what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Ronstar]

Congrats, MRG! Quite a transformation. And like most of us that transform post retirement, you'll find it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle in retirement than while working.


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[aja8888]

When I weighed this morning the scale said I have made my goal! Six months and fifty+ pounds are gone. Obese to having a normal BMI in that time frame. I was taking medicine for tachycardia, hypertension, triglycerides, GERD, insomnia; now I take nothing and all symptoms are gone, all my numbers are great. BP runs right at 110/70, in May my average resting heartrate was 96 BPM, this October it's 71! Oh I don't snore anymore, neither does DW.

I feel amazing, things I couldn't do or struggled to do are now easy. My mood is better, I have more energy than I've had in 31 years! What a great adventure this is.

Food tastes so much better and we're both enjoying trying new foods all the time. My DW who hated all vegetables now thinks Brussels sprouts are wonderful.

Mega Congrats!

I'ts amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it!

I'm also down about 35 pounds since April and 15 pounds from my goal of 180. I had good "numbers" before the weight loss but saw myself as lethargic and getting borderline in some areas.

 

[FIREd]

DW and I decided this morning to move back to the south in the next couple of years. We have been visiting several places all over the country recently in search of a more permanent retirement home base, and southern cities keep topping the list. The final contenders are Raleigh, NC; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; and Huntsville, AL.

 

[REWahoo]

... and Huntsville, AL.

You can go "home" again.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

DW and I decided this morning to move back to the south in the next couple of years. We have been visiting several places all over the country recently in search of a more permanent retirement home base, and southern cities keep topping the list. The final contenders are Raleigh, NC; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; and Huntsville, AL.

Wow, that's a surprise. I thought y'all loved it in the Bay Area!

 

[braumeister]

DW and I decided this morning to move back to the south in the next couple of years. We have been visiting several places all over the country recently in search of a more permanent retirement home base, and southern cities keep topping the list. The final contenders are Raleigh, NC; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; and Huntsville, AL.

Those are all nice cities. I would personally tilt toward Charlotte or Huntsville, but please let us know how your selection procedure goes.

 

[W2R]

DW and I decided this morning to move back to the south in the next couple of years. We have been visiting several places all over the country recently in search of a more permanent retirement home base, and southern cities keep topping the list. The final contenders are Raleigh, NC; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; and Huntsville, AL.

Yay!! I think you are going to enjoy many aspects of your return to the South, not the least of which might be the lower COL.

My pick from that list would be Huntsville, but then I haven't ever visited Charlotte or Raleigh. But then, Huntsville would be quite familiar for you two, and one of the other three places might be fun for variety.

Atlanta is way too big for me, but some people enjoy the larger cities.

 

[MichaelB]

DW and I decided this morning to move back to the south in the next couple of years. We have been visiting several places all over the country recently in search of a more permanent retirement home base, and southern cities keep topping the list. The final contenders are Raleigh, NC; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; and Huntsville, AL.

That is a nice list. Hard to go wrong, although the traffic in and around Atlanta is a bit much.

 

[FIREd]

I agree, Atlanta is a bit too big for me and traffic is horrendous. But it is the only city on the list that offers true urban living options (living in a high rise condo with access to many amenities without driving much which is how we live now). That's only one factor among many others though.

 

[naggz]

Last night & today, I carved:

 

[Dogman]

I read a book this week on how to sail a small boat. Today I went down to the marina early and rented a 20' sail boat and took it out in San Diego bay. The wind was moderate and I and the wife had a wonderful time. Sailing was interesting and not hard at all. It only had one sail but we had fun. Even the dog like the boat and wind.

 

[Dawg52]

I didn't do much today......just bought a little ole house. Actually a patio home with a view of the golf course of which I am a member. Haven't been looking that hard as I have been living in my mother's old house. But the neighborhood is old and has been going down hill steadily the last several years. I really hate telling a couple of older neighbors as they have been glad I was around to call on if needed. But this house kind of fell in my lap so I had to go for it.

