Note of the Living Deb

...because sometimes it's good to remind myself.

1. Half my friends are here.

2. It doesn't get very cold.

3. There are wildflowers everywhere.

4. Tex-Mex food. So many kinds.

5. Barbecue.

6. Real access roads to freeways and U-turn lanes where you don't have to wait at a light.

7. The library system at the University of Texas at Austin, once the second largest library in the country (after Harvard). [Hmm, surely the Library of Congress was also bigger back in the 1980s when I heard that.] Not as amazing for items published after 1988 as for those published before, but still #11 overall.

I don't want to list my least favorite things about Texas because it's too depressing. Basically it can be summarized as all the ways it's too much like a corrupt and/or discriminatory third-world country.

But I will list favorite things about other places that I wish we had here, too.

1. Good mass transit (like much of Europe and even Boston)

2. Good walkability (for example, much of Spain has little grocery stores every two blocks)

3. Good bike lanes (like Amsterdam)

4. Better internet (like almost everywhere but island nations)

5. More fabulous fast food (like gas station food and train station Liege waffles in Belgium, like the sandwiches at Pret a Manger in England, like the food in 7-Elevens in Norway, and like all kinds of street food everywhere)

6. Amazing breakfast buffets, even in hotels (all over Norway)

7. Bakeries where they know how much chocolate should be in a chocolate croissant (like in Brussels).

Okay, I mostly made this post for the links.

Blog post of the day - Grumpy Rumblings' How To Run a Meeting - 'If you don’t know what the meeting is going to be about, just don’t. Don’t have a meeting.'

Also: 'At the end of the meeting, go through every single person and ask what their action items are and what the timeline is. This is great because a lot of the time everyone will assume someone agreed to do something, and they may have even agreed to do it… but without this last step, they will simply forget. Or they will mean to do it and just keep putting it off until they forget. And then you will discuss it again at the next meeting, wasting time. Again. The other nice thing about going through everybody is that if someone doesn’t have an action item and another person has a ton of action items, the overloaded person will feel ok about giving some up and the underloaded person often feels guilty and will volunteer. This doesn’t always happen, but for your people who don’t want to be perceived as bad people but also don’t generally volunteer, it’s nice.'

Web Page of the Day - Hampton's Hybrid Calisthenics Routine - '1. Pick 5 Exercises that work the entire body: Pushups Pullups Leg Lifts Squats Bridges

2. Find a version of this exercise that you can do safely and pain-free. Move to harder variations as you master them.'

And then there is a huge list of variations for each of those exercises.

(Thanks to Grumpy Rumblings for showing me this, too.)

I am so lucky that when I am sick I don't have to go to work anyway or be a slave or take care of lots of children who feel just as bad as I do. Instead, today I basically slept all day. And yesterday I watched all of season 1 of "Westworld," which had been recommended to me by several friends.

Part Lord of the Flies (people without boundaries turn bad), part Dollhouse (using people and figuring out what the real goal of the business owners is), part Blade Runner (who is a replicant?) and part Twin Peaks/Lost (do they even know where they're going with this?), this was not really my thing.

It's also supposed to look at issues such as what self-awareness is and what our deepest desires are. Mostly I just found it disturbing. Which doesn't mean I'm not curious about season 2.

Link of the Day - Bus Map - Capital Metro is making huge changes the bus routes later this week and finally I found this map. You can hover your mouse over any routes near you and see if they go anywhere interesting. You may find that your old routes have disappeared and you can no longer use the bus for things you used to use it for. Or you may find that finally there are bus routes that are of use to you (which is their plan). Deb-Bob says check it out.

(In my case, they've actually made it easier to get to UT--there is a longer, but prettier walk to the bus stop and the bus runs every 15 minutes instead of every 35. I don't see any other useful buses to me, just like before; they seem to all go to scary parts of town or places that I would just walk to.)

I just found out that my city is proposing that insect screens be required on all windows and doors.

