Come Stitch With Me

Three years after retiring, I still look forward to the end of the school year. This week will be a busy one.

It’s the final hurrah for therapy dog activities this school year. We have the R.E.A.D.er awards ceremony at Park Street Elementary. Once the audience leaves, the four kids we’ve worked with will have brunch with Sadie. They’ll enjoy CFA biscuits while her highness has chicken nuggets.

My niece’s high school graduation is Friday evening. My parents don’t drive at night, so I’ll be their chauffeur. They live an hour east of me. The graduation ceremony is an hour south of them. On a Friday. In Atlanta traffic. Oh joy.

It’s also my turn to host our monthly Book Club. Technically, it should be next week, but May’s calendar is such that stuff that normally happens on 3rd Thursday (book club) also happens to fall the same week as the 2nd Wednesday (library READ). Right now, I have RSVPs for 8 (could be up to 12).

Not much sewing or quilting happening this week. That’s okay. One week from now, we’ll be officially in summer mode. For the first time in five years, it’s shaping up to be a normal summer with a planned vacation, quilt retreat, Quilt Camp @ SQTM, quilt classes I’m taking, plus a couple of really special therapy dog events.

Our initial retirement dreams included getting as far away from Atlanta as possible. Not a surprise considering our favorite vacation spots are out west. Every city I visit, I check to see if it could be on our retirement short list. Boise, Idaho is my personal favorite so far and it checks all the boxes except for being reasonably close (within a day’s drive) to our parents.

Three years into retirement, we’re still in the same house. Our volunteer activities, family & friends, plus the current economic uncertainty mean we’ll sit tight for a while. Many homes are listed for sale in our area, but not much is selling. That’s fine. We’ve put down roots and have bloomed where we’ve been planted.

Meanwhile, therapy dog visits with my friends in the counties north of where I currently live have opened my eyes to the possibility that moving 45 minutes – an hour north might be the sweet spot for our retirement area checklist. This falls in line with a recent video from Holy Schmidt! where he mentions moving the next county or two over instead of a total relocation far, far away is often much better for retirees. The express (toll) lanes will make it easier to get to ATL proper when needed. Something to consider.