If we were having coffee this morning, you would have to ride in the passenger seat of my car as we travel north to Oregon, from California. Shall we stop at Starbucks or maybe 7-11 to get you a cup?
Travel
I love road trips and I love to drive. The drive from Sacramento to Portland, Oregon is about 8 to 9 hours. I am alone this trip (except for you, my phantom coffee-share riders).
My daughter is moving to Salem for a few months to participate in her recreation therapy internship at a psychiatric hospital. She will move back home with me in late December. Once she completes the internship, she officially ends her college career. Soon after, she sits for the CTRS (Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist) exam.
So I am driving along with her (she has her own car), to help her move, and to visit some family for a few days before I drive back home.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the last two weeks have been busy. Don’t we all write this? I guess we’re all busy! My busy-ness has been in traveling to Spokane for a family wedding two weeks ago, then last week, to San Diego for the premier of Above-Time, my “brother-in-law’s” fashion accessory line. He hired me to be his official blogger, so it was a business trip. Here is the link to “Bowties Against Bullies.”
Other than the weather being HOT in both locations, visiting family and experiencing a change of scenery was delightful!
Blogging
Most of the month of August, I have limited my blogging to photo challenges, some leisure quotes and a few coffee shares. I still have managed to follow several new blogs and get over 50 followers! So much for me taking a blogging break that I wrote about a few weeks ago. I do faithfully follow over 80 blogs via e-mail and I enjoy reading each one. In WordPress I check out the reader and catch up with other bloggers.
Do you tweet? Many bloggers, including myself use TwitterFeed. I recently started using this app that autotweets selected bloggers using your RSS feed. Check it out if you are interested in growing your blog or website.
Retirement
What is that exactly? I have heard of it and…oh yes, I did retire. If we were having coffee I would tell you that my eight short months of being retired will be over soon. Most of you know that I retired from public service (recreation and parks) after 32 years. You can read more about “Why I Had to Retire.”
I was able to retire from my full-time day job because I am a part-time lecturer at a university in Northern California, teaching in the recreation and parks major. When you retire from public service from CalPERS (public employees retirement system) there are rules governing part-time work in the public sector. Teaching at a state university is still within the public sector, therefore I had to take a six-month break. I go back into the university classroom beginning August 31.
I guess my Baby Boomer generation workaholic tendencies have surfaced. I mentioned that I wrote some sponsored posts, for which I got paid. As part of my consulting business Windigen Consulting, I was hired to facilitate a workshop for a management group on “How to Communicate with the Other three Generations.” This all happened this past week. Here is an example of some of the information I presented: “Workplace Comparisons: How To Say It.”
Life at Home
I almost forgot what home was about this month! My suitcase and I are having a very intimate relationship. It’s been living at the foot of the bed half full for three weeks, as I pack and unpack.
The room addition is coming along just fine. More on that soon!
I just celebrated my two year wedding anniversary. Poor hubby has to stay home and work today and all this week. This trip now and the one to San Diego last week had to be taken without him. And I haven’t been to the delta since August 1st.
I sure enjoyed my weekly coffee share with you. I hope your days are filled with fun and excitement and perhaps a few moments of quiet. I will be surrounded by my large family of cousins from Washington and Oregon this week, so I’m thinking my next round of quiet time will be on the drive home later in the week. I look forward to listening to my new audiobooks!
Have a fabulous week!
Second Wind Leisure Perspectives 
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