I'm Baaccckkkk...lol...

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Well, we've been retired for over 7 months now (actually only about 4 since I did some contracting for my previous employer for a few months after I left from full time employment).  Here's an update of what's been going on...

Our pet sitting business is growing rather nicely.  We've actually turned down some work when it has overlapped activities that we had previously planned for ourselves.  The way I look at it, if you have the foresight to schedule in advance, we'll have the courtesy to hold the date.  But last minute requests, which I consider to be a week or less notice, may be risky for you.  After all, we are retired. :)

Tudor and Tasha, two of our clients' furbabies

We've also been putting quite a bit of effort into downsizing by picking one room/area of the house at a time and attacking it with gusto.  This week's project has been our study.  There are 7 sets of bookshelves in the study, along with a grand piano and a low, long filing cabinet.  I've purged 5 of the 7 units (hubby is in charge of his own and I still have one to go).  I've gotten rid of about 300 books - most of them how-to, but also a fair number of novels and cookbooks.  The way I see it, unless it's a very special book, I can either borrow it from the library (if it's a novel) or google what I need to know (if it's a how-to/self-help).  Not even my cookbooks were spared.  I saved the ones that I know I use and that were special gifts, but all the ones that I've collected over the years have gone on to better homes. We have a local branch of the American Association of University Women that got a boatload of them, and the rest will go to the Friends of the Library.  Here's a picture of the ones that are headed to the Friends of the Library.

More books for Friends of the Library

I plan on taking the bookshelves with us when we move, but I also know that our storage space at the condo will be very limited, and I've got other plans for shelf space, namely my photo albums and scrapbooking supplies.

And here's another picture of my neatened up cookbook bookshelves and the other side of the room (hubby's shelves are on the far left...).

After the purge (hubby's books on left)

Cookbooks that made the cut

I still need to attack the file cabinet, but it's only Wednesday...

I should add that we are on baby watch - our youngest daughter, Laurin, and her husband, Eric are expecting their first baby (our first grandbaby) any day now and our plan is to head to southwestern OH to be there for Jack's birth, God willing.  So some of the cleaning might have to be postponed for a few days while we welcome the new little one.  More about that later!

Homemade Powdered Dishwasher Detergent Recipe

About a year or so ago, we noticed that our dishwasher wasn't getting dishes as clean, and the glassware was becoming cloudy.  After some research, we discovered that the powdered detergent that we had been using had been reformulated to remove most, if not all, of the phosphates - a substance that both softened the water and helped remove the food traces.  At this point, we switched to liquid detergent, but I never really liked the liquid.  It's messy, expensive, and wasteful, when you consider how much remains in the bottle even after it's 'empty'.  So...after a little bit of internet and home research, we found a formula for homemade dishwasher powder that works just fine and is still environmentally friendly/phosphate free.  

Here goes:
Mix well together:
1 c. powdered borax
1 c. washing soda
1/2 c. fine Kosher salt
1/2 c. citric acid (aka sour salt)
Store in a tightly lidded jar or plastic container, labeled for safety's sake.
Use 2 T per load.
Notes:  The borax and washing soda can be found in the laundry aisle of your supermarket (check the bottom shelf - they're not high margin, glitzy items, so they're hidden down here).  Kosher salt is with the salts, natch - usually you can find coarse as well as fine - get the fine.  The citric acid is a little trickier to find, but many bulk food stores carry it,  as do spice shops.  It sometimes is with the Kosher foods as well and is used as a preservative as well as to add sourness to certain foods.  Expect to pay about $5/lb if you buy it in bulk.)

In case you're wondering, the borax acts as a water softener and helps to reduce the cloudiness/spots as well as helping with food particle release from the dishes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top o' the morning to you!

Hubby and I have declared today to be a pajama day...lol...yesterday was a little (well, a LOT) busy and the upcoming week looks equally crazy, so we're going to do what we're supposed to do today, which is REST.

