I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I am hosting the January Swap and I noticed how early things seem to pop up for the Incredible Edible Swaps. Anyway, I will try to get this one listed by Dec. 8. I know it is hard to find seeds right now but hopefully everyone has some stashed away. I would like to allow seeds saved from your garden and partial packets of seeds for the January Winter Sowing Seed Swap. First of all, to help out if you don't have many appropraite seeds and secondly, I think some who sign up for the swap may not have winter sowed before so when experimenting, no need to do that with a lot of seeds! When I post the heading, I will include some sites that give guidlelines on what type of seeds to sow when and according to zones. I found that the herbs, tomatoes, and summer squash that I winter sowed were really vigorous plants. Some herbs do great, too. I have only been winter sowing for two years so I am not an expert, but I really think it is a wonderful method for planting. Jeanne

My Dad didn't mind travelling ... if there was a friend or relative at the other end to make the trip worthwhile. I like it better than he, but did trans-Pacific three times, and round -the-world once, so have done a good bit of it, in earlier times. On the first trans-Pacific trip (I'd never seen the ocean till that summer of '53) we left Los Angeles on a Swedish ship with six passengers, travelled north of Hawaii, not too far from the Aleutians, I think, on our way to the Philippines .... out of sight of land for 18 days: gives one an idea that this world is a big place! As we entered Manila Bay, about 30 miles long, we passed Corregidor, the last hold-out as the Japanese took the Philippines, from which Macarthur departed by sub, vowing to return. I thought that, had our ship been in those waters, 10 years earlier, we'd have had two choices - go into port, to be interned ... or go below. I figured that in that great war, those guys and gals had bought us some time, and that it was our job to learn how to build a world where we could get along with one another, not just "without fighting" ... but where we could have really positive lifestyles, respecting and caring for one another. I get some lonely at times, but have lived alone for over 40 years, some of it sharing with an arm's length friend, and have learned to build pretty well the life that I choose. Some have suggested that I get on with life - to remarry, etc. but I maintained a sense of affection for the former spouse, even though we scarcely ever spoke. Part of it related some to the situation that, after one had been run over by a truck ... when one heard truck wheels coming down the road ... one started to shake. She died nine years ago. Not having come to terms with that and having taken more active interest in finding another candidate for a closer relationship may have meant a less interesting life ... but we'll never know about that. One offspring married for about 5 years, broke up and has had a couple of relationships since, one currently operational. The other hadn't had a close relationship till past 40, has built one in recent years but is keeping that at somewhat arm's part-length (his instigation, I think). I have a number of interests, including that mile of garden row last summer, that I did only a half-assed job of operating: last summer was not a good time for gardening, many local gardeners claim. I have interests at church and in the community, and friends in different areas of living. I've sometimes suggested to folks approaching .. or in ... seniorhood that it's a good idea to keep making new friends ... cause the current ones tend to die off on one: a tendency that becomes more pronounced as one advances in years I've heard. I find that as I move about in the community, I'll make a comment to strangers on the street, in the checkout line at the store, etc., and suspect that I'd do less of that if I shared house with someone(s). Usually there's a good, short, exchange ... and seldom do I get chopped of, and seldom by women, either: I look rather old and harmless, I guess. I enjoy living in the country, grew up on a farm, and figure that I can live in what used to be uncle's house as long as I can drive. I've suggested to landlord that one of his becoming-adult sons may want the house, but he says that I can live there as long as I choose. I think that the eldest might want to have a fancier house than the one that I inhabit. He and his girlfriend broke up a while ago, which set him back on his heels some. We have a non-contributory government payout program, (term of residence required) and a mandatory contributory national pension plan, plus my partial private pension and personal retirement program ... and I am able to manage, Frugal Fella that I am (by choice) to live within them. While many clergy in an earlier time lived in employer-provided housing, they knew that when they became unemployed or retired ... that deal would die, so they'd need to provide their own. They had the advantage of being able to save for that, not be living in accommodation only partly theirs, and partly the bank's ... for which the bank expected (reducing) compensation, over many years. Along with that saving plan, however, it was important to put some current income aside for possible need during one's retirement years. As I live within my pensions ... I regard my investments as more or less "play money" ... ... that I may need in case of health problems or need for care in future. Or can leave to offspring and charities. As my body has seldom told me, "Listen, you darned (now 'old') fool - I can't do that for you any more!" ... I've been sort of spoiled, over the years. I think that one of my major concerns is the possibility of becoming disabled, of the physical or mental variety. All in all ... I'm pleased with my life as it is. And very thankful. ole joyful ... well - that, too!

