I had always heard as a child growing up that life is a journey, I never really quite understood the meaning of that until I got older, much older. To me life was just one day after the next with things happening at random not understanding why some of those things occured, "just my luck" I would say. But as I reflect back on my life and the paths and forks I have taken, and the decisions I have made, I realize that all those things happened for a reason, and any one chance encounter or incident had a meaning, if only a small one to teach me a small lesson, it had a meaning. I have made alot of mistakes and alot of bad decisions in my life but I do believe I learned from each and every one of them, maybe not at the time but eventually came to realize each and every one was a lesson on some sort.

I was sent a saying one time from one of my email friends that goes something like this, "life is not about coming to the end all neatly packaged with no scars or bruises, it's about sliding into homeplate with a glass of wine in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other screaming, "woooohoooo wow what a ride"!. If we don't take chances and don't chance getting hurt and bruised up we will never experience the existence life was meant to be, and never be exposed to the things that truly builds our character, life is made up of all sorts of smooth paths and bumpy roads, in order to be whole we have to experience all of the ups an downs. I am truly blessed to have the people in my life I have had, whether they are still in my life or not, they were put there for a reason. I can sit and reflect on that now and realize friends and family may come and go as the seasons do but there is a reason for their existence in my life. And that reason is to make me a better person. Whether is was good or bad, it shaped me into the person I am today.

As I enter the backside stage of my life I seem to reflect more on what I have done with my life instead of what I'm going to do. I'm not quite sure at what point I began to do this, but somehow I ended up here. And upon reflection the one thing I can say I have done and am most proud of is my children. They have grown into the adults I had hoped and prayed they would be. They too have begun the journey of life taking smooth paths and rocky roads that will shape them into the people they will become, of course as a mother I try to protect them from the very thing I said earlier will shape and mold them into who they will be, but you also know what they say about hind sight, its 20/20. I do wish I could protect them from any hurt or pain they may encounter that I have the knowledge of, but that is my heart speaking, my head knows that to be strong and self supporting they must go through life's up's and down's just as I did and learn from those mistakes, good and bad.

As they begin the adult stage of their lives, building their families and their dreams, I can only hope they will remember to be kind to one another and that any obstacles they may encounter is their choice how they handle them, their lives are made up of one day at a time and when they reach the stage in life I am at now they will be able to reflect with fond memories and happiness as I can.

Change of direction

Well its been months since I last wrote anything on my blog. I didn't forget about it, life has just gotten in the way. I'm sure everyone knows how that happens. I transferred from my location in Blytheville, back to West Memphis which I was very happy about. But on a sadder note my wonderful loving Mother passed away on June 14th. It was a very difficult time for me, my life has been kind of a blur since then, but I feel as though I am beginning to come out of that fog. I miss my Mother every day, and can't believe she is gone but life is continuing on and with the news of our upcoming grandchild it is proof that God takes home his children and delivers others in their place. Mom would have been very proud of Justin and Elise's impending little bundle of joy just as she was with Justin and Garrett. She loved her grandson's more than life itself as she did me. She will watch over us all from her place in heaven.

As we continued to explore our interest into retiring abroad in Equador my husband began to have second thoughts, "I don't want to be that far away from the kids" he said to me one day. So we began to rethink where and when we wanted to retire. We had discussions of when, that was set for the end of the year, December 31, 2010. Jim will officially retire from the salvage industry. Then came the where!!!! Well, that led to another journey, Jim's choice was North Florida, I wasn't so sure. Being close to the kids was important so we decided to take a vacation and check it out. Hence came our first vacation we had taken together for longer than a couple of days in 30 years. Wow that was an experience. No just kidding, it was wonderful. And during that week we found our perfect retirement location. No it isn't out of the country, but instead right here in the United States. The place is called Fairhope Alabama, it's like stepping back in time. My brother and sister-in-law moved there for my brothers work and we went to visit them on our vacation. We fell in love with Fairhope. Its hard to explain the draw this small quaint town has but it captured our hearts.
Soooooooo, that is our focus, I of course will still have to work, unlike if we had moved to Equador, we could have lived on Jim's retirement, but our kids are going with us and that makes it all worthwhile to me. Our journey has now begun to get our house sold, get me transferred, and work towards getting down to our retirement location in as short a time as possible.
Follow me on our journey as each day brings new opportunities and paths to follow.

Tuesday March 30 - Update

Hi everyone, well this is my last day off, back to Wally World tomorrow, but I thought I would share some of the many pieces of information I received on Ecuador with you, hope you enjoy it.

It's finally nice enough here today to actually call it a spring day, and as I sit on my back porch for the first time since last summer, I can't help but think wouldn't this kind of day be nice to have all year long. Given that Ecuador is located on the equator (hence the name) it's average temperature is spring like in most areas with some variation, depending on the direction you go, up towards the mountains or over to the coast.

