as health and wellness. Walking, good sleep, proper hydration and healthy food definitely keep me feeling good. So does seeing a doctor on a regular basis and remembering to take my multivitamin, fiber gummies and BP meds. It did take some time and experimentation to find the right BP med for me and the best time to take it (after dinner). Alleviating stress and cutting way back on caffeine also helps control BP.

If you guessed reading, you’d be correct! I’ve read more books for pleasure in the past couple of months than I did in the past two years. My neighborhood book club has authors join us for some of our discussion groups. We’ve even been invited to the launch party of an Atlanta author’s newest book in late September. I can’t wait!

Using the Libby app and my library card, plus being more intentional with my book/magazine purchases has really helped to cut down on the amount of paper clutter in the house. It’s also helped with the monthly budget, as well. Do I still visit my favorite bookstores? Absolutely! This is how I develop my reading list. The difference is I check the Libby app first for magazines and my library catalog for a copy of the book instead of automatically buying an item. Yes, I still buy the occasional book and magazine, but only those titles that will provide value to me. I did buy Scrappiness is Happiness from Lori Holt and I bought the current issue of Quilts & More magazine. That’s been it for the past 2 months. And believe me when I tell you this was a difficult change for me to make because I adore magazines.

All the things related to quilting and sewing are tied with therapy dog activities for first place in my retirement core pursuit rankings. I do spend more time quilting than I do on therapy dog activities. That said, a therapy dog visit will outrank a local quilting activity any day of the week.

Most of my quilting activities over the past 3 months have involved organizing, purging, sewing with friends and moving projects in the pipeline toward completion.

Today, I took the Elna STAR to my Friday sew day at the library. I took the same set-up I plan to take to Salt Lake City next month. It worked perfectly. I had exactly what I needed for today’s activities and nothing more. I’ll need to pack a couple more items specific to classes I’m taking out there, but the 16″ wheeled underseat tote that holds my 3/4 size sewing machine and the big LL Bean canvas tote bag to hold everything else will work just fine! The sewing machine travels on the plane with me and everything else is packed in my checked luggage. All of the kits are included in my class fee, so hopefully, I’ll have enough room in the suitcase to bring them (and anything else I might buy) home. If not, I’ll use the big LL Bean canvas tote as a carry on item!