The proposal

The proposal is based on the current language found in the International Property Maintenance Code:

"From [date] to [date], every door, window and other outside opening required for ventilation of habitable rooms, food preparation areas, food service areas or any areas where products to be included or utilized in food for human consumption are processed, manufactured, packaged or stored shall be supplied with approved tightly fitting screens of minimum 16 mesh per inch (16 mesh per 25 mm), and every screen door used for insect control shall have a self-closing device in good working condition. Exception: Screens shall not be required where other approved means, such as air curtains or insect repellent fans, are employed."

Public comments are being accepted until June 30.

The reasoning

They don't say why this is being proposed other than that it is part of the International Property Maintenance Code. However, they do list some benefits. Although they are called insect screens, all of the following are listed as benefits:
1) Protect against mosquitoes
2) Protect against insects
3) Protect for solar radiation
4) Reduce energy costs
5) Provide privacy

Reasons #1 and 2 make sense to me, and also protection against insect-borne diseases. Reasons #3 and 4 sound like benefits of solar screens, which look like insect screens, but are they? Reason #5 is a little wacky; pretty much any other window treatment would be better.

My windows

My windows are a mess that needs to be cleaned up.

My windows mostly do not open anymore. They are casement windows--only one of the panels in each window is meant to open, and someone thought it would be a good idea to make the crank mechanism out of aluminum, which is a very soft metal and has worn down to nothing in many of my windows. The cranks are also not any of the sizes found in my local home improvement store.

In addition, most of my windows are behind furniture and very hard to reach. Finally, we rarely want to open the windows anyway--certainly never in summer when the temperature generally remains above the high 70s even at night.

I do have solar screens installed over most (all?) of my windows. I was horrified to learn that these had basically been screwed to the window frames so that the windows can no longer be opened anyway. Also, English ivy loves to grow on them.

Something that I do not consider part of the mess is that I have window film on most of my west-facing windows (I have no south-facing windows). This feels like shade compared to not having window film. Yet I can still see out perfectly. I love this stuff.

Also wondering: It sounds like my attic vents don't count as openings for the purpose of this proposal (because my attic is not habitable, especially not in summer--they count closets and halls as not habitable, and my attic is even less so).

My doors

I have two exterior doors. Both open outwards. I have heard that this is extremely poor design because bad guys can just pop out the hinges, pull the doors off, and waltz right in. I oppose poor design.

Except--if the doors opened inwards, where would they go? The front door would probably hit the piano. The back door would hit the bookshelf.

So, um, assuming we keep the doors opening outwards, how do you add a screen door? I don't think I've ever seen such a set up.

Also, there's a thing called storm doors. That would be even more protective, right? I don't exactly know what those are. I have a vague idea that screens can be part of them, though.

Insects

We do have plenty of insects, especially in the spring. We even have a bug zapper in the house.

My city

I'm going to say that I'm against regulation that is not strongly for the public good. And this sounds exactly like the kind of thing that's a good idea but that people should have free will about.

Unfortunately, with the encroachment of the zika virus, maybe this would be important for the public good. However, how effective is it? I think draining swamps, etc., is probably the most effective defense. But would this also make a real difference?

If so, should it be required only on public buildings like schools? Or also rented buildings like apartments? Or every single building as proposed? What if people have bug nets over their beds already? (Okay, I guess that applies to virtually nobody around here.) Why was it added to that international code?

Are all the home improvement stores and/or window companies lobbying to pass this? I don't know.

Any opinions on any of this?


Very Silly Link of the Day - Sailor J's Contouring 101 - Part social commentary, part silliness, part craziness, part fun accent, all dressed up in a how-to video on make up. (Warning: swear words.) So many fun quotes:

"If the men find out we can shapeshift, they’re going to tell the church."

"Men don’t like nostrils. You want to look like a pterodactyl. Men love pterodactyls. [Screech!]"

"Beautiful women don’t have foreheads. Just darken it up. ... If you have too big of a brain, it means you have ugly things, like opinions and thoughts of your own. Equality? Not for us! Equal pay? I don’t think so."

"She is above her peers; she doesn’t need oxygen."

"It is a sponge ... drenched with the power of Satan."

