Christmas Cards

 

Christmas card exchange during the Christmas season has been a pastime for many centuries. The first known Christmas card was given in 1611. The first commercial card was designed in 1843 in London to make the postal service more popular. The modern format of the folded card with an envelope was an innovation in 1915 by the Hall Brothers company, later known as Hallmark. The White House began a tradition of an official White House Christmas card with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. Cards became enormously popular in the 1930's-1950's.  I began my government career as a mail carrier in 1986 and carried the mail for about 5 years. I remember December being real busy with Christmas cards. My mail case would be full of red, white and green Christmas card envelopes. They were so noticeable because they were so much bigger than the average letter or bill at the time. I imagine the mail case for each route is much less festive these days.

I remember our family receiving Christmas cards when I was young in the 70's and 80's. My mother would tape them to a large double door frame along the edges. We would get so many cards the door frame would be covered up each side and across the top with cards left over and stacked in a basket. That was a time when we received many cards from relatives that have now passed away.

We sent out about 25 cards this year, but have only received 12 to date. I believe our generation will be one of the last to exchange cards through the mail. These days, people either post a greeting on their social media or send a greeting or letter via email. It is just not the same. I enjoy getting the cards in the mail. I enjoy getting the newer version where the sender puts photos of the family consisting of a family photo or multiple photos of the year's activities. This card exchange pastime is on the decline and I fear will soon be a victim of technology and social media.

Do you still send and receive Christmas cards? If so, have you seen a decline in participants over the past years? My wife is a card giver. She still sends cards for birthdays, anniversaries, Halloween, Thanksgiving and other major holidays. She loves getting cards as well. It is a small gesture that means so much. It is much like receiving a Thank You note, which is also a lost art.

                                                     

 Merry Christmas to everyone!

May your packages remain safe from porch pirates!

Me Time

 

We recently had our three granddaughters over for a sleepover. They consist of 3 year old twins and a 6 year old. They play really well together until they don't. They were all playing well in their bedroom/playroom they have at our home until I began to hear the fussing. The 6 year old comes out and into the living room with her twin sisters right on her heels. She declares that she needs her "alone time" and they won't give it to her. She was very upset that her sisters wouldn't leave her alone for a minute for her "alone time". 

She reminded me a lot of myself, although I'm not as dramatic in demanding my "me time" as I like to call it. I would consider myself an introvert and a trait of introvert is that I recharge my batteries by spending quiet time alone. My "me time" is usually in the morning, when the house is quiet, and my wife is still sleeping. I enjoy my coffee, a little news and then read in a book. Sometimes I just lay in the recliner and listen to the grandfather clock ticking away. My wife is more of an extrovert who recharges by being around people. I enjoy being around people but rather than recharge at that time I expend energy and later need the "me time" to recuperate. 

My 6 year old granddaughter has spent the last several summers at our home during the day while her sisters attend day care school. Those summers have been special for her to have Nana and Pawpaw alone to herself. This year she will be joined by her twin sisters and her "alone time" will be severely cut back at our house.

Do you recharge around people or by being alone? Whichever you prefer, what is your favorite activity to recharge your energy levels? Do you recharge in silence or at a busy party? Do you recharge by getting out in nature or getting deep into a hobby? If you take "me time" do you have a normal time, like my mornings, in which you get that time? 

I did notice while the girls were here that there was a time where the twins were playing together in another play room (our dining room turned toy room) while 6 year old sister was no where to be found. I was sure she was in their bedroom on the bed and reading a book. She got her "alone time" after all. Way to go big sister!

However you recharge your energy, make sure you take the time to do it. We all need that energy renewal on a daily basis and certainly during the busy holiday season!

Mistakes

The photo above highlights a mistake I recently made. Apparently, I didn't pay close attention to the directions! I was so excited to make a photo book of our recent trip to Egypt. I loaded about 80 photos into the program and couldn't wait to see the finished product. I received it in the mail, opened the box and just laughed at the title to my new book. I have since created a new title with a label maker and kinda put a fix on it. This is just the latest example of mistakes I make when I get in a hurry.

