Bernina has long had the BSR – which I got to experience at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival in 2021. This option is available with several of the newer series machines from the Bernina 475 up to the TOL machine. I will admit I throughly enjoyed my time stitching on the 770 with the BSR. This became a must-have feature when I go to upgrade my existing Janome 8900.

Janome developed its own version known as the ASR and introduced it on its TOL machine – the Continental M17. I asked my dealer when the ASR might be offered on other series in the line. Someday. This week, Janome reported that ASR is now available on two new models – the Continental 8 and the 9480QCP. The 9480 is the updated version of my 8900.

Grace Machine Company also has a machine coming out called the Little Rebel, which is a straight stitch only machine with built in stitch regulation.

I’ll definitely be checking out both of these machines!

Meanwhile, Baby Lock and Brother – where’s your wide-throat machine for quilters with built in stitch regulation?

I don’t need machine embroidery capabilities, 400 alphabet stitches or 32 buttonholes. I want 10-12″ of throat space, high clearance under the machine head, and built in stitch regulation. Oh, and it has to fit within my existing Horn Quilter’s Dream cabinet with a 12-1/2″ x 24-1/2″ opening. Desired price range: $3500-$5000 for total package. If you’ll take my 8900 on trade, even better. I’ll even consider a newer pre-owned machine in very good condition. Time horizon to buy – within the next year.

After several weeks of essentially a plateau – the scale has consistently moved in the right direction the past two weeks. One month ago, I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted when I got hungry. Yes, there were several treats, but I generally stuck with healthier eating choices overall. I felt better, slept better and wasn’t hungry all the time.

Turns out, I wasn’t eating enough food or drinking enough water.

I find current points values in the Weight Watchers app to be inconsistent and a tad unrealistic when it comes to everything but zero point foods. Have you seen the IG reel where the nutritionist compares calories in a piece of cheese pizza (7 points) to four eggs (0 points)? She has a point about the lady staying home to eat eggs and not going out for pizza with friends. Calories for a slice of cheese pizza and four eggs are about the same. The lady missed a social event with friends and wound up consuming the same amount of calories in zero point foods. Last time I checked, calories are calories.

I incorporate a hack that I learned from a lifetime WW member. I track points using 1 point = 50 calories. I keep my daily points between 25-30 and allow myself at least one treat per week. Food choices have shifted as I’ve learned more about calorie density. I also do a very loose type of intermittent fasting as suggested by my doctor. I eat dinner before 6 p.m. and do not eat in the mornings until I am actually hungry. I also aim for walking 30-60 minutes per day whenever possible. 7500-10000 steps per day is my goal.

Two non-negotiables: (1) no brioche bread in my house and (2) Chips and Pirate’s Booty cheddar puffs are allowed in prepackaged portions only (preferably 1/2 oz portion size). Brioche bread is a treat when we go out for a meal. Prepackaged portions help control mindless snacking.

Accountability is an essential part of the process for me. Tracking what I eat and getting on the scale 2x per week is what I need to stay accountable to myself. I still track in WW, but will move that to my FitBit app when my current WW subscription expires.

Hubs has been away the past two weeks. My night owl tendencies are in their full glory with me not feeling sleepy until 3 a.m. Not a problem unless you have a energetic Labradoodle who demands to go out at 6 a.m.!

Do you have a stash of cash squirreled away somewhere to help pay for unexpected expenses?

Even if you pull out the plastic to cover the expense, you still need to pull money from somewhere to pay the credit card bill when it comes due.

Life continues to happen in retirement. Murphy certainly visited our home recently.

Due to supply chain issues during COVID, we’d paid to have our nearly 10-year-old dishwasher repaired twice so we could continue to have a working dishwasher. Not this time. Dishwashers are available again without a 12 month wait. When the appliance repair technician presented me with a quote of $488.10 to repair the dishwasher door on Monday, it made more sense to replace the unit. I declined the repair, paid the diagnostic fee and proceeded to Home Depot purchase a new dishwasher. It’ll be installed on Saturday.

In mid-July, I received a notice the company who handles my health insurance premium billing would be transferred to a new servicer. Shouldn’t be a big deal, except we’d paid a few months ahead and had a credit balance. The letter stated that the credit balance would not transfer to the new provider. I would receive a refund within 30-90 days along with “their apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.” This suddenly meant I now had to come up with the funds to cover 2 – potentially 3 – premium payments while I wait on my refund.

My COBRA payments have to be made via ACH transfer or check – not credit card. And COBRA rates aren’t cheap either! Thank goodness for the emergency fund! Fortunately, we won’t have to pay COBRA rates once I’m eligible to be “officially retired” in a few months. The countdown is on to return to active employee/retiree rates.

My point for sharing this is an Emergency Fund is a necessity – even for retirees. Start with $1000, then work your way up to one month of after tax income. Continue until you have six months of expenses saved up. Do not spend this money on new clothes, vacations or other niceties. It is for unexpected car repairs, medical bills, home repairs and true emergencies like a job loss. If you are heading toward retirement, aim for THREE YEARS of living expenses in your Emergency Fund. You can use this money to live on while riding out craziness in the stock market. You won’t have to sell assets at a loss to raise funds for living expenses.