We got up early yesterday and headed to Columbus to watch our favorite hockey team, the BlueJackets, do their practice skate. That was followed by a q&a session with the head coach and a player on the DL.  We followed that by a trip to Columbus' North Market, a quaint repurposed area of town home to an unbelievable number of vendors - food and otherwise.  We lunched on keilbasa sandwiches and potato pierogies...and then we headed home to feed the pups before heading out to church.  We came home and completed final preparations to host our neighborhood euchre club at 7.  The gang left by 11, but then we stayed up until after 2 am to watch the rerun of the BlueJackets vs. the Coyotes game that we missed... Jackets won it in a shoot out!  Great game, but late night...

I'm 1/16 Irish and I never miss the chance to celebrate it, so I've got my traditional mustard glazed corned beef brisket chilling in the fridge - it's a 2+ day process, starting with an overnight soak, leading into a day-long crockpot bath and culminating in a quick oven reheat, with glaze, before serving.  We're having it with colcannon (typically potatoes, onions and cabbage, mashed with lots of butter), asparagus and perhaps some soda bread.  Mmmm...one of my favorite meals of the year!  Leftover peach pie (from pi day) for dessert.

I'm dying to give you an update on the petsitting business, but I'll save that for another blog!  

Have a great day and Erin Go Braugh!!

Updates

OK, so I guess you could say I've fallen off the blog-wagon.  But I'm back, and  with lots of updates.  Gonna go in the easiest direction, which is forward, starting from my last post in September.  

In October, Larry experienced a spontaneous hip fracture, which was repaired with three stainless screws and about 10 weeks of non (well, toe-touch) weight bearing using a walker.  He's now going to PT 2x a week and faithfully doing his at-home exercises, so we are back on track to full mobility, and hopefully to our bike riding plans for when the weather breaks.

In December, we both gave notice to our employers of our intent to retire effective January 4.  We enjoyed wonderful holidays with our families near and  we began to really feel the retirement train headed down our track! In the meantime, we continued setting up the groundwork for our pet sitting business - we joined PSI (Pet Sitters International) and signed up for their certification course; and we've been easing into advertising and the nitty-gritty of opening up bank accounts, getting a tax id, registering the business name, creating a website (www.sitstayfetchllc.com), etc.

I spent 2 weeks in Arizona in January for my mom's 75th birthday - my sister and I had a surprise party for her and she was truly surprised.  They were good times!   It was rather cold the first week - a low of 18°, but then we had record highs the second week - 81° two days in a row.  Got some shopping and golfing in and had a nice, relaxing time out there. 

Yesterday we had our first pet sitting appointment and I am happy to say we have our first (and second) jobs lined up.  That's exciting!!  Meanwhile, I am working a few hours a week as a marketing consultant with my former employer and loving the fact that there are days that we don't even have to get out of our jammies if we don't want.  

Our next big event is our oldest daughter's wedding in Cape Cod in June, and along the way, we're continuing to work at downsizing the old homestead in preparation for a move to a smaller place.  

I do have a recipe to share - it's one for some yummy granola that was featured in the December 2012 Better Homes and Gardens.

Quinoa Pumpkin Seed Granola (registration required)

You CAN Teach an Old Dog

Today we spent the day at a SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) seminar on Business Start Up Basics.  Lots of valuable advice and handouts.  Probably the biggest leap for us today was to publicly admit that we were looking at starting our own business.  This was particularly risky since we were right in our own back yard for the seminar...and running the risk of seeing someone we knew since we haven't made this too public yet, but there wasn't anyone there who would've questioned our participation, so no worries.  There were a couple dozen folks like ourselves there looking to start (or grow) a variety of small businesses, including housekeeping services, aromatherapy business, a couple of engineer consultants, a family focused gym and a conceal-to-carry instructor.  No other pet sitters, though.  :)

So, we're on track to start our pet sitting business next year.  Earlier this month, we took the first real step and registered the business name with the state.  Sit. Stay. Fetch. LLC  How's that?  

Next we need to organize some banking and apply for a tax id.  And then join one of the two available pet sitting organizations - or maybe both - not sure on that one yet.  I've also dabbled in a design for our business card, which was a lot of fun one rainy Saturday.

