Merry Christmas for 2015!

Finally, after posting all of those cards from Christmases past, I have arrived at the present. Whew. 

Merry Christmas, 2015
I’m finishing my first year of retirement, and it’s not anything like I thought it would be.

Retirement fantasy: Go to a matinee movie every week; scan boxes of photos; finish novel; play piano every day; post regularly to my blog; paint the woodwork and ceilings; learn German; read lots of books.

Retirement reality: I saw two movies in January; no photos were scanned; there was no novel writing; my last blog post was May 14, 2014; no woodwork or ceiling was painted; the piano was not played; regarding German, I learned “kommen” means “come” and “mit” means “with”; I read a book; I played 13,256 games of Spider Solitaire. Hey—don’t judge; they were four-suited games.

I’ve come to realize that retirement is something I will have to learn to do. My retired friend Jane B laid it on the line: First you have to get past the idea of being productive. Well, I think you could say I’ve got that down.

Rachel and Luna 

It was a great year, really. Top of the list—we have a new granddaughter, Luna. We also went to Paris for our 15th anniversary, and as long as we were in the neighborhood we dropped in on our German family for nearly a week. I also traveled a lot on my own and had great times staying with my family in Austin, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I’m planning to go back to Austin to spend Xmas with Rachel, Luna, and our new foster granddaughter, Kodi.

I’m really looking forward to 2016. I’ve already started reading a book!

During a camping excursion we hiked with our German family up a very steep hillside in the middle of vineyards lining the Main River.

In Paris we enjoyed more than the fabulous art and beautiful architecture. Been there. This year we did stuff like hike in this forest, visit the botanical garden (6 football fields long), and walk along a 3-mile elevated walkway like the High Line in NYC (but built 15 years earlier). 

Love to all.