Last night Sherry and I had dinner with her cousins Jeff and Susan Hammer at a nearby restaurant Shiraz. We have been there once before and had a great time. We have actually never socialized with Jeff and Susan before and I was looking forward to learning about their transition to retirement and kindling a new friendship.
Not an Adventure
Before the evening, I checked with my children whether this evening would count as an adventure, and they quite rightly said “No, but it might be one if you tried a food together that collectively you never had.”
Even without getting a point on the scoreboard, I really enjoyed the evening. Jeff and Susan are both enjoying their retirements and have made physical activity in the form of gym membership at NYSC core to their routines. Susan enjoys yoga and Jeff does spinning four times a week. They called me a “rookie” and I laughed at the apt description.
What do I want to be when I grow up?
One of the reasons for this quest is to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. How do I want to use my now plentiful time? First, it is clear that “growing up” should not be boring! Second, it is likely that whatever I do with this time is likely to change over time.
To that end there are several things I am working on that do not get credit for adventures (yet) and I’d like to share them with you. The first, as suggested by Susan and Jeff is to find a gym. I exercise at home nearly 7 days per week, but miss the social aspects of a gym – and want to add some new components (weight training, swimming) to my regiment. I will be sharing that journey with you in full during February. I also continue to pursue the Howie awards (water or snow skiing every month for a full year) and will be connecting with Donnie once again for the winter portion of this adventure. Before the end of the year, I began rebuilding the gangway of the dock at our lake-house. The project is not quite done, and I hope to complete it if we get some warm weather before the spring.
We are also planning some additional travel: Trips to Morocco, St Petersberg, San Francisco and the Galapagos are all on the schedule (wow!)
I have also received a few suggestions. Bruce contributed that a 65 mile bike ride, perhaps with friends accompanying me for segments would be a good one. My longest ride has been 44 miles, so this would certainly push me outside my comfort zone – and I am training by extending my inside riding. I also have begun to learn bridge at the suggestion of my friend Seth, and have started with some online courses. Lastly, Barbara suggested that reading books should be part of my goal, and perhaps I can find a way to read twelve this year.
65 is a big number!
Even if I complete all of those, that only adds to eighteen adventures, so please keep those suggestions coming!
Okay – enough for now, much more to follow. Thanks for taking this ride with me!