Late July Update

Life continues to be rich and fall here in Enoughsville.  We're all making the most of summer, in all its warm glory.

Gosling's dogs enjoy the water;
"this is the closest they'll get to the beach".

Cchild and David were actually at the beach . . . 

. . . as were Achild and Bchild.

Watch out for the big crabs!
They might eat you up!

Far, far away from the beach, the Minnesota Twins played a game in a large stadium . . . 

And who do you think sang the National Anthem at that particular game?  My kids, that's who!

A photo of Nelson and Sizzling (and a few other singers)
on the giant screen.  Whoop!

Nelson and Sizzling enjoying the game, post-singing.  

My guy has been enjoying cycling (naturally), plus visiting a variety of military museums, interviewing Vietnam veterans, and attending book group discussions.

And me, what have I been up to?  A variety of things.  For one, I've been having fun making things, flexing my "Rubbish Rescue Artist" muscles.  

My "Little Farm Library:  Take a Cow; Leave a Cow".
I love the little hay loft window.

I've also been meeting with a fee-only financial advisor, to think about the transition to retirement I'll be making next year.  I feel like I have a good overall idea of how to go about this, since I've read so much stuff about personal finance over the decades.  Still, I really wanted to have someone good to bounce ideas off of, and so I've forked over a bunch of money so I can talk with someone else who has opinions about geeky thing$ that none of my other friends or family care about:  variable annuities vs distributions, donor advised funds and qualified charitable distributions, RMDs, HSA regulations, . . . if this is the kind of thing you like to chat about, ping me!  My advisor and I spent a little more than two hours yakking about all this, and we'll be looping back for more of it later.

All three of these cows have since been taken. 
(I've put more cows in; so far, no one has left a cow,
but it's early days yet).

I've also been mathing, of course.  I submitted a paper a few weeks ago (while we were on the Experi-cation), and now I've started a new exploration of something called "Reverse perspective".  For me, this involves building 3-d models (drawing, cutting, gluing), and then thinking about aspects of the constructions that are most and least effective -- it's a lot of fun, and brings many of my favorite activities and interests together. 

I just love this little barn I made, I have to say.

Outside of the house, I've been exploring, finding new places to walk, new running paths for my friends. I even went to an open house for a bunch of "Tiny" houses (bigger than my Little Free, smaller than my row house, but more spacious than I would have expected; that was fun).

A dozen little homes were on display.

I'm also reading up a storm.  I've been catching up on magazines -- I have a good friend who drops off National Geographics, Guide Posts, and Smithsonian Magazines after he's done with them, and I've had a blast working my way through a backlog that I'd been saving for this summer (thanks, Randy!).  I've read beach novels, and math books, and art books, and disappointing books.  My two favorite recent reads are "Life Time" (which is really a book about our circadian rhythms, sleep, and how or bodies move through the day) and Emily Mooney's "The Cost of Living" (a beautiful series of essay-stories about -- this is not quite right, but it's hard to summarize accurately -- living with chronic illness, finances, and the medical field.  It's read-aloud captivating, this book is).  

The inside sometimes feels bigger than the outside.

And how's my own health?  My ear is still mildly uncomfortable, but it's nowhere nearly as awful as before.  The ringing persists, but it's mild enough that I don't have to maneuver my schedule or my surroundings; I just deal with it.  My jaw feels the kind of ache like I'd get when I'd been smiling so much that my face would hurt -- just now, it feels like that most of the time.  And my left ear in particular still feels like it's a bit stopped up.  I'm doing mild exercises, and I bought a night dental guard (which, to my surprise, I really like).  So, that's my head.

Cabinets inside the stairs; cute!

As for my bodily fluid levels, I just got a certificate from our local blood bank listing me as a 12 gallon donor.  Before I moved to my current job, I'd donated through the American Red Cross,  which has a different count than our local group, so I don't know what my life-time donation level is, but I figure that a dozen gallons of blood and one kidney in a three-decade stretch of time isn't all that shabby.

And that's the news from our family, which continues to be wealthy in our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.