"I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

I have promised and will bring chocolate chip cookies to the Christmas party I'm attending. But I also want sugar cookies. I think some Christmas tree ones would be fairly simple and festive. I'll frost them with green frosting and maybe a yellow frosting star and put sprinkles on it for the decorations.

Step One: Get sprinkles. The best price I found was at Dollar Tree, and the ingredients were no worse than those in sprinkles at standard grocery stores.

Step Two: Pick out a recipe. I settled on the vanilla cookie dough from the cookie decorating class I took a while back. I have another "perfect no-refrigeration" recipe, but my notes say that although it tastes good, I'm not sure it's any better than the recipe from the class. The class recipe had a higher flour-to-butter-and-sugar ratio, so I decided it seemed healthier and picked that.

Step Three: Make sure I have the ingredients. I got more flour (it calls for 5 cups) just in case.

Step Four: Make the cookies. I used a lot of shortcuts. Since I don't have to bring them to the party, I don't care too much if they come out, and it's valuable to know if the shortcuts work.

I've made these before, but didn't take any notes, so I don't remember if I took shortcuts then or what. Well, today I ended up with a crumbly mess, added more milk, and was then able to roll out the dough.

My cookie cutter is very small, so two cookie sheets holds a lot of cookies, and they taste kind of boring (without frosting, anyway), so I stopped with that amount.

And the recipe makes way too much dough, so I decided to turn some of it into a pie crust and make a pumpkin pie. I already had the ingredients plus leftover whipped cream (in a can) from last time.

That basically worked, though it turned out a little thicker and harder to cut than my usual pie crust. I still have some dough left, so I'm also going to make an apple pie--I'd already bought the apples.

The remaining steps will be done on another day.

Web Tool of the Day - Maxim Lott's Tax Plan Calculator - It just asks for basic data so does not give the exact taxes you'd owe, but it looks close for me (if I make one calculation for years I take the standard deduction and another for the years I itemize).

Exercise update - Yesterday I took a medium hike (~2 miles) and did not feel strangely light-headed like the day before. But I did feel a bit used up. Grocery shopping that evening I carried a heavier-than-usual basket around the store (gallon of milk, 5-lb bag of flour, etc.). I definitely felt used up and sleepy early that evening. So the exercise break continues. The good news is that my cold or whatever has not gotten worse again like it often does.

Tea sounds like such a delicious treat to have on a cold day, especially if you're feeling sick. Plus it can come with tasty baked goods! But it's just effluent from boiled leaves, not my thing.

Oh, well, I'll stick to soup and hot water with the occasional hot chocolate.

(Yes, I am so, so lucky to be able to just laze around all day. It makes me very sad how very many people can't do that and they all have my condolences. I'm reading a book set around 1800, where of course slaves would have to work a 12-hour day anyway and maybe also get whipped for not working hard enough. People can really suck!)

Exercise update

Wednesday - I shivered all morning. Doesn't that count? My muscles do ache from that. Then in the afternoon I did another 3-mile jog. I wasn't as distracted as last time, so it was tougher to finish, but I did anyway. I expected my time to be longer than last time (45 minutes) but it turned out to be shorter (41 minutes). Nice!

Thursday - I just walked, and only 8K steps. I was going to try to hold off my rest day until the weekend, but when I squatted to reach the bottom shelf at a store and found out how much I didn't like that, I changed my mind. Also went to bed early; Robin's been sick and my throat felt a hint of soreness that evening.

Today - I can already tell you that I also will have done no exercise today. I have a full-blown cold or maybe a flu. Walking is supposed to be fine, but after walking about 200 steps outside, I turned around and came back in. I was just too cold. It was probably 60 degrees out (and, to be fair, no longer sunny), but I am whimpy about the cold at the best of times. I walked around a little inside but will probably get about 1,000 steps. So, another rest day!