There are many other places that are options in Central and South America as well that I am in the process of researching also. Places like Uruguay, Belize, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, Italy, its pretty amazing the places I have found that I would never have imagined even giving a thought to visiting (except maybe Italy!:)) let alone considering living there either part or full time. The problem I'm having is figuring out how to work out visiting all of them. With only two weeks vacation each year, it makes it a little challenging. Wow, work always seems to get in the way and ruin everything. I've come across a connection that offers "Chill Weekends" for around $200 per person (some less depending on the location) including everything (hotel, transportation, meals, drinks, etc) but airfare (which can be expensive), 4 days 3 nights, so I'll have to work on that angle. Yes, its to look at properties, but what the heck, that's what we're looking for anyway.

If anybody has a connection to cheap airfare please feel free to share :)

Update March 29, 2010 - retirement

Well today is the second of my three days off at Wally World, three on three off sure beats the heck out of the schedule we used to have. The world of retail is not one I ever dreamed I would be in, but here I am at 51 years old an assistant manager for the worlds largest discount retailer. That is another whole blog in itself, life inside the world of Wal-Mart, maybe I'll start one on that one day but until then I'll just share some of those experiences with you along my journey, as each day there just fuels my quest even more.

My time on my days off anymore when it is not spent taking my Dad to one doctor or another, or paying his bills, or taking him to this store or that or cleaning his house, or visiting my mother in the nursing home, is consumed with scouring the Internet and trying like a huge sponge to absorb all I can about retiring elsewhere. The place of choice I am focused on is Ecuador. Slightly smaller than the state of Nevada, Ecuador is a very diverse country. You have the opportunity to go from Ocean to mountains in relatively few hours. The cost of living there is 60% less than in the U.S. which is a big factor. There are several things we are looking for, inexpensive cost of living, very low land cost, good health care, and quality of life. According to everything I have read and information I have received Ecuador fits the bill for every one of those things.

We have planned a trip to Ecuador with my son and daughter in law in July to check it out, so there will be updates as we draw near and on our visit while we are there. One of the challenges we will have to overcome if we decide to retire there is the language, it's Spanish. And short of barley passing Spanish in high school, I can, count to ten, say good morning and hello, "buenos dias" and "Ola". So back to school it will be to learn their language. That should be an interesting read. Especially watching Jim (my husband) trying to learn it. But I'm determined, and once I set my mind to something, nothing will stop me.

The nightmare of healthcare reform

As I lay in bed trying to sleep the night the healthcare bill was passed, thoughts kept creeping into my head. What will be next, what downward spiral will the government, or should I say the American people that elected the current administration, throw us into next.
How have we fallen so far from where we began only 234 years ago. Our forefathers would turn over in their graves in witness of what is happening in this country. For the government to be so arrogant as to force, force every American to carry health care and then fine us if we don't, is unconstitutional. Suddenly George Orwell and 1984 began coming back to me. Oh maybe not in the sensational form in which it was written, but the core of the message is becoming more and more of a reality every day.

As my mind continued to wonder, fear began to set in. Fear for my children and grandchildren. The direction this country is headed is straight to hell. What will become of my childrens dreams, of their childrens dreams. Where did the country that my 88 year old retired military father fought so hard for go to in the last 50 years. I've seen him hang is head in sorrow and mourn the loss of the greatest nation of all time. We are no longer that nation. I used to be proud to be an American, but not any more. My government has let me down and so have the people who proclaim to be Americans.

There is no more pride, there is no more honor, only the question, what can the government do for me. Well wake up America, where do you think the government is going to get the money to pay for all the things you feel you are owed, as I constantly told my kids when they were young, go out back and pick some more money from that money tree. The answer is from me and every other American that still believes that work is a time honored tradition. The problem we run into now is the government must find a way to pay for this health care and the only solution is to tax you and me and businesses, small and large. Businesses can pass the cost on to you and I , so guess what we get a double wammy, more taxes and higher prices.

The government will force public insurance companies to allocate a higher percentage of the premiums they collect to cover more of the cost of test, procedures, etc, until it will bankrupt each and every one and the only insurance that will be available is the one from the government. Again, Big Brother, socialism, they will own every one of us, control every one of us, not a future I am looking forward to.

As I lay there hour after hour contemplating what our country has become, the reality of moving to a different country grew more and more promising. I never thought I would see the day that I would want to leave my country and abandon all that I had known, but the future of this country is quickly becoming bleak and life as I had known it growing up was gone and getting worse.

I end with a question for all who read this, how long are we going to let Washington take from us what we fought so hard for so many years ago. If we don't stand together, united we will fall.