Early Retirement Week 9: Should This Be The Last Weekly Update?

by A Purple Life, posted in Early Retirement, Early Retirement Updates, Finance, Fitness, Food, Hobbies, Keto, Relationships
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Hey y’all! This is Weekly Update 9/12 based on the schedule I gave out a few months ago so I wanted to check in and see if you’re still enjoying these. My Week 8 update last week was the first post since I took this blog public that didn’t receive any comments the day I posted it (and I live for comments 😉 ) so let me know if you’re tired of these updates or this format or what and we can switch it up. If these have gone on too long this can be the last weekly update – I don’t want to bore y’all 🙂 . In the meantime, let’s get into it!

Ok – where the fuck is time going?! And how am I on Week 9 of retirement?? I can’t even believe it – despite the fact that I have the proof right in front of me in the form of these weekly updates. Ridiculous. Anyway, let’s get into it!

What Did I Do This Week?

Nothing 🙂 . I did absolutely nothing. And it was amaaaazing!

A gem from one of my favorite work-related movies, Office Space

But seriously, I tried really hard to not do anything this week so I mostly read, napped and lounged in the sun. I took a few walks around the neighborhood and a park, but otherwise was a complete slug and I loved it so much 🙂 .

I tried Bread Baking for the first time. My partner showed me how to use our fancy new stand mixer and a simple “Artisan Bread” recipe to make the below beauty and it was DELICIOUS!!!! It was also really cool to see what goes into making bread from scratch – it involves a lot of patience and waiting for the little yeast monsters to eat the sugar and starch in the flour and turn them into carbon dioxide gas.

Then the gas inflates air bubbles within the bread, which makes it rise! It turns out bread making is a fun science project and a delicious time all in one so I am fully onboard 🙂 . Letting go of this new discovery is so far my only regret of getting back on keto, but I’m looking forward to seeing what keto-approved nut flours can do.

I closed that DMCA claim about the second website stealing my posts! I mentioned this fiasco in my Week 5 update. Since then, the case was resolved and the offending site has been shut down. Shout out to the hosting provider Namecheap that took action quickly and has an awesome Twitter team that answered questions when I couldn’t read an email properly and made the process much longer than necessary…my bad 🙂 . Can I blame retirement brain?

Physical

Sleep

Sleep was amazing this week. I slept like a babe throughout the night – closing my eyes one minute and opening them to the sound of birds chirping outside our window the next morning. I felt like a fucking Disney princess. Napping was also a lovely focus of the week. In the afternoons I often started to get a little sleepy and then realized: I’ve got nothing else to do – so it’s time to nap!

One day a nap really came in handy when I awakened at 4:30am with some words for a post floating around in my head. They were pretty specific so I went to write them down. Then I visited the restroom and after I settled down again, I couldn’t go back to sleep. Luckily, a nap fixed that right up later in the day 🙂 . Overall, sleep got an A this week. I’ll see if I can keep this streak up, but it’s quite unique for me to sleep this well – so just in case it doesn’t become the post-retirement norm, I will cherish this time 🙂 .

Food

Food has done a 180. As I mentioned in my last weekly update, I’m going back to keto for the time being. We’re hunkering in place for the foreseeable future so I’ll be able to establish a routine for the first time in a while (since previously we were just exploring new places slowly as nomads).

So here are my daily keto food guidelines:

Calories: 1200
Carbs: 20 net grams
Protein: at least 72 grams (to maintain muscle mass 😉 )

So far, I’ve been back to my OG lifestyle for a week and it’s been going well! I’m already liking how much less bloated I feel (carbs bloat me almost immediately). My brain is also slowly reverting to the ‘keto’ lens I had when I was keto full-time. This superpower allows me to automatically think of keto versions of meals. I call it a superpower because I felt like I unlocked it after a few months of keto – it definitely didn’t come naturally.

In fact, my first day of keto in 2018 was a hilarious disaster 🙂 . I looked at everything in my cabinets and was shocked to discover that everything contained sugar – even my soup WTF?! So I realized that basically canned foods wouldn’t work because of the sneaky sugars and that I would have to start eating real food (gasp!)