There was no real reason for me to be in a hurry on this book project. I'm retired and have plenty of time. At the time I sat down to do the project I had absolutely nothing planned. I have no idea what causes me to get in such a hurry sometimes. When I sat down to do the book something in me said do it as quick as possible and be done with it. You see the result.

This mistake made me think of numerous mistakes I have made in the past and all are probably related to rushing through whatever I was doing. Years ago when I was still working, I made the mistake a few times of putting on one blue and one black dress sock. Surely, everyone out there has done that. I always put the 10% ethanol gas in my cars, but I have made the mistake at least once of grabbing the premium gas nozzle and pumping away. When doing home improvement projects, I often cut the same wrong angle or wrong length twice in a row until I take my time to really look at what I'm doing. Another recent mistake I made was at Thanksgiving. My wife was making some fudge and asked me to get some of the ingredients for her including Vanilla Extract. I pulled out a bottle that looks like Vanilla but once she poured it in the mixture she turned it around to see I had given her Orange Extract! All of these mistakes could have been avoided if I wasn't in such a hurry.

I try my best not to hurry in life so I can enjoy a nice slow retirement vibe. Sometimes, I just can't do it and it gets me into trouble. Not serious trouble, but a little stupid trouble. I laugh at most of these mistakes and get on with my life so it's not too big of a deal.

I think mistakes just show we are human. I will laugh at my Egypt photo book for the rest of my life. I'm sure my wife and I will talk about our Orange Extract chocolate fudge every Thanksgiving. I laid new tile in the bathroom of our last home. In the very middle I had one tile that was just a little crooked. Most people would never notice, but I noticed it every time I went in there and I would smile about my handiwork. When I think about these mistakes they give me a little memory dividend that I mentioned in my last post. Without the mistakes, those particular things would have no acknowledgement in my brain.

How many times have you made silly mistakes?  What are the most memorable ones? Surely you have a unique story to share that still makes you smile today. How many times have you been in a hurry to get dressed and as you button up the shirt realize you have an extra button at the bottom on one side? You look in the mirror and realize your collar is also up a little on one side as you have buttoned the shirt all wonky.

Embrace your mistakes, learn and carry on. I will double check my work on the next photo book and I will always read the label on the Extract the next go around!

 

Memory Dividends

I recently read a great book, "Die With Zero" by Bill Perkins. It is a great book for everyone, not just retirees. It is a reminder that while working we are trading our living hours for money and that we need to enjoy that money at some point. With the point of spending being sooner than later or "some day".

One point of the book that really has stuck in my head is his description and discussion of memory dividends. The gist of the idea is that we create memories with experiences over the years and then those memories can pop up when you think of them and create a little bit of happiness again for that past experience. The more great experiences you have the greater your memory dividends can add up as you get older. 

As I look around my study, I get memory dividends as I look at photos from our recent trip to Spain, Italy and Egypt. I smile and feel happy just looking at the photos and thinking about that awesome experience. I can also see photos of Vietnam, Philippines, Hawaii and Singapore. I see figurines and statues of a cannon, a hula dancer, the Wall Street bull and a Merlion among many other trinkets I have picked up. In my glassed in bookcase I see a Key West sign, currency bills from different countries, color sheets that granddaughters did on a Disney cruise, bottle caps from a variety of root beers I've sampled and many other things. All of these produce memories and good happy feelings thinking back on those experiences.

Since reading the book, I have a new appreciation for creating experiences right now to enjoy and provide future memory dividends. I just turned 60 and feel like the next 5-10 years will be the best time to travel and do things before my wife or I get sidelined with an age related injury or disease that will slow us down. 

The experiences don't have to be travel. They can be a new thing you tried, a family event, a personal accomplishment and many other things. A couple of years ago I was on a quest to try 100 new things. Some of those experiences still pop up as memory dividends. One of those "new things" was attending a rattlesnake festival. I dislike snakes as much as anyone and this memory popped up the other day with a discussion with my oldest granddaughter (6 years old). We have a running joke of me being afraid of snakes while she likes them. She will often put a play snake near me or on me to try to scare me. Of course Pawpaw always screams like a little girl to her great delight!

