Financially Independent, Retired Early(ish) at 57.

Wednesday W’s #8.

What’s top of my mind: Yoga.

Well, the situation in Ukraine is too, but I have nothing to say about Putin etc that will make the least bit of difference, so let’s go with the yoga.

I did 40+ days in a row of the ‘Yoga With Adrienne’ online classes but then I hurt my left wrist. I took 5 days off, then did a class and felt ok, but in the middle of the night I woke with a slight pain in that wrist again. I gave it another day off, then this morning I did another class.

It’s funny. I thought that with such a long time off I’d never go back, but I’ve found that I quite like the morning rhythm of sneaking in a yoga class before breakfast. Poppy and Scout now lie on the floor watching me. They know not to come over until I tell them that they’re Very Good Girls. Seems a shame to forego the yoga when they’ve just learned to do this, doesn’t it?

So I might as well keep on the path to becoming more bendy.

Where I’ve been: Linacre Hospital.

Yesterday, at 11AM, when I would have been in a classroom in my previous life, I was able to quietly drive to Linacre Hospital in Hampton to pick up Dad. He’s just had a replacement hip put in. I felt really pleased that I was in a position to help him.

Then, I went and did a bit of grocery shopping for them and did my own at the same time. When I was at home unpacking, I saw a litre of lactose-free milk among my groceries.

Oops.

Luckily, my sister Kate is seeing them today so she said she’ll buy some on the way through, so Mum won’t have to go without.

Where I’m going: Evan25 and Jenna’s new place.

A little while ago Evan25 and his girlfriend Jenna moved into a flat over a pizza shop in a suburb in the west. Due to conflicting schedules, it’s been hard to arrange a time to see the place, so Jenna invited the whole family over for dinner on Sunday night.

David28 and Izzy are looking to move out on their own soon, so I’m sure they’ll be taking it all in. 🙂

What I’m watching: My solar torch shining.

A while ago I was reading a blog where the author was talking about preparedness. I was already doing a lot of the things she was talking about, but one idea that I liked was to buy a solar torch and just leave it sitting on a sunny window ledge. If ever the power went out, there’s always a light for you to scurry around with and find where you put away the candles and matches.

“But we have our mobiles,” Ryan27 said.

“Yeah, but what if the batteries are getting flat?” I retorted. Plus, unlike the phone batteries, the next day the torch will simply recharge itself by the sunlight on the window ledge. It also comes with a crank to manually recharge it should the battery run low before daylight.

They say once a month to switch the torch on and leave it running to empty the battery, then let it fill itself up again. I do this at the beginning of each month. I forgot yesterday, so today’s the day for March. 🙂

For twenty bucks, I think it’s a good buy. It’s one of those things, like insurance, that you hope you never have to use but it’s damned good to have when you need it. THIS IS WHERE I BOUGHT MINE.

What I’m reading: Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Cloud Cuckoo Land’ by Anthony Doerr is the latest from the author of ‘All The Light We Cannot See’, which I think everyone in the world must’ve read. Apparently, it’s been 7 years since the last one – lucky it was such a huge hit, hey? Otherwise it would’ve been hard to pay the bills!

I’m only 50 pages in, but I’m enjoying it. It has characters ranging from far into the future to way back in the past, with the theme of the importance of stories seeming to tie them all together.

What I’m listening to: Casefile – the Zodiac killer.

I’ve been listening to the podcast ‘Casefile’ for years now. Currently, the Anonymous Narrator is onto episode 4 of the Zodiac Killer. OMG – what a terrible person. He just killed people at random… and lots of them. His victims were absolutely in the wrong places at the wrong times.

What I’m eating: Pancakes.

When the lockdowns started, we began a Sunday morning tradition of having pancakes for breakfast. This morning I remembered that there was some leftover batter in the fridge. I thought it’d be a bit past it, but by some miracle it was fine. So pancakes in the middle of the week it was!

Waste not; want not.

Who needs a good slap: David28 parking in a Clearway.

Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. He visited a music shop in Brunswick st and came out to find that his car ad been towed.

Only cost him around $400 to get his car back and I’m pretty sure he’ll get a $180 parking fine as well.

What I’m planning: My day.

Hmmm. What to do? I have a quilt to finish, some hanging baskets to plant, some dogs to wash and (maybe) a nap to have after lunch.

Might get in some reading, too, before I decide what we’re going to have for dinner.

OH! The freedom!

What has made me smile: Hearing the baby next door.

I have young families on both sides of me. One has 4 kids and the parents have a slightly more ‘relaxed’ attitude to parenting than I did. Hence there are a lot of tantrums and getting to school late, etc.

The other side has a young girl and they’ve just brought home a new baby in the last few weeks. As I’m typing by the open window, I can hear the baby cooing at her Mum on their verandah. Now, I’m not nearly ready to be a grandmother – I’m far too youthful and dewy for that! – but it’s lovely to hear, nonetheless.

Dad joke of the day:

I posted this to my FB page but it didn’t get the recognition it deserved…

4 Comments

  1. LL

    I’ve had similar wrist issues that recur randomly. To maintain my yoga habit, I do the “wrist free” or “no chaturanga” or “no downward dog” sessions at https://www.youtube.com/c/YogaUpload

    Hope you feel better soon

  2. Cheryl

    I just retired from Education at the end of December so I have been enjoying following your journey into retirement and the perspective you bring to retirement life. I’m still in the depths of paperwork and getting ready to move to my retirement home sometime this summer or early fall so I’m not exactly relaxing yet but it is lovely not getting up to an alarm. I didn’t remember the Dunning-Kruger effect so I looked it up and this article was a good interview and not really about Trump at all. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/1/31/18200497/dunning-kruger-effect-explained-trump

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