Originally, I would hear a friend ask if I wanted pizza or Chinese food and could only think of what I couldn’t eat (e.g. the full pizza, lo mein etc), but with this superpower, I see new things. For example, that I can just be a straight up weirdo and eat the cheese and pepperoni off of a pizza slice or order my favorite Chinese dish (moo goo gai pan) or beef & broccoli instead. Superpowers 😉 .

Alcohol

I did a dry week last week and then took a day off to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday with him. After that I got back on the dry train. At this point, I haven’t decided if I’ll go for another 100 days. I might just streak until Christmas and see what happens when I combine a dry streak with a keto streak. I do love streaks, challenges and check marks 🙂 .

Fitness

I’ve continued my daily pull up attempts on our pull up bar, but sadly continue to look like George Michael attempting the monkey bars in Arrested Development. But still I persist! I’m going to keep trying daily and hopefully see some progress by the end of the year – though my original dream of doing a full pull up by then seems unlikely to happen 🙂 . Other than that, I’ve been taking those aforementioned walks, but that’s about it on the fitness front.

Nail Painting

I’ve continued to practice my nail painting techniques and am improving a lot! I think they’re starting to look pretty professional 🙂 ! Check this out:

Let me know if y’all care about my new nail polish technique discoveries 🙂 . For now I won’t bore you with them. However, one fun thing did emerge from my improved technique: I originally had asked my partner for some base coat polishes as a Christmas present. I thought I needed them to smooth out my nails and help me not get the paint everywhere, but since my technique has improved, I don’t think I need those additional purchases! Frugal and new skill win 🙂 .

Singing & Language

I accidentally combined two of my goals this week: singing and (re)learning languages. I used to know Italian enough to attend an Italian University, but it has slipped out of my brain without practice. However, this week we started listening to Christmas music, which quickly devolved (evolved?) into listening to one of my favorite artists from my childhood, the amazingly talented and hilarious Josh Groban.

I say hilarious because of his appearance on one of my favorite comedies Always Sunny, which was the culmination of a running joke about the main female character being obsessed with him:

Anyway, I’m getting side tracked 🙂 . We started playing through Groban’s discography and I discovered that I know the words to basically all of his early works – including the ones he sings in Italian. So I’ve been belting Groban’s sweet tunes in multiple languages all week and fulfilling two checkboxes at once. Gotta love that efficiency 😉 . Here’s one of my favorites to sing along to:

Mental

Learning

Now, let’s get back to my favorite segment: Fun Facts Nobody Asked For! Here’s what I learned and explored this week:

  • We actually had a small scare to start off the week. My nephew ate some berries he found in the yard and my iNaturalist app identified them as Nightshade Berries. I called GA Poison Control and then frantically researched the different types of Nightshade while my partner and nephew’s parents took care of him. The nephew is totally fine! But now I know that Black Nightshade is toxic in large doses, but is not as dangerous as Deadly Nightshade which it looks quite similar to. However, Black Nightshade (and the common American Nightshade) has white flowers and the berries grow in bunches while Deadly Nightshade has purple flowers and the berries grow individually. I didn’t even know Nightshade (which I first heard of in The Nightmare Before Christmas) was real, but now I’ll never forget it. I also feel good knowing that GA Poison Control is absolutely awesome in case anything ever happens again.
  • Stargazing continues to go well. I saw the Orion constellation and Rigel. I learned that Rigel is the brightest star in the Orion constellation and 4th brightest in the whole sky! Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are still out in force.
  • Also, November’s full moon is apparently called the Full Beaver Moon (*snicker* yes, I am a child…). Traditional names for Full Moons are based on peculiarities of the season and November’s is called the Beaver Moon because beavers build their winter dams and prep for the cold during this month. Also, apparently November is known as the best month to hunt beavers before they stow themselves away for winter (which led me to the question: PEOPLE HUNT BEAVERS?!?) I had no idea. Anyway, this discovery transitions nicely into something else I explored this week:
  • Our local woods! We came across a Beaver Dam, Otter Slides (where otters slide into the water) and a Crayfish on our walks (all pictured below). My sister-in-law also identified a Black Warbler, which I hadn’t seen before. Also it turns out she took an entire Birding Class in college. I need to look into if any of these classes are offered online for a fee. I’ve already turned into those older retired people who sat in on my college classes (and hilariously often fell asleep in the middle 🙂 ). I’m honored – it’s who I’ve always aspired to be.
Sup Crayfish?!
Beaver evidence
An otter slide weeee!
  • I also learned that I enjoy eating strange meats, such as Pig Brains. We scrambled some eggs up with the delicacy below and enjoyed it on a few crackers. Gotta keep things interesting in retirement!