Blog entry of the day - Miser Mom's Christmas Bowling - "Even better [for the second game], since we'd already shunned all pretense of ability, I wielded my power as Matriarch-of-the-X-mas-Bowlers to declare certain special rounds. Round 4 (at the request of I-daughter) was "granny bowling": two hands, between the legs. Round 7 was "bowl with the wrong hand" (my favorite -- so uncomfortable it was funny). Round 9 was dragon bowling." You'll have to read it to find out what dragon bowling is! (Or ask me, if you can't for some reason.)

From Language Transfer I learned that new verbs in Spanish are now given -ar endings. (The -er and -ir endings are relics from the past.)

Examples:
* googlear or guglear - to google
* tuitear - to tweet
* facebookear (no clue how to spell it) - to facebook

Blog Post of the Day - Grumpy Rumblings' This Thanksgiving: Remind People About ACA Sign-ups - "And maybe explain that the silver plan prices are going way up but the bronze and gold plan prices aren’t." The saddest part is in a comment from an earlier related post, Ask the readers: How to get the word out about ACA enrollment?: 'So many people have said “But I thought Trump killed Obamacare” and then been delighted to know that they can still get insurance.'

Comic of the Day Questionable Content's Laying Down the Law - from a story line that starts at Call for Assistance. In an era of insincere apologies, it's kind of refreshing to see someone erring the other direction. "I'm looking for an apology, not a compensatory drowning."

I found a book on Costa Rica (by Nel Yomtov) from my favorite series (Enchantment of the World) and learned a few more interesting things!

Indigenous population: There's a site where as many as ten thousand people lived between 1000 BCE and 1500 CE with paved streets, bridges, and a large system of aqueducts.

Walker: He proposed the the US conquer Central America to create new slaveholding states and was backed by Cornelius Vanderbilt and a group of US slaveholders. "It was not until 1956 that the government started to recognize the right of the indigenous peoples to preserve their land, and set up reserves." But like many things, their laws are better than reality because they aren't well enforced due to lack of funding.

Quakers: The land now in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve was purchased by the Quakers for farming; then visiting biologists recommended that the forests be preserved and the Quakers created a nature preserve and bought additional land for it. Now it's an official national reserve. "Visitors can walk the many trails in the park--including some built in the treetops."

Railroads: Building them was dangerous; the locals didn't want those jobs so the builder brought in Chinese and Jamaican laborers and convicts from jails in New Orleans.

Blacks: They now make up 3% of the population and are mostly descendants of West Indians, mainly from Jamaica, who came to build the railroad.. ... For many decades, many Ticos did not consider black people true Costa Ricans. Blacks from the West Indies spoke English and were subjects of the British government. They were not Catholic, like most other Costa Ricans, and they had established their own churches and schools. Because of these differences, black Costa Ricans traditionally lived apart from white Costa Ricans."

The 1949 Constitution: It gave women and people of African descent the right to vote and abolished the army.

Nobel peace prize: They were fighting "Nicaraguans who supported Figureres's old rival," so a border country was continuing their civil war.

No army: "The constitution of 1949 disbanded Costa Rica's army and replaced it with the Civil Guard, which is responsible for maintaining law and order... [combining] the functions of an army, navy, air force, police force, and coast guard."

Economy: The democracy is great, but the economy struggles (25% live in poverty), though that's the lowest percentage among Central American countries.

Fun facts: "Every baseball used in Major League Baseball in the United States is made in Costa Rica." And Costa Ricans export a lot of other baseballs, too, each hand-made, but baseball is rarely played there.

Economy: Intel has a factory in San José. Medical (and dental) tourism are also big (because many procedures cost only 40% of what they cost in the US).

Environment: 80% of Costa Rica's forests have disappeared.

Roads: Only about 1/4 of the length of roads are paved. The best roads are in the Central Valley. "Mountain roads are often washed out by heavy rains or destroyed by earthquakes." There's also a Pan-American Highway "which runs from Alaska to the tip of South America, extends the length of the country, front the Nicaraguan border to Panama." Like in Mexico, "nearly every town and suburb features a centrally located square with a church or cathedral."

