Retirement Goals Progress

It’s hard to believe that six months has gone by since I retired.  There is so much that I planned to have done by now!  Things have not gone like I thought they would, but I have made a LITTLE progress on SOME of my retirement goals.

1. Learn to draw/paint.

• One of the first things I did was order a book from an artist that I like very much, Kelly Rae Roberts.  Her book was very inspiring and had step-by-step instructions for completing her projects.  I have started purchasing some supplies to try some of them.  (Art supplies can be expensive, I found out!)

• I attended a class on bas-relief and finished my first bas-relief project of a sunflower.
  
  2.  Learn to speak Spanish.
• On 11-3-10, Gralyn and I started attending a Spanish class once a week taught by our good friends, Arellys and Cheyenne.  What better teacher could you have?  She’s from Nicaragua! We are making progress!
  
  3.  Learn calligraphy.
• I have been practicing SOME from a book that I have and also from some small instruction that I received from a friend of mine.  Lot’s more practice is needed.  I plan to attend meetings of the Calligraphy Guild soon.
  
  4.  Learn to play the piano better.
• Ummm – no progress here.
  
  5.  Publish another book.
• In October, Gralyn and I attended a writers conference at Auburn University and learned some things.
• I have done a little work on a cookbook called “Homecoming” which will feature all the good ole southern cooking that we all like so much at dinners on the ground.  Or at least, I like it….
  
  6.  Establish a speaking/teaching ministry.
• In November, I taught a 3-session workshop on “What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty.”  I enjoyed it very much, hope everyone else did and learned something from it about how to minister to those in poverty. 
  
  7.  Declutter my house.
• I have sold several books on Amazon.com,
• finished putting together 3 photo albums
• and took several car loads of clothes to the consignment shop.  That cleared out some of the clutter and I made a little money in the process!
  
  8.  Add to my website design business. 
• I have added one website to my repertoire – that makes five!
  
  9.  Seek ministry opportunities with the spiritually and physically needy, at home and abroad.
• I have attended some meetings of the homeless coalition and volunteered to help with their Point-In-Time survey. 
• I participated in a Poverty Simulation which was very enlightening to see how folks in poverty live. 

• I have finished a mat for the homeless crocheted from plastic shopping bag strips. 
  
  10. Travel
• On June 15, we left Milton Florida to travel across country with Ashley and Amber as they moved from Altus, OK to Spokane, WA.  We saw most of the major attractions between here and there.  When we left Washington State, Gralyn and I went through the northern states all the way over to Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and down to Florida.  We traveled through 25 states in 28 days.  That was a LOT of driving!  This almost completed our quest to visit all 50 states with the exceptions of Hawaii and Oregon – yes, Oregon!  Why didn’t we see Oregon when we were that close to it?  Well, we plan visit Ashley and Amber and take an extended vacation in Oregon with them at a later date.  They will be there for three years.