No, duluth, you're not the odd one out, but you're one of the sensible ones, LOL! DH and I were sloppy about a lot of things and didn't catch on until our mid to late 40s. We're fortunate things worked out but like you, there was a pension for DH that we could rely upon. Sadly, fewer and fewer have that option any longer. Anyway, it occurred to me I hadn't actually answered some of the OP's questions, so my bad. Here's my answers: 1) At what age do you hope to retire? I retired in 2006 at age 55. DH retired at the end of 2009 at age 56. I retired because I couldn't find a job within reasonable commute distance that was worth being away from home 10 hrs/daily, 5 days/wk. Salaries had dropped precipitiously (and remain low even now). I had job offers, but they would have involved a killer commute - using my car in SF Bay Area traffic for a 3-hr roundtrip would have essentially negated any extra salary above what was being offered around my home town. Had the money been really needed, I could have continued working for another 10 yrs, just with lower $$ expectations. I enjoyed what I did and met a lot of great people, many of whom I'm still in regular contact with. A large factor in my retiring was when my MIL moved in with us. We discovered our weekly visits had not shown us the real issue - a very gradual dementia. She is functional day to day, but there's no way she should live alone any longer. Because she shares household expenses with us, it makes up for what I would have netted from a full-time job. 2) Will you stay in your current home or move? We are staying put for now. We like where we live; we love our neighbors and they love us; it's convenient in location to our friends, family, and a wide range of attractions/activities. However, this is not a home for the disabled or elderly. It cannot be retrofitted at a reasonable cost. The area is all rolling hills and our property has a double slope, making gardening a real work-out! We have no sentimental attachment to a structure of wood, stucco and glass. It is a roof over our heads, it has served us well, it is extremely comfortable having been extensively remodeled. When the time comes that it's too much trouble to take care of, which I foresee coming in the next 5-10 yrs, we will gladly pack up and leave. We would like to live in a specific CCRC we've visited, but time will tell if it will work out financially. If not, we have sufficient assets to have other options for the next phases of our lives, whether together or singly. 3) What kind of investments or income sources will you have? DH has a defined benefit pension with 2% annual COLA and full medical at low cost (no vision or dental, though). His mid-range six-figure retirement account is our backup, we don't need to take distributions. We live a very comfortable lifestyle in an extremely expensive area, entirely on his pension. The last two years DH worked were a 'trial run' for budget purposes. He was contributing extra to his retirement account so we were living on the equivalent of what his estimated pension would be. So when he did retire, there were no surprises or shortfalls. I have three small pension/annuities from former employers that will start at age 65. I'm eligible for full SocSec at 66. These income sources will mitigate any inflationary pressures in future years. Because I have almost no retirement savings, I carry term life in the amount of $750K to ensure DH would have additional financial assets through my age 70, at which point the policy expires and we won't worry about how much more $$$ he needs should I predecease him. BTW, this is what I mean about properly assessing your own morbidity and mortality risks. DH suffered a stroke at age 50 and if he lives past 75 it will be a wonderful gift. But genetics are totally against him, so his odds are at best 50-50 to reach age 85 or order. My odds are about the same or slightly better. Both of us have family histories of diabetes and heart trouble. These are no longer the killers they were, but they are disablers. We have no children and relatively few family, even locally. Therefore, we each carry very good unlimited benefit LTC policies to cover facility care and home healthcare as we age. We have had these policies since our late 40's, and buying them was the smartest thing we ever did. Once DH had his stroke, he would never have qualified for anything affordable, even if I'd been able to find a carrier, for the next five years afterward. The total premiums we've paid for both policies over ten years, don't even equal six months in a good facility for only one of us. 4) Do you plan to work part time, or what kind of activities will you do? Retirement has been great. We sleep when we want, we eat when we're hungry, we don't have to dance to anyone else's tune, and we get to do errands mid-week/mid-day, when the check-out lines are shorter and sales clerks more relaxed. I garden and like to read (Amazon knows me SO WELL). I spend a lot of time on the PC as it's my lifeline: I shop, read, research, and communicate almost totally by computer. Every day I read three newspapers on-line: the local, the NY Times, and the WSJournal. Recently we went on a 5-week driving trip through the Pacific NW and I spent hundreds of hours on the PC researching every travel segment, hotel, restaurants, and attractions. Exhausting, but the trip was a huge success and it was worth the work. I set up a restaurant review blogsite last year. We dine out regularly and my reviews are fairly long, so this helps me keep them organized. This year I've set up a travel blogsite after our five 2010 trips. I'm not in love with blogging, but did this after being asked by friends to set up something on the web so they could access everything more easily. For 2011 I plan to revamp our garden website and that will be a huge undertaking. I have thousands of photos to winnow down and organize. DH is a media junkie. It isn't uncommon for him to have two TVs on and his three computers running simultaneously. All this while he does his hobby stuff (wargaming). Talk about multi-tasking, LOL! He's a sweetie, he'll do anything I want to do. A good partnership: I like to organize and he'll accompany me anywhere. We also like to walk, but he can walk further than I can so he sometimes takes himself off to hike alone in state parks. I'm an urban walker, I like to know there's people around if I need help. We both do yoga, but different types. His former boss occasionally gives him contract work, which is easy money but doesn't happen often.

I agree with everything said here. I think that we have all, as individuals been collectively sold down the river to get to the point where we have to consider whether we should or should not retire, if we have enough money to do so. We were not ever meant to work most of our days away, most of our lives, simply to continue existing doing the same working in order to keep existing. I am 50 and have never married... I'm not too good socially. But I have saved enough money now to retire, I believe. And I will enjoy the rest of my life... I hope at least another 25 or 30. Even though I live without any love in my life, I have plenty of activites to keep my mind engaged and curious. Over the past year, I have read a lot of books on retirement and what can do in that phase of one's life. This site also gave me some ideas: Here is a link that might be useful: Retirement Joy - retirement advice etc