Coffee and Other Things

It occurred to me tonight that I have been retired for four years, as of June 30, and I've lived in my current home in the town where my daughter and family lives for 4 years next week. I got the keys and started moving into my rented condo on Sept. 15, my oldest son's birthday. 

Lots of things have changed in the past 4 years. Some of these are serious, some are funny. I'll list some of them below.

First change I complained about: there was no drive through Starbucks.

This was huge to me at the time. We had a really good one back home, and even though I only budgeted for it a couple times a week, I had it down to a science. I could get through there and still get to work on time, in school traffic. This is kind of a funny one; coffee is, after all, necessary for the sanity! Especially when I was working in a school office and needing to be kind to co-workers, parents, and students when they needed something from me first thing in the morning. Coffee is vital! LOL!

Seriously, though, over the past 4 years I have discovered no shortage of drive-through coffee shops. These days, I only treat myself once a week, on Monday after my morning walk. Plus, I have discovered that iced coffee is quite good when one is sweaty after a brisk walk. I never liked iced coffee before.

This brings me to my next change in the last 4 years: Walking. This isn't something I was missing from home, but it is definitely something I needed to be doing. I've gone from walking about a mile once or twice a week (only when the weather was just right) to walking every day. During summer I was skipping Sunday since I go to church in the morning and it was too hot even just before sunset to walk, but I'm starting to walk Sunday evenings now that it's a little cooler. I walk 1.5 miles minimum every day; on 2 days a week I walk the "through the woods" path which is 1.75 miles. Two things led to this, as I mentioned in an earlier blog: One, I feared I was losing my mobility, which resulted in my kids buying me a really good smart watch to track my walking, and two, I found the BEST walking path system ever.

Finally, the 3rd change. At the end of 2021, I had still not found a doctor and was having to drive back to my doctor back home 3.5 hours away. I have a good doctor here now, plus I discovered something wonderful. The doctors' offices, and even the hospital, where I had an endoscopy about a year ago, are FIVE MINUTES from my house.  There are some really good doctors here, and so close! Back home I was having to drive 20-30 minutes to the far side of the larger city I lived close to, so this is a good change. 

I have to conclude that overall, even though I STILL love and miss my hometown, and my friends and family that are there (and I always will), I am adjusted well here in my new environment. 

I have a good church home here, where I have friends I love. My daughter's house is 10 minutes away instead of 3.5 hours. And I have found that I LOVE walking (who knew?). 

And of course, there's a drive through coffee place just a few blocks from my house. 🤣

I'm blessed! Blessings to my friends!

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:13,14 NIV