Art: There is a local style of art called costumbristas that depict local customs and daily life. And there are local traditional folk dances, but Latin dances such as salsa and merengue are also popular and, on the Caribbean coast, to reggae and calypso. "Early Costa Rican plays often focused on humor and rural characters, but by the late nineteenth century, the works had become darker" focusing on the clash between traditional values and modernization. Indigenous musical instruments include the quijongo (made with a single string of hemp fiber and a thin wooden neck... attached to a hollowed-out gourd."

Sports: Soccer.

Housing: Outside the cities, coastal houses are built of wood on stilts; other houses with adobe and clay tile roofs.

Education: The equivalent of grades 1 - 9 are required as are school uniforms. Community service is required in high school and college. There are five public universities (none in San Jose!), and eighty private universities.

Food: indigenous (potatoes, corn, fruits, and turkey) and Spanish (pork, beef). Coffee and chocolate are also popular. There are three types of markets. Traditional markets have many vendors, offering produce, livestock (like chicken and pigs) cooked dishes (like tamales), and other goods (like leather goods, clothing, toys, and baskets). There are also pulperi/as, or general stores and malls.

Spanish vocabulary:
* Invierno and verano - not just winter and summer - "There are two basic seasons: invierno, the wet season [May to November], and verano, the dry season [December to April]."
* El pulpo - the octopus - "The United Fruit Company "had so much influence on the economy, government, and other aspects of society that it beame know as el pulpo, the octopus."
* Ticos/Ticas - "The term probably comes from a colonial saying, 'We are all hermanticos.' In the Spanish language the word hermanticos means "little brothers." (SpanishDict says hermanito is the word for "little brother"; see more information below.
* Tiquismos - expressions used only by Ticos. "One tiquismo is !Pura vida!, ... [literally "pure life,"] often used to mean "great!" or "terrific!" in answer to the question "How's it going?"
* flaco/a (skinny) - Ticos call each other mean names affectionately such as flaco, gordo (fat), or maje (literally "sucker or "dummy," but they use it to mean "pal" or "good buddy").
* Pulpería - general store or grocery store (no relation to octopus that I can figure out)

Differences in the Spanish language spoken in Costa Rica:
* "They soften and slur the letter r, which makes the r sound nearly whistled.
* They use the suffixes -ico or -tico instead of -ito and -tito. Example: They shorten momento, moment, to momentico instead of momentito. Funnier example: They shorten chico, small, to chiquitico instead of chiquito.

Blog(s) of the Day - John Green's 100 Days

I've been enjoying the vlogbrothers, John and Hank Green, who make vlogs (video blogs) for each other (and us) once a week. They talk about important, fascinating topics and also silly topics.

I recently came across this "100 Days" channel where John talks about this year's resolution. In the intro, First Steps with Craig Benzine, he explains: "My best friend Chris and I are going to spend 100 days doing whatever it takes to make lasting, meaningful, healthy changes in our lives. We're trying to have a healthy mid-life crisis."

They had a three-part plan: eating healthier, exercising regularly and trying many kinds of exercise, and meditation. The 100 days have passed and so there are a whole bunch of videos out there showing how things went, mostly the different kinds of exercise they tried out, but also pictures of many of their meals (some recipes are available at the first link above) and some discussion of meditation.

They were told that once you do moderate exercise for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, there's very little additional benefit from doing more. Yet, most days of the week they did an hour of very intense exercise. They definitely ate better (and better than I do), and they tried meditation. At the end, they each had major improvement in their worst health measurement, triglycerides for Chris, and I forget what for John. Plus they were stronger and more flexible and fit. Bizarrely, the exercise made a huge positive impact on John's OCD. Inspiring!

Now that I'm retired, I can wear pretty much anything I want. But what would I most like to wear?

Currently, I'm wearing jeans or shorts and t-shirts, mostly because they are the clothes I like that I couldn't wear to work. But maybe I can find something more flattering and/or more fun.

Practical

Above all, it has to be practical. I realized this when I was walking home in wind so strong it sometimes stopped me in my tracks and I was very happy that I was not wearing a dress or skirt. So sad--I like the look of dresses and skirts.