Creativity

Words are still flowing over here – as evidenced by the early morning writing extravaganza mentioned above 🙂 . I’ve also found that I have the mental space for more words to flow in general. For example, in case you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed I’ve been posting way more over there.

I’m exploring and doing so much that I want to share it somewhere. When I was working, the photos I took would sit on my phone for months before I usually forgot what was memorable about them that I wanted to immortalize and so they were relegated to the digital trash bin.

Now, my brain seems to quickly remember what I thought was unique about an experience and pushes me to write even something small about it and post it on Insta or Twitter. I thought I would be posting less on social media after retirement, but that doesn’t seem to be the case 🙂 . I am on it less overall though, which I think is good for my mental health. I got enough doomscrolling done at the beginning of November to last a lifetime 😉 .

Reading

This happened:

At the beginning of the year I retreated into fiction (and fanfiction 😉 ) to soothe my brain and that coping mechanism has lasted the whole year. I accepted that it was something I needed to do for my sanity and let go of my annual goal of reading one non-fiction book a month.

Well now after all that fiction self-care, I am ready to take on some ‘real’ life again by dipping my toe back into non-fiction. While reflecting on this new feeling of “I’m ready,” I realized that one of the reasons this feeling might have taken so long to materialize is because I was getting a heavy dose of reality daily from social media or the general internet, so it took a long time to recharge those mental batteries, but finally I can say “Throw me back in coach!” 🙂 .

Money

This was a ridiculous week for my money. First of all, it included the end of November and beginning of December so I got to post my monthly net worth update on Instagram:

But then, right after that post, something ridiculous happened. I know I’ve mentioned being close to $600,000 in previous weekly updates, but I didn’t actually think I would hit it anytime soon. Crossing my fingers I would retire in October with $500,000 while the world was burning around me only to turn around and have over 20% ‘extra’ on December 1st seems almost too weird to contemplate, but here we are:

On a related note, money continues to be a non-issue. My partner and I aren’t going anywhere because of how bad COVID numbers are in the US, so we’ll be paying cheap Georgia tiny house rent basically until my sister-in-law and brother-in-law want to kick us out 🙂 .

My overall costs are lower than I expected and that combined with the now 2.5 years of expenses I have in cash and the above milestones makes me feel financially bulletproof currently. As always, I’ll let you know if and when that changes 😉 .

Emotional

Winter Sun

I’ve had some interesting revelations about my emotions during winter specifically. I’ve found that in retirement, I don’t mind shorter winter days. For comparison, I used to loathe them entirely. I was basically The Grinch:

A too real still from a film I watch every Christmas with my Mom. Jim Carrey is a national treasure.

It was depressing to wake up and leave for work when it’s dark (back when I went to an office) and then fight my way home – also in the dark. Because of the lack of sunlight in the winter, I was wasting the only good, sunny hours of the day working in an office cubicle under fluorescent lighting – often not near windows.

Winters were better when I started working from home 4 years ago, but it still sapped my energy. Opening my work laptop at my home office desk before the sun rose and then closing my work laptop only to look up and see that it’s once again pitch black outside didn’t help my emotional state. It also did not help me live my best life outside of work because I am basically solar-powered.

So, anyway, that chapter of my life is closed now and I’ve been able to parse out another aspect of my life that made work so much worse: Winter. However, in retirement, instead of dreading the season, I’m reveling in it. I’m planning new traditions with my commune and taking pictures of morning frost. My thoughts on winter have basically done a 180 over here 🙂 .

