Retirement

People often make grand plans for their retirement and I was not so different.  Some of them I have followed through with and some of them are still on my bucket list.  Since Sherwin and I each have large families, one of my goals was to visit our children and grandchildren.  This is a time consuming task since we have 13 children between us and only 2 of them live in the immediate area.

I wanted to golf more.  I talked my sister Judy into being my partner and we joined the Idaho Falls Working Women's League. This is kind of laughable as neither of us are very competitive.  We laughed (a lot) at ourselves and each other.  Most of the ladies were fun to be with and patient with our lack of skills.  We learned to ignore those who weren't and just have some fun in the fresh air.  I golfed a lot with Sherwin too.  Before the season was over my game had improved (somewhat) and I had tan legs to prove I wasn't a couch potato.

One of my goals was to give more service.  Shortly after I retired, I received a calling from my bishop to be a worker in the Idaho Falls Temple.  Sherwin has worked there for years and was happy that I could now go with him.  What can I say?  It has been amazing.  I have discovered how much I still have to learn.

Sherwin and I were also called to serve at the Idaho Falls Humanitarian Center.  I have been astonished by the service of the people in this community!  People are basically good and want to help.  You never get to see that by watching the news but it is a fact.  We produce goods and collect donations of goods for the needy in the Idaho Falls and surrounding areas.  Some of the organizations we help are:

The City of Refuge (a men's homeless shelter)
Ruth House (a battered women's shelter)
Club Inc. (serving the homeless)
All of the local hospitals
Local Nursing/Rehabilitation Homes
All of the alternative schools
Sheppard's Inn (a home for unwed mothers)
The Salvation Army
The American Red Cross
Local churches (all faiths)
All schools

The best part of volunteering is the opportunity to work with such amazing, unselfish, good people.  I love them all.

I have also been working on my personal goal to be fit and healthy.  I joined Weight Watchers www.weightwatchers.com and I do water aerobics at the Aquatic Center.  I am happy to report that since last February, I have lost 26 pounds and the doctor has been able to cut my blood pressure medicine in half.  I hope to be able to do away with it altogether.


Sherwin and I also joined a photography club.  Although photography is more Sherwin's hobby, I love going on photo shoots with him and I like editing the photos in Photoshop. This is one of the photos that Sherwin shot in Alpine Wyoming.  He got another great shot of the same mountain goat that was published in the Post Register (our local newspaper).