Author: Teresa

Quilts, good books and dogs. Plus a cup of tea. Life is good.

Happy emails

February 4, 2024

On Friday, the email began “Dear Pending Retiree” and it made my day. Today, I received the official email notification to enroll in “pending retiree” health insurance benefits once our current benefits under COBRA expire at the end of February. You bet I completed enrollment shortly after receiving the email! I now have confirmation in writing that our existing health insurance will continue with no break in coverage. This is exactly what we needed to happen. Now, I’m just waiting on my letter with the new login details so I can set up the new account to pay premiums electronically.

Once my active employee – COBRA – state extended coverage – retiree journey is complete, I’ll write a detailed post to share with my fellow teacher friends on how to navigate the process. Once friends learned I was able to take my insurance with me to fill in the gap until retirement, two other teacher friends did the same thing. This option is available to any GA teacher/state employee who meets certain criteria and you can keep the insurance in place as long as you are willing to pay for it. Yes it’s expensive, but it was the only option for our particular situation unless I wanted to continue working full-time (nope). I was able to leave two years early and meet the requirement to keep my health insurance coverage active from last date of employment to my official retirement date. At that point, premiums will drop back to reasonable retiree rates. This has been the goal all along. I’m so thankful this option was available so I could join hubby in early retirement. We’ve had a blast!

Photo by Dids . on Pexels.com

Retirement planning is about more than just money

February 2, 2024

It’s about your happiness and ability to fully enjoy the free time you’ve worked so hard for and deserve.

Sure, having your money figured out is extremely important before you retire. However, knowing what you want your retirement to look like and setting those plans in motion before retirement is equally as important as the money piece – perhaps even more so as an early retiree.

Ask yourself:

  1. What do you really want to do everyday when you are no longer working?
  2. Who do you want to do these activities with?
  3. Where do you see yourself doing these activities?

Chances are, you have some interests that you’d like to pursue in retirement. Your “what” might be a continuation of activities/hobbies you already enjoy. This is a great starting point to begin replacing the social network (your “who”) that you currently have at your job. Even if you are an introvert like me who is easily “peopled out,” you still need some folks to hang out with on a regular basis. Humans are social creatures, after all. Remember, friends will come and go in your life. Most tend to stay for a season, some for several seasons and a few for what will seem like forever. Cherish these forever folks and stay invested in the relationship. Be open to meeting new people at most any time, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Some people think I’m crazy for attending quilt retreats where I don’t know a soul. It forces me out of my comfort zone and I get to meet some of the most interesting people. Finding your quilty tribe takes time, especially as an early retiree because most of your social circle is probably still working full-time.

Your “where” may or not be where you are currently living. Perhaps you want a smaller home in the same area or want to move closer to family. Full-time RVer? Get as far away from the big city as possible? It will be helpful to have some inkling of your future plans before you retire. For us? One level house – yes. Location? TBD. The area in which we currently live is convenient, but rapidly changing with lots of high-density development coming soon. We’d both prefer a little more room us and our neighbors and a lot less traffic.

And finally, always keep in mind that even the best laid plans are subject to change. Don’t fight any changes – embrace them. Life is richer when you do. I am still quilting, volunteering and even working part-time as I thought I might be – only those activities look different today than I expected them to do when I retired in May 2022. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sadie and I were at the IPPE 2024 expo this past week with 3 other therapy dog teams.

Welcome to Quilty February!

February 1, 2024

The above free pattern comes from Fat Quarter Shop. My wall hanging is made of leftovers from last year’s quilt projects. So fun to put together! Definitely planning to start the Letters to Santa quilt in July. This one looks to be another stashbuster project! Setting aside any potential fabrics now as I sort through my fabric bins.

For January, I joined the “no spend” fabric challenge with my Friday sewing squad. It was a learning experience. Main takeaway: “Low spend” is much more realistic than “no spend” for me especially when it pertains to quilting/sewing. I actually bought no fabric for my own projects; however, I did need a small amount of fabric for my kid’s classes and had to take a sewing machine in for repair. I can “no spend” on books & magazines because I have access via the Libby app and don’t feel deprived. Not the same with quilting. Swapping fabric with friends and shopping the free table at guild meetings is fun, but many times their fabric preferences and mine don’t necessarily match. Hence, I’ll always keep a little quilty spending money in my budget! :-)

February brings the Middle Georgia Shop Hop. Sadie and I will enjoy our third journey visiting quilt shops in the middle part of the state. It’s a fun day out for both of us as Sadie is welcome in two of the shops and there’s a really nice dog park half-way through our trip. I like to collect the two block kits ($1 each) designed by each shop specifically for the shop hop. Last year’s blocks made a bright, colorful quilt that was donated to my guild’s community service.

QuiltCon 2024 is later this month in Raleigh, NC. I’m excited for the opportunity to travel to a city I’ve never visited previously and get some much needed “me time” away from home. I’ll also get to reconnect with some of my quilty peeps who no longer live in the ATL and hopefully meet some folks I follow online. Quilts on display at QuiltCon are always unique. There are modern quilts, some traditional with modern twists and others just plain out there. How long I spend looking at quilts depends on what’s in the show. This year’s lecture topics sound interesting and the vendor list looks amazing. I’ll thoroughly enjoy learning about everything that’s new. So far, my shopping list consists of themed stickers and goodies for my CraftLAB kiddos, a newly re-designed Oliso mini iron for me (Tula Pink edition preferred) and some bag hardware from Sallie Tomato for a friend.

And finally, deadlines for the Georgia Celebrates Quilts show are fast approaching. I finished the quilt top last week. I have six weeks to get it quilted and bound so I can take the required photographs to go along with my show entry form. It’s a throw size, so I feel comfortable FMQ this one myself. I’ll stitch an all over paisley design, which I think best complements the fabric and quilt blocks.