Another problem is that since I am not willing to give up Robin, grocery stores, movie theatres, etc., I will usually be in places that are uncomfortably cold to me. So even though I love summer clothes, I will often be wearing extra layers on top of them. I used to wear blazers; now I wear sweaters or hoodie-type jackets. At the very least, I'd like to find way nicer top layers, since you don't even get to see my shirt much of the time.

Also, I love spaghetti straps, but I don't like strapless undergarments, going without, or having straps sticking out.

Style

I don't care about keeping up with styles so it's best for everyone around me if I stick with "classics," that won't hurt other people to look at in two or twenty years. Uh, yes, I will wear the same thing for, shall we say, way too long by any measure. At least I patch the holes now.

Minimalist

I don't want millions of clothes. I want everything to fit in my half of the closet (that's three feet of closet rod) and my one (large) dresser. I once decided to have only black and brown shoes (plus white sneakers) and belts (with a few exceptions) and found this to be very liberating. I still like that rule.

At work I decided on all solid tops, pants, and blazers that I could easily mix-and-match, tying them together with jewelry.

I like the idea of scarves as another thing to make outfits more fun, but in practice I don't wear them much except to go outside in cold weather, which fortunately we rarely have.

I don't want eight copies of the same outfit that I wear every day though. I'm not really a minimalist; I just really like some of their principles. In moderation.

Flattering

Most of my clothes make me look dumpy. It's not just me (except for my crooked teeth); I know clothing can make a big difference. I tried to look at fashion sites to figure things out.

Pear Shape

I have a tiny head, small, short torso, and long regular-sized legs. They call that not a triangle, but a pear shape.

Apparently most people who are pear-shaped want to de-emphasize their legs because they feel like they have big, fat thighs and butts. I'm the opposite--it's my top half that's not quite as good, with much subtler curves that can, for example, disappear when I wear vertical stripes.

Short Torso

Some of the things you do for a short torso are the opposite of what you do for a pear shape.

Dumpiness

Bleh, I don't think I need to disguise certain icky body parts. I have, however, noticed that some sleeve lengths, skirt lengths, sock lengths, and shorts lengths look better on me than others. So I should at least look for more of those.

Modesty

I am not comfortable with blatent sexiness. I do not want plunging necklines, hip-high slits, etc. I don't need to look like a Pilgrim, but I do prefer the modesty end of the spectrum. I don't mind shorts and sandals and sleevelessness, though.

Skirts

I like how skirts are whooshy. So are there any good ways to combine the whooshy-ness of skirts with the practicality of pants/shorts? Here are some ideas I've brainstormed:

* skirt + bloomers - ha ha!
* skorts(?) - those shorts that have skirts on top of them. I think some hiking skirts are like this.
* a skirt that is form fitting down to the thighs (hard for the wind to blow up too high) and then flairs out. A lot.
* skirt + opaque tights - maybe a slip will keep them from sticking to each other when I try to walk
* skirt + what is it that the cool people are wearing these days? Yoga pants? Stirrup pants? I never really paid much attention.
* top with peplum or other kind of wooshiness (heh, fringe)

In the video game I'm playing ("The Trail"), you have to make your own clothes and you do it based on the materials available to you, your sewing skills, the practicality of the different garments, and the look of the different garments. The game characters are all skinny, which is close to my shape. And I have found that I really like wearing skirts with hiking shoes and short socks. Weird, eh?

Conclusion

I was once walking around a mall with some friends and they were making fun of this fifties poodle-skirt-shaped dress, I think with big polka dots on it. I said, "Actually, this is the kind of thing that looks good on me." I tried it on in front of them. They agreed.

So, I guess I have a clue. But I still haven't decided which of the flattering things I'd actually like to wear.

If there's anything you especially like seeing me in or think would flatter me, let me know, especially if it's practical. And especially if you have any more whooshiness/pants solutions!

Articles of the Day

Here are some articles if you haven't cried enough today. Or just read my brief summaries to learn the important parts less emotionally.

Human Trafficking - Only 5% of human trafficking involves kidnapping. Much more common is being "lured away from our family and friends with false promises and then kept there using coercive and fraudulent tactics." - Rebecca Bender

For access to short videos from several survivors describing how they would like the media to handle human trafficking stories, see My Story, My Dignity.