I did buy Angela Duea's book, How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Pet Sitting Business, while we were on vacation this summer, and as I'm reading it, I am making notes about what we need to think about and/or do along the way.  It's pretty informative, and it also comes with a CD that's  preloaded with all sorts of business forms.

On another note, I tried a new recipe today - it's one that uses some of that abundant zucchini that you might have from your (or a friend's) garden to make hummus.  Here goes:


GRILLED ZUCCHINI HUMMUS 

Start to finish: 20 minutes Makes about 2 cups 

1 large zucchini (about 1 pound) 
1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed butter) 
3 to 4 cloves garlic 
juice of 1/2 lemon 
1 teaspoon cumin 
1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

Heat a grill to high. Use an oil soaked paper towel held with tongs to lightly oil the grill grates. 

Trim the ends from the zucchini, then slice it in half lengthwise, not necessary to peel. 

If the seeds are large and watery, use a melon baller or small spoon to scrape out and discard most of the seeds from the center of each half. It’s not critical to get them all. If the inside of the zucchini appears firm and the seeds small, you don’t need to scrape them out.

Place the zucchini on the grill, cut side up, then reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes, or until just lightly browned and starting to get tender. Set aside to cool. 

When the zucchini has cooled enough to handle, place it in a food processor. Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, smoked paprika and salt. Process until very smooth. 

The hummus can be served immediately, or chilled. The hummus will thicken slightly as it chills.  I might add that it's pretty tasty.  It'll be my snack for the upcoming week.  

Nutrition information per 1/4 cup: 45 calories; 30 calories from fat (67 percent of total calories); 3.5 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 3 g carbohydrate; 1 g sugar; 1 g fiber; 2 g protein; 110 mg sodium.

Great News!

Our annual report came today...looks like things are in place for our plan to retire at the end of this year!  It's worth celebrating, yet I'd be a fool to say that I'm not just a little scared.  Nostagefright. Nostagefright. Nostagefright.  If I say it enough, it should take hold, eh?   I think we will celebrate tonight with a little wine!

We're also putting our plan in place to start a pet sitting business once we leave our 'regular' jobs.  The thought is that we'll ease into it up here, and later, in a couple of years, when we relocate to a more urban area, we'll be ready to spread our wings in the new location.  I've researched the name we want to use, and also little things like which association to join and how much of a budget we'll need to get started.

I should be honest and say that I am counting down the days...almost giddily...

144 Days and Counting

The countdown timer app installed on my phone says 143 days until the New Year, which means 144 days until my last day of work - working one day into the new year lets me take my vacation days that I've earned.  

The days and weeks are just ticking by...summer is winding down, the days are getting shorter and pretty soon, it'll be time to put away the sandals and tank tops and pull out boots and sweaters.  And then 'that day' will be even closer.  

We've chosen not to say anything (yet) to anyone at work.  There is some strange rash of retirements lately; there are at least three people at my work who have announced their pending retirements (coincidentally, the same time as mine).  Probably related more to the fact that there are a lot of baby boomers out there, I suppose.  But once they make the announcement, it seems they become regarded as 'short timers'.  Which, I suppose they are, but I don't want my associates thinking less of me or holding back projects that I am perfectly capable of finishing (or at least building groundwork for).  And then there's that other, less loving side of me that says I've seen coworkers be pushed to the curb with way less than the customary 2 weeks' notice that they would have been asked to give if leaving was their choice, and it makes me not want to be any kinder to my employer than I've seen them be to these friends and coworkers.

At any rate, the days passing by.  I am cautiously preparing my list of things that have been put on the back burner for too many years - lots of items that will go up on eBay or CraigsList; craft projects and scrap books that will be finished; collections to be cataloged; books to be read; gardens to be planned and on and on.  Hubby is putting a similar list together (and shall I say, I've also got a list for him!).  

We're starting to talk about what a 'typical' day will look like post-retirement - getting up without an alarm; a nice long workout inside or out, weather depending; maybe a trip to the local reservoir to fish - the list grows a little longer every time we have a chance to chat about it.

No sir-ee Bob, no stage fright here!