Not looking forward to the moving hassle and headache of selling my old one, but it will be worth it in the long run. Close on the new one in a couple of weeks and go from there.

 

[Meadbh]

I didn't do much today......just bought a little ole house. Actually a patio home with a view of the golf course of which I am a member. Haven't been looking that hard as I have been living in my mother's old house. But the neighborhood is old and has been going down hill steadily the last several years. I really hate telling a couple of older neighbors as they have been glad I was around to call on if needed. But this house kind of fell in my lap so I had to go for it.

Not looking forward to the moving hassle and headache of selling my old one, but it will be worth it in the long run. Close on the new one in a couple of weeks and go from there.

Congratulations Dawg!

 

[NW-Bound]

When I weighed this morning the scale said I have made my goal! Six months and fifty+ pounds are gone. Obese to having a normal BMI in that time frame. I was taking medicine for tachycardia, hypertension, triglycerides, GERD, insomnia; now I take nothing and all symptoms are gone, all my numbers are great. BP runs right at 110/70, in May my average resting heartrate was 96 BPM, this October it's 71! Oh I don't snore anymore, neither does DW...

Impressive! Your BP is lower than mine, and my BMI is 23.5. Congrats.

DW and I decided this morning to move back to the south in the next couple of years. We have been visiting several places all over the country recently in search of a more permanent retirement home base, and southern cities keep topping the list. The final contenders are Raleigh, NC; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; and Huntsville, AL.

Have you decided on a single family home again? Suburban or in-city living?

 

[FIREd]

Have you decided on a single family home again? Suburban or in-city living?

I would prefer a condo, urban setting in Atlanta, probably suburban in Raleigh and Charlotte. We still own a SFH in Huntsville which we have not been able to sell so we would probably move back into that house, at least initially.

 

[MBAustin]

Nice carving, naggz!

Congrats dawg - sounds like a great move for you. Yes, the act of moving is a pain, but just like childbirth, the memories of the pain fade quickly.


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[W2R]

I didn't do much today......just bought a little ole house. Actually a patio home with a view of the golf course of which I am a member. Haven't been looking that hard as I have been living in my mother's old house. But the neighborhood is old and has been going down hill steadily the last several years. I really hate telling a couple of older neighbors as they have been glad I was around to call on if needed. But this house kind of fell in my lap so I had to go for it.

Not looking forward to the moving hassle and headache of selling my old one, but it will be worth it in the long run. Close on the new one in a couple of weeks and go from there.

CONGRATULATIONS! What a perfect location for your new home. As for moving, I would strongly suggest putting all pride aside and getting/hiring people to give you more help than you think you could possibly need. Can't do any harm, and it could make a huge difference. It's easy to overdo because our minds tell us we can do things that we really shouldn't even be trying.

 

[Retire2013]

Congratulations to ALL who lost weight and achieved their fitness goals. Congrats Dawg52 on your new home.

Since I've ER'd in 2013, it's been an incredibly busy several years. With the loss of my SO, then the sale of 2 homes and the purchases of 2 homes. First, I downsized to prepare for ER, thus the sale of one home and the purchase of another one --- both in the suburbs of Washington DC. Then when my SO passed away, I continued to live in the smaller downsized home for another year because of all the advice of not making any major decision after the death of a family member, or immediately after ER, etc. So I stayed put but after a year, I again tried to get rid of even more things and sold that smaller home, and bought a place in Southern CA.

So 2 moves. Lots of trips to Goodwill; Salvation Army. Also sold some stuff on craigslist and Amazon. The cross-country move took so much work. California was chosen because of proximity to family.

I am adjusting slowly to living in CA after living for 29 years in Northern Virginia. I still miss my SO but I do take the time to plant a rose and herb garden. Cooking delicious meals and carry on with the small pleasures of life.