Gay Therapy - I always knew it was stupid, but I never really got just how really horrible it could be. Like "A Clockwork Orange" or much worse. For more information, see Salon's Conversion therapy is "torture": LGBT survivors are fighting to ban "pray the gay away" camps.

My favorite part: "After a video went viral of Shurka detailing the horror of “ex-gay” programs, he reached out to his former therapist to discuss what happened to him. The two conducted a side-by-side interview about what the experience was like for both of them. Shurka has since reconciled with his former counselor, who has given up practicing conversion therapy." (There are two additional links in that sentence, which I did not follow.)

I got an interesting letter in the mail today from my pension fund. It says that due to changes in the 2016 federal income tax withholding tables, my net pension amount will increase next year.

I guess that makes sense. Whenever the government admits there's inflation, they do things like raise the income levels for each tax bracket.

As a result, I'm bringing home an extra 23 cents every single month next year. Yeah, baby!

Blog Entry of the Day - Northern Expenditure's Fill-the-Bucket List - "Life is full of opportunities, changes, and unpredictability.... Instead of making a list of things you would like to see happen in your life, a fill-the-bucket list focuses on the opportunities you have had and the things you’ve taken a chance and done."

That fits in with my urge to add things to my bucket list after I've done them. Things that were never a goal, but the opportunity came up and I took it. We don't always know ahead of time what's going to be great or even what's going to be possible.

So things on my fill-the-bucket list include:
* teach someone to read - I loved reading, and as soon as I learned how, I passed on the information to my little brother, who was a handy victim
* learn embroidery (thanks, Mom)
* learn ceramics, canoeing, and how to make things by lashing (thanks, Girl Scouts)
* learn to ski (thanks Bill and Dave et al.)
* learn ballroom dancing (thanks Bill, Mary, and Richard et al.)
* visit cool places where family and friends have invited me

Happily, there were some additions to both kinds of lists last year.

Bucket list:
* retire
* learn more Spanish
* enjoy media from multiple countries
* learn how they make taco meat in such tiny pieces (cook it in liquid such as broth or water)

Fill-the-bucket list:
* re-write song lyrics to help with Spanish and share it
* learn to frost cookies using the flood frosting technique
* learn a better way to fold my knee socks

I think I'm finally getting to the point where I can deliberately add fixed activities to my schedule and then look forward to them instead of feel stressed by them. Until very recently (perhaps two weeks ago?), I really didn't want anything on my schedule except Sunday brunch (and maybe Spanish class).

For example, I went to craft night on Friday. We ate out on Sunday. I went to the gym today and probably will again on Wednesday if we're not aching too much and Robin has time. Tomorrow I'm having lunch on campus and checking out some library books. Thursday I'm going to try out a Spanish conversation activity at the public library with J and maybe R. Saturday I'm going to party before which I will be making and decorating some appropriately themed cookies, which I learned how to make at a recent cookie decorating class (which I attended mostly for socializing) and which I experimented a bit with in time for the craft night. So many things! I'm only a little worried that I'll forget something, not have time, or sleep through something.

I've also figured out that although I don't have a job, I do have a "mission," a default activity for when I find myself with some free time, and that's (duh) learning Spanish. And a minor mission, which still needs work, has been exercise. Also, I've run out of (non-Spanish) books recently, but am about to have a new pile.

Related blog post of the day - Root of Good's Early Retirement Schedule - see what another retired guy does with himself all day. 'I put “adventure time” on the schedule and this is intentionally vague and open ended. Sometimes we’ll hit the road for a walkabout, visit the park, library, and community center, stop at a restaurant, and get back home a few hours later. Or we’ll walk the 3.5 mile round trip to drop the kids off at Grandma’s house. Or drive to one of the city parks or nature preserves and enjoy a fun afternoon exploring along trails and creeks while hoping to see some deer, hawks, or fish. Other times we’ll attend a festival in downtown (living in the city, there’s always something going on downtown).'