I encourage you to read the book or any other book that stresses living in the now rather than wait until "some day" to do that thing you've always wanted to do.  

How do you remember great experiences you have had in the past? Do you hang photos or collect small souvenirs like me? Or do you have another way to record those experience to remind yourself? Maybe a journal or scrapbook? Let me know of any great experiences you have had that continue to provide you with memory dividends today.

Also comment on the book if you have read it and tell me your thoughts and anything that jumped out at you. 

It's Been Awhile

I have been away from posting on this blog for over a year now and I apologize for the long break. I completely forgot about the blog for awhile and just recently thought "Why don't I get back to writing a little on the retirement blog?". So, I hope to work on a new post soon and then get back to regularly writing posts to see if there is any readership interest out there.

For those of you who have visited lately to read old posts, thank you and stay tuned. 

Reunions

When I was a young kid and up until my late teens, my dad's side of the family had a few family reunions. I remember attending a few of them and seeing aunts, uncles and cousins galore. It mainly involved getting together to catch up, letting the cousins play and eating a lot of food. I think I had one or two aunts and my grandmother who set these reunions up. After graduating high school I don't remember any family reunions. If there was one, I didn't attend. I don't know if it was due to the cousins all growing up or the aunts and grandmother aging and not interested in continuing the work that it would take to plan the reunion..

This past weekend my wife and I attended a high school reunion. Our school was very small, so every two years there is one "all school" reunion. This year marks my 40th year since graduation and I had never been to one of the all school reunions. This year my sister was in charge and we decided it would be fun to go. We enjoyed it very much and enjoyed seeing people we haven't seen in many, many years. I was class of 1984 and my wife was class of 1987. There were five of us from my class and it was good to see them. I think there were four from my wife's class. We also got to see a few graduates that were a year or two above and below us and got to see our Principal and a couple of teachers. My high school math teacher was there and we were very surprised to see each other. That's him in the photo above. 

We have vowed to continue to go to this school reunion every two years and try to encourage other classmates to come and join us all. My graduating class only had 18 and I would guess all other graduating classes were similar in size. So, you can see why the need for an all school reunion would work for this small town. 

Reunion is an instance of two or more people coming together after a period of separation. With that definition, I have attended numerous small family reunions when I attend a funeral. Unfortunately, these are not happy reunions. Other small reunions my involve birthday parties, weddings, graduations, etc. You could have a small reunion when welcoming home a friend or family member after living away or welcoming home a service member after a lengthy time away in the military.

In retirement and with age these reunions may become more fun. Seeing and visiting with family and friends, that you haven't seen in awhile, is always fun. What kind of reunions do you enjoy? Does your family have regular family reunions? If so, who plans them and what type of activities does everyone do? Do you enjoy family or high school reunions or do you avoid them for some reason?

Root Beer Update!

Back in February I posted about root beer and my quest to try some new brands. I have purchased numerous different brands here in OKC and picked up six new brands on a recent trip to Kansas City. The store in Kansas City probably had about 50 or more brands! Here are some of my most recent taste tests. I have rated them on a scale of 1 to10. I tend to favor the sweeter variety. I have about ten more brands in the fridge awaiting a try. Have an awesome root beer summer!

 

1.      Rocky Mountain Root Beer  2/27/24     (5)

2.      Bull Dog Root Beer 2/29/24  (6)

3.      Red Arrow Root Beer 3/2/24  (7)

4.      Dang! That’s Good 3/19/24  (5)

5.      Sprecher 3/30/24  (7)

6.      Americana 4/5/24  (9)

7.      Dog N Suds 4/17/23  (7)

8.      Death Valley Root Beer  5/16/24  (8)

9.      Gene Autry Root Beer 5/28/24  (7)

10   Poppi   6/19/24   (-2)     Yes -2. I did not like this one past two sips!

11   Oak Creek Barrel Aged Root Beer 6/20/24   (8)

12   The Pop Shoppe 7/2/24  (7)