Relationships

I’ve continued to try and do my part around the commune by doing dishes whenever I see there are any – even if that’s multiple times a day. I feel like I’m contributing more, which makes me feel good and the commune dynamic continues to be strong.

I’m very grateful that I can be around family as much or as little as I want (since we have a separate small house). It’s a really great situation to be in during a pandemic after staying inside with my partner for 9 months (not that that wasn’t fun! It was 🙂 , but having the option to hang with a few more people is great too).

As a weird side note, shockingly, despite my constant contact with hot water while doing those dishes, my nails are still looking as fly as all hell. Check out this video to see the full range of this polish’s color changing magic:

Is this blog just a nail polish site now? Maybe 😉 .

Conclusion

And that’s what I was up to in Week 9! As I mentioned, let me know below or on social if you want this to be the last weekly update or if you’d like me to switch up what I’m talking about. I may write this blog for myself, but I want y’all to enjoy it as well 😉 .

If you’re interested in the other weekly retirement updates I’ve written, they’re all here:

Weekly

  1. Early Retirement Week 1: The Freak Out
  2. Early Retirement Week 2: The Vacation
  3. Early Retirement Week 3: The Whiplash
  4. Early Retirement Week 4: The Heartbeat
  5. Early Retirement Week 5: The Election
  6. Early Retirement Week 6: The Trophy
  7. Early Retirement Week 7: The Train
  8. Early Retirement Week 8: The Challenge
  9. Early Retirement Week 9: The Question
  10. Early Retirement Week 10: The Game
  11. Early Retirement Week 11: The Recharge
  12. Early Retirement Week 12: The Holiday

What did you do this week?

76 thoughts on “Early Retirement Week 9: Should This Be The Last Weekly Update?”

  1. Purple! As one of the first timezones to get your post alerts at an appropriate waking hour, I feel we Aussies have let you down in the commenting stakes. Apologies.

    As a currently failing semi-retiree (the new freelance career juggle is a challenge!) your chilled posts of a more relaxed life are welcome! Back to my Purple-inspired (part-time) #sluglife in 2021.

    Reply

    1. Haha I forgive you 😉 . And apparently we’re all failing whether I’m accidentally making money or lying facedown so I give up! Failures unite 🙂 . Enjoy your sluglife!

      Reply

  2. Don’t stop! Usually after someone achieves retirement, I trail off because I’m not there yet, but hearing the change in you has kept me inspired rather than discouraged! It’s the first blog I read! Also we need more voices like yours. I commend all the bloggers with kids and families who never eat out, darn socks, and live in small towns, but I’m an urban single so my financial profile and interests are different. I can’t stay gone alone and eat ramen every night:)

    Reply

    1. Oh wow – that’s wonderful to hear! I’m so glad it’s inspiring instead of discouraging – I was worried about that 🙂 . And haha I’m happy to provide the not-very-frugal-urban-single-retirement perspective 😉 .

      Reply

  3. Hey there –

    I’ve been following along for over a year now. You first caught my attention because our retirement dates were so close and I’ve learned a ton by following along. Especially important has been understanding how you’ve felt at all the different stages.

    My last day is next Wednesday! Please keep up the posts – Thanks!!

    Reply

    1. WOOHOO next Wednesday is so soon and I’m SO excited for you! I’m glad including my thoughts/emotions have been helpful 🙂 . I didn’t see a lot of blog doing that and was curious myself.

      Reply

  4. Thank you for these “week in the life” posts! They have been really helpful to spark my own dreaming of all the things I want to have time to do. It’s thanks to you that I finally believed the RE bit of FIRE was possible. May have stumbled out of the starting gate, but I’m on my way now!

    Reply

    1. Thank you for telling me that! And wow – how did I make you believe the RE in FIRE is possible? I only ask because by other metrics I’m failing at that myself 😉 . You’ve got this – good luck!