I am teaching a lot of yoga and Pilates classes weekly to keep myself a little bit busy. Making new friends. Spoiling my old dog (he's 11 now!!!). I really want to give him as many long walks as he would like to make up for all those years when he spent most of his days at home waiting for me to come home from a long day at work. My dog is thoroughly enjoying my ER. I do too!!!

I agree with W2R on hiring people to help with moving. I still did 90 of the packing and 100% of the unpacking. But the heavy lifting of furniture was left to the professionals. I still managed to hurt my back and my right wrist in spite of being super careful.

I have not posted anything for so long due to all the moves. I miss this Forum. Without having stumbled onto this Forum and learning from so many wise souls here, I may still be working right now.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

 

[Dawg52]

CONGRATULATIONS! What a perfect location for your new home. As for moving, I would strongly suggest putting all pride aside and getting/hiring people to give you more help than you think you could possibly need. Can't do any harm, and it could make a huge difference. It's easy to overdo because our minds tell us we can do things that we really shouldn't even be trying.

Good suggestion. In the past, I used a company truck when I was still employed and hired a couple of guys from our warehouse to move all the heavy stuff. Will probably do something similar only using a rental truck. After my mother's passing, I downsized a lot when moving into her house. So don't have near the stuff I once had. I have a friend who has already offered his help and he has a pickup truck to help move smaller items.

This should be my last move. If I do live long enough and need to go to an assisted living type of place, it will be up to the nephews to divide up and unload whatever I have. Their headache at that point. Ha.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Congrats on the house Dawg.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your SO Retire2013. I'm impressed by the yoga and Pilates classes. I need to do more of that.

Today was laid back for me. My highlight was taking 3 bags of books to Goodwill and getting half off on Halloween candy by waiting until the last minute to buy it. Been running the new RIP tonight and giving out candy.

 

[MBAustin]

Welcome back, Retire2013. So sorry for your loss. Sounds like you are doing very well with this next phase of your life after a lot of changes. Hope to see you around here more now that things have settled down a bit.

The dog didn't figure out the end of DST so we had our morning walk very early today. Took down the Halloween decorations and put up the "fall" wreaths. I only decorate from mid-October through Epiphany - a witch windsock and fake pumpkin for Halloween, wreaths with fake fall leaves, pumpkins, and pinecones through Thanksgiving, and a lighted tree plus a few wreaths for Christmas. The rest of the year our house is stark nekkid.

Off to church and then preparing for our choral evensong service tonight - always one of my favorites. This year it is almost all a capella as we are prepping music for our choir's performance tour to Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague next summer and we need to be prepared to perform without piano or organ. My favorite piece is a new one for us:

but we're also doing classics like Randall Thompson's Alleluia and John Rutter's A Gaelic Blessing.

 

[Nodak]

CONGRATULATIONS! What a perfect location for your new home. As for moving, I would strongly suggest putting all pride aside and getting/hiring people to give you more help than you think you could possibly need. Can't do any harm, and it could make a huge difference. It's easy to overdo because our minds tell us we can do things that we really shouldn't even be trying.

+1
My move back to my home town cost $3500 but was well worth it. Unpacking has taken me 2 months; packing would have been even longer.

 

[W2R]

+1
My move back to my home town cost $3500 but was well worth it. Unpacking has taken me 2 months; packing would have been even longer.

You were smart to get help with packing. If I had it to do over again, I'd do that. In fact, I'd check into an extended stay place with a couple of suitcases, and let the movers pack everything else and move it while I relaxed there.

 

[lampshade]

Changed the clocks back one hour, laundry, putting away groceries, out to the movies!

 

[Meadbh]

+1
My move back to my home town cost $3500 but was well worth it. Unpacking has taken me 2 months; packing would have been even longer.

IMHO paying for packing is worth it. Professional packers have no emotional attachment to your stuff. Packing your own stuff leads to finding things you had forgotten about, wondering whether to pack them, and reminiscing about the past. A job that could take weeks gets done in a few hours.