Adventures in Retirement: Introduction

Greetings,
I have to tell you that I am invisioning the character from the film, "Julie/Julia." I am writing and wondering who will find this in cyberspace.

This is the view from my writing station now, the agave that is eating my yard. I am determined to keep it until it blooms, then out it goes.

The Methodist Church is in the background.

I have been in Texas since mid-June. Home is Weslaco, Texas. This house has been home since I was in the 5th grade. That was the year that I escaped the St. Joan of Arc School, across the street. The school is long gone and the church parking lot fronts the house. The church is across the alley from the property.
Weslaco is in the southern most tip of Texas. Although the area is called the Rio Grande Valley, the area is in the delta of the river. Weslaco was named after the W.E. Stuart Land Co. and it was established in 1919. At the time, my grandfather was working clearing the land/ the lots. He bought the property in the early 20s. Today Weslaco has about 30, 000 residents. Mexico is about 9 miles, that-a way. The Gulf of Mexico and South Padre Island is about 60 miles away. I hope that my drawings on the map are visible.

Living with me is my 94 year-old aunt, Tia Bea, my father's sister. Her schedule is my schedule. Because some days her dementia is worse than others, she cannot be alone for very long. A trip to the store, when she is awake, is as quick as I can make it because she may fall, or think that someone is at the door and leave it open. Also in the house is a dog, Coco. He is here because he is so attached to my aunt and she to him. He is an Australian blue mix, that likes nothing better than to chase a tennis ball. The good thing about Coco is that he is low maintenance. His biggest fault is that his stomach cannot handle any food from the table. This snacking results in his throwing up. This takes me back to my aunt. She cannot remember not to feed him anything. Catch her doing it and she will deny it. Her long-term memory is great. She can remember past events with great clarity. However, she will not remember what she had for lunch 30 minutes ago. This at times is frustrating for me.

My diagnosis is that this dog has OCD. Once outside, he has one obsession - the tennis ball. His compulsion is to chase it. When I refuse to toss it, he will sit and stare at it, i ntensely. He may start to shake as he watches it. It is as if he is saying, "I am ready to chase you. I dare you to run."

        Since June, I have been busy settling in. This is a phenomenon known only to those who have experiencing moving their householdings. Those who have never moved do not understand when I tell them that I am still settling in. I may have unpacked all the boxes, but the goods are still not in their final resting place. It is a matter of finding a rhythm, a life pattern. When I take off my cap or when I look for my cap, where does it go or where will I find it? Although I am getting better, I still spend a good amount of time looking for things. At the moment, my glue gun and glue sticks are on the most-wanted list.
         I have also been working on the house and making it home. The big project in the works is expanding the patio. In my 16+ years in Washington, I grew to enjoy sitting outside to read, drink some wine, and enjoy the breeze. Here in Texas the breeze would be more enjoyable if the air temp was not close to 100 degrees. I cannot change the August temperature, so I am working on the sitting part. Pictures of that project later. I am also attaching fabrtic to the bedroom walls. This is something I used before. It works and it is easier than painting. I could not stand to look at the brown walls any longer.

         Things I have accomplished are replacing the kitchen door, the kitchen faucets, cleaning out the old storage shed (sort-of) and painting it, and some landscaping.

I decided to move the birdbath and plants and create a better setting for them. This is the before. Notice the storage shed in the back. The swing set belongs to my neice. She moved to a home that does not allow such things.