      Reply

      1. My hesitation with RE was really about what the heck would I even do? Reading your experiences going out hiking and learning astronomy just set ALL my lightbulbs on. THIS is what I would do if I didn’t have to go to work. Travel (for WAY longer than 1 week), improve my Spanish, maybe pick up Portuguese, train for a marathon; go out hiking, and learn the relevant science and conservation efforts. Oh, and I’d get back to writing! There are PLENTY of things I’d fill my days with if I didn’t have to give 40-50hrs/wk to work.

        Reply

        1. WOAH! I’ve screenshotted this comment because it’s so amazing. I’m so SO happy I could help make that connected for you. That sounds like a kickass retirement!

          Reply

  6. oh my goodness the slide! I see them all the time. I figured it was where some animals got to the water, but a SLIDE?!?! So much better. Thank you!

    Reply

  7. Hi Purple! I wanted to let you know that I enjoy your blog. I left my work life in January 2019. I am a little older but can identify with your blog and enjoy seeing them on Tuesday and Thursday. I hope you continue with the blog. You help me to get a more relaxed and chilled “life after work” state of mind.

    Reply

    1. Hi! Congratulations on 2 years of retirement – that’s awesome 🙂 . I’m so happy these updates help even my fellow retirees – I wasn’t sure about that. Thank you for stopping by!

      Reply

  9. I don’t even wear nail polish, but I’m tempted try to – love purple and green. I hate the thought of hunting & trapping, but it’s how some people make a living. Those little critters survive against such odds, especially in winter. The sun starts turning back soon!!! It is nice to have the option to walk while the sun is still out. Having a dog gets me out every day no matter what. Maybe try reading biographies. It’s fun to read about other people’s lives. I found this thing on you tube called 75 Hard that I’ve started. Pretty straight-forward but will be a challenge. Love hearing about your weeks.

    Reply

    1. Haha be careful – nail polish can accidentally become an obsession. I was at the precipice and barely survived 😉 . Fair point on the sun! Sounds like you’re having an awesome time over there 🙂 .

      Reply

  10. I’m enjoying these posts, especially if you have book recommendations! I’m always looking for some.

    Forgive me if I’m coming into this late, but are you using a plan for your pull-up goal? I lost a dumb bet with a friend a few years ago about who could do more pull ups. He did ten out of nowhere. It turns out I could do a grand total of…zero! I felt terrible.

    At a total loss, I downloaded a PDF outlining how to get from zero to 5 pull ups. I don’t know where the PDF went, but it just involved progressing with negative pull ups (starting from top position, lower slowly to a hang). After a few weeks, I was shocked to find I could do a real pull up! I think the negatives just taught good form (keeping abs and legs taught, shoulders set into my shoulder joints). Anyway I highly recommend the protocol for someone challenge/goal-oriented like you. Know that the rest days in between trying are important for the body to learn the movement.

    It goes something like:

    Week 1 (2-3 times a week)
    1 negative pull up (take 5 seconds to lower)
    1 minute rest
    1 negative pull up
    1 minute rest
    1 negative pull up
    Week 2:
    Same thing but with 2 negative pull ups in a row + 1 minute rest
    Week 3:
    Same thing with 3 negative pull ups
    Week 4:
    4 negative pull ups

    etc. The last week, try one full pull up and pat yourself on the back for being a badass. Hope this helps and sorry if it’s too much info!

    Reply

    1. Good to know! Book recommendations are coming in the new year so stay tuned 🙂 . And oh no on the pull up contest – I’m sorry that happened, but it’s awesome it motivated you to work up to a pull up! That sounds like an awesome plan. I need to get more serious with my own plan so this is super helpful – thank you!

      Reply

  11. Oh and I may I have failed to mention this before, but if you’re a shorty lady like me, a chair or box to stand on is totally the hack so you can start at the pull up bar level and lower to a hang. Ok I’ll stop now. 🙂

    Reply

  13. I’ve never had pig brain, but I’m going to try when I go to Thailand next year. It’ll be cooked so I think it should be safe. Wish me luck…
    As for the weekly post, you should do whatever you want. If you enjoy writing it, then keep at it.

    Reply

    1. Good luck! I’ll be writing these things down even if I’m not posting them on my blog. I’m still enjoying posting them and was just deciding if I should continue here. I can’t resist recording things about life regardless 🙂 .

      Reply

  14. Ha, so I was actually thinking you might be happier doing fewer posts. Speculating wildly here from no personal experience, but seems like it might actually be harder to settle into what it means to be “retired” when you are so frequently narrating the day-to-day… like, by moving so quickly from post to post, you don’t get the chance to submerge into the retirement waters and report back on that deeper feelings? I honestly don’t know why that’s my impression from following along, and maybe that’s totally wrong! I also totally appreciate your commitment to wanting to provide regular updates, because you understand what it’s like to be the envious reader curious as hell about their FIRE’d blogger heroes who have gone before, and dropped off the radar! So 100% support you continuing to post whatever brings you max happiness quotient. 😉 Thanks as always for sharing the vibrant purple you!

    Reply

    1. That’s interesting – and actually hasn’t been my experience. I always reflect on and take notes about what I do in life so nothing has changed by writing these updates. Besides posting them on the internet I guess 🙂 . I still enjoy doing them and they don’t take a lot of time out of my day so I’m going to continue for the planned 12 weekly updates before switching to monthly.

      Reply

  15. Oh dearest Purple, please, please, PLEASE keep up with your weekly retirement updates – as long as it does not become a burden to you. 😉

    I so enjoy your “Fun Facts Nobody Asked For” section. 🙂

    Regarding beavers, just the other day I watched an old episode of “What on Earth?” and it turned out that the weird thing observed from one of the thousands of satellites orbiting earth was a beaver dam. It was so huge it could be seen from space! Generations of beavers had been living there, building it over many decades!

    Reply

    1. Alrighty – will do 🙂 ! I’m so happy you enjoy that section – it usually cracks me up. And woah – that’s a huge beaver dam! I’m going to google that 🙂 .

      Reply

  17. i was considering writing a whole beaver post. i’m not sure if the world is ready for that. i was just researching this morning how to draw a cartoon beaver so i didn’t have to steal an image.

    Reply

  18. Please continue weekly!

    I love that you saw a beaver dam!

    Fun fact tidbit for you: the official name for otter poo is ‘spraint’ 🙂

    Reply

  19. Please continue the weekly updates! I am really enjoying them & living vicariously through you. Jealous of your great sleep this week.

    Reply

  20. I’m definitely guilty of lurking, but I love your content! The post-retirement weekly posts give me hope that I may also have the time to do things like help family or learn new, fun skills when I retire. Hoping for just a few more years of the corporate slog over here. 🙂

    Reply

  21. Please do continue these posts (if it still makes you happy to do so)! Gives me something to look forward to on lunch breaks during the work week!

    On the keto front, I’d love to see a section in the weekly posts about recipes you’ve tried, or just pictures of the food. On the bread front, I’ve made this recipe using all almond flour and it toasted up nicely for my avocado toast craving.
    https://ketology.net/featured/low-carb-bread-weve-perfected-keto-bread/

    Very much interested in seeing a post about the nail painting techniques. I have a whole routine when I do nails and always looking for new info to improve it!

    Reply

    1. I do still enjoy it so will do! Good to know about the keto food – I post pictures of it on Instagram currently. And YUM – that bread looks lovely 🙂 . And one vote for nail painting woohoo – noted!

      Reply

  23. I’m really enjoying your updates and hope you continue!

    Regarding birding classes, I would suggest looking up your local Audubon Society. A lot of them will offer classes on local birding, now mostly moved online. They’ll generally be free or donation based.

    I want to offer the caveat that the national Audubon Society has been in the news a lot lately for revelations about bad behavior – sexism and racism (including from their namesake, John Audubon). That being said, local Audubon groups can be a great resource.

    Reply

    1. I’m continuing! Y’all convinced me and I still love it so why not 🙂 . Thanks so much on the birding classes heads up (and the sexism/racism heads up…). I appreciate it!

      Reply

  24. Nooo don’t stop! I read and enