I always think I will be so productive because I get out of bed by 6am every morning. But that really has nothing to do with productivity because I’ve perfected the art of taking my time.
I feel the most productive when I make a list of what I want to do and what I have to do.
I find it amazing that I have so many “things” I want to do, yet I never work on them, because I don’t remember them in the moment. If I have a list, I can look and say “oh, I’ll do a little work on this”.
Yesterday was my 65th birthday. My twin sister’s too.
I wouldn’t write about if there wasn’t something thought provoking behind it. But I guess turning 65 itself can be a birthday to contemplate!
My mother died the day before her 65th birthday. She had brain cancer and I’ve written all about it on my family blog. I recall my dad having to mail back her first social security check. Yes, and that still happens. Unless your family buries you in the back yard. But I digress….
My dad turned 65 two years after that in 1989 where there was probably no fancy schedule for collecting social security. Back then it was 65 – time to collect! He put in his retirement notice at work and on June 5th, he walked into the social security office (back then you could do that too, just walk in and talk with someone!) and filed his papers to collect. There was no financial advisor, no planning, just faith that his social security and a tiny pension from his job, and making picture frames, would let him play golf and travel. It worked out pretty good for him and he eked it out with additional income from the VA as a disabled vet (not from wartime) after health issues until he died at 85.
As for me, full Social Security is not in my near future. I have to wait for 67 and 8? 9? 10 months to collect my “full” amount and since I’m still working in our remodeling company, I’ll keep getting a paycheck from there. I could wait until 70 when I would receive “more” but this will give me incentive to find a replacement for me in the office!
My Medicare started on April 1st so I’ve come off our company policy, but I’ll have them pay my premiums until I go on Social Security when it gets automatically deducted. I bet you never thought you’d learn so much about Medicare and Social Security in one post. I find it a little complicated and feel sorry for people who are trying to navigate it without guidance.
Turning 65 feels odd because I is a “big” number and I don’t feel 65, but I’m looking forward to telling the checker at our Thursday night dinner pickup that the Senior discount now applies to me too!
I think I’ve said this before, but my birthday generates more feelings of a new beginning that the first of the year does. I made some resolutions this year (now, where and what are they?!), so I’m going to find them and assess how I’m doing. As for what my hopes are for this year of 65, I’m working towards better health, more adventures, and expanded mental and spiritual health.
Approximately 3 years old. One of our favorite pictures!
Tonight on Spring Baking Championship on HGTV, one of the challenges was for the bakers to elevate one of their favorite childhood desserts. That got me thinking about MY favorite childhood desserts.
My uncle on my mother’s side was a baker. I don’t know if he learned his trade in the army or by osmosis from my grandmother. He owned his own bakery for a few years and, after closing it, worked first at the local prep school, until finally settling in as the baker at Masonic Home and Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital and nursing home for people who were members of the Masonic Temple Association.
This man made the most INCREDIBLE baked goods. It’s amazing that he could make hundreds of desserts for the people at Masonic using these huge tubs for the dough and ovens to bake in and each one tasted as delicious as if it was one of only a dozen.
My favorites were his chocolate eclairs. They were all one piece filled with cream and delicious chocolate on top.
Chocolate Eclair (from the internet)
His cream puffs! Oh my word! Filled with delightful air pockets stuffed with cream.
Cream Puffs (internet photo)
He also made something called a Hermit Cookie. I found it quickly online. They were square bar cookies with ginger and molasses and raisins. One version I found is called New England Hermit Cookie Bar with the story that they date back to the Pilgrims and they were good for travel because they were dense and stayed moist for up to two weeks! Maybe his mother, my grandmother, brought the recipe with her when she immigrated from the Galician area of Poland in the early 1900s!
From thelemonbowl.com recipe
I do remember my uncle’s Hermit cookies being overall dark like the inside of this one.
In addition to his job and making desserts for family events, he made the wedding cakes for my mother, and for my cousin.
We did not have homemade desserts in our house. They were store bought cookies and pastries. My mother worked full time and she wasn’t really a baker, with the exception of the four layer chocolate cake with whipped cream filling and chocolate frosting we requested for our family birthday parties! She never said no! There would always be cake left over and we would eat that until there wasn’t a crumb left anywhere.
I love pizza. I could eat pizza every day. My stomach and intestines might have something to say about that since doughy stuff and them are not always a happy couple.
We live 20 minutes away from the town that gives Connecticut the (self-given) title “Pizza Capital of the World”. That would be New Haven, the home of Pepe’s pizza, Sally’s Pizza, Modern Pizza, and one of my favorites, De Legna x Nolo.
dinner at Pepe’s Pizza in March for my husband’s birthday
But even closer to home are some excellent pizza places! Right down the road is Fabi’s and in the next town The Bar.
I think the best pizza has a super thin crust, and I don’t mind a char on the bottom. Usually my husband and I will get our own small pizzas in which case mine is a white pizza (no sauce) with eggplant and ricotta cheese. There is mozzarella on there too of course! My husband usually gets a sausage or a pepperoni.
If we’re ordering with a group, I always make sure there is a white pizza and other than that, will eat whatever is ordered!
The Bar white eggplant and ricotta pizza
I liked that this pizza has 9 pieces which means I can eat 6 pieces (thin crust remember? – you can eat more!) and still have enough for lunch the next day.
What is your favorite kind of pizza? Do you like think or thick crust?
“Money, Money, Money, always sunny, in the rich man’s world” – ABBA 1976
If/when you wake up in the middle of the night, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind?
Mine is MONEY. Why money you ask? Because I’m always paying bills. I have a payroll to process every week, bills for materials and other on-job expenses, bills for vehicle loans, and bills for overhead expenses like the phone service and anything else that keeps our doors open and lights on (electric bill!).
At 3:30 am, if my brain rises out of whatever phase of sleep nearest to awake, my mind says “do you have enough money?” and something inside gives my heart a little squeeze. If I’m too much awake, I’ll head to the bathroom for a change of scenery. Sometimes I can snuggle back into my pillow, say a little prayer of thanksgiving for my bed, my house, etc. and very soon, I’ve fallen back to sleep.
Do you have a particular thought that pops into your brain if you wake up in the middle of the night?
“I expect my mother’s fear of decimal currency was related to her dislike of math, which is a common fear often dating back to a cruel teacher.” – Cherry in Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty.
Oh, that hit me right in the memories!
I don’t think Sister Holly Jean my third grade teacher at Holy Trinity School was intentionally being mean. There were two math groups and two reading groups, and when you’ve already spent 2 years with the same kids, you know which is which.
I bounced back and forth between those two math groups throughout 3rd grade. Long division was my nemesis! Carrying the what because it’s not equal where? My mother brought home waste letter paper from work and filled them with division problems for me to solve.
I survived third grade math but I was never the same afterwards. Math just continued to beat me down year after year. Algebra, Geometry, even review math in 12th grade was a struggle.
Ironically, I really enjoyed Accounting in high school and college and handle the (Quick)books for our company.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 