Easing into Retirement?

Horses will come out of retirement 

I can barely say the R word, but I have been working my way to it since the new year. After a hellish lead up and through the holidays I have to say....I've had it....kind of. After a stern talk with myself I think I finally got it. Nobody cares how hard I work. If I don't care enough to take care of myself no one is going to do it for me. So, before I have "the big one" I have cut back dramatically on shop offerings. Meaning, I will do things I like to do and for customers who have been with me since the beginning. It's still fun to have a little something to do every morning and I love having my friend, Lisa, here to do the packing up part. I just need to make life simpler.

Seems easy enough! In fact it has been going nicely. The first thing I did after the cut-back was to take back weekends. It has taken these few months to catch up on chores that have been ignored for years. Naps get to be taken! I'm reading books! I dawdle with the newspaper! I applied for my social security! Wow. Where did all that time go?

Future plans are to do the bare minimum, get reacquainted with my horses and grow some vegetables. That's enough of the power plan for now.

Toby Keith Joins The Family

Shortly after Zsa Zsa arrived, I was so fortunate to adopt this little fellow from Community Cat Coalition in Rice Lake. He came with the name Tramp but he seemed more like Toby to me; hence the full name of Toby Keith. He's a performer for sure. I got to talk to the nice folks who took him to the shelter. They did their best for him with shots, neuter, and a safe place but his catenality just didn't fit with their lifestyle. The couple was described as elderly at the shelter and they found him to be quite unsafe! He has a knack for getting underfoot and that doesn't work well when one is trying hard not to break a hip. Yes, he is a dickens, too. Once we got him home he sort of "came out of the box". He eats like a fiend and often. He's gained about five pounds already. 

Since one performer in the house wasn't enough, we renamed Zsa Zsa to be Reba. Reba and Toby Keith however, don't always get along. No fault of Reba's but Toby (the Toad) is a bully so a lot of time goes

into social engineering truces between the two. Windsor loves them both and is happiest when chasing Toby around the house. And, yes, I have given up on the "off the table" commands. How do ya like me now!