2010

2010
Springfield, PA and

Carpenter’s Point, MD

My age: 54- 55

Homes: 

• I have two damn homes and it isn't twice the work to keep these places going.  It's three times the work. My little house in MD was a fun escape from work but once I didn't have a need to escape, it became burdensome. Managing two gardens, two yards, was a pain in the ass.
• January 1- My furnace, in my Springfield house,  had a puff-back which ruined most of my belongings. It’s considered a fire and I was out of my house for two months during the restoration process.

work- I retired on my 55^th birthday, July 9th.  What a great relief to just walk away. But then a panic set in as I thought about “what next?”  It was really an adjustment to go from a very busy, demanding job to all of this free time.  

Music- I work diligently to upload all of my CDs on to my laptop and ITunes account.  I then work to unload the CDs which are becoming more and more obsolete every day.  I have now worked on getting rid of my 45s, albums, 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs.  I am at the mercy of staying current in technology if I want to keep my music safe from an accidental delete.

Movies
Social Network- Facebook changed our world.
127 Hours- I also read this book and I would rather die than cut my arm off.
Alice In Wonderland- I loved this movie and have watched it several times since.
The King's Speech- we are all vulnerable in one way or another.
Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallow- I love this series of movies.
Winter's Bone- creepy
The Last Station- I vaguely remember this movie.
Letters to Juliet- this was a sweet movie.
180 degrees South- I vaguely remember this movie.
Eat, Pray, Love- the book was better.

Books: my reading chair was thrown out after my puff-back and that derailed me from my daily habit of reading.  I become a non-reader,  I did begin to listen to more audiobooks at this time.

TV
I lived with my sister and her family for two months while my house was restored (see below).  She got me hooked on Project Runway and The Office.

Travels

• Bermuda- January- winter break
• Key West, FL- January weekend
• Colorado - spring break
• Nebraska- spring break
• Egypt- October
• Road trip with Jameson- VA, TN, AR, OK, NM, TX- December- 9 days

News Events

• Wiki Leaks filters news that we are all being followed by virtual Big Brother.
• Haiti suffers a devastating earthquake. Three years later, I would travel there and the consequences of this quake are still evident everywhere.
• A coal mine in Chile swallows up some coal miners and we all watched this horrible situation unfold. It was heartbreaking.
• Iran pumps up its nuclear defiance. And the rest of the world sits in fear.
• The USA finally ends its combat operations in Iraq.
• BP spills millions of gallons of oil in to the Gulf of Mexico. They are fined billions of dollars but they never completely pay for this massive cleanup.
• The Tea Party surfaces its ugly platform.
• Obamacare is the controversy of the moment and every other moment from here on in.
• The IPAD hits the market.  It will be two years before I buy one. Now,  I own two of them.
• The Supreme Court upholds the dreadful Citizens United. Corporations and lobbyists have more say now than the citizens.

Family and Friends

• January 1- My furnace had a puff-back which ruined most of my belongings. It’s considered a fire and I was out of my house for two months during the restoration process.
• I lived with my sister, Patricia, and her family while my house was being restored.
• My cousin lost her husband, the same day I had my puff-back.  Suddenly, my problem didn’t seem so bad.
• My friend, Darcy, is diagnosed with uterine cancer.
• First week of September -no school for me, I am retired now.  Since 1960, most years, this was the start of a new school year. to celebrate, I took a trip in October.  I never traveled during this time.
• I put my house on the market which proved to be unproductive.
• I had elective surgery in June.
• I drove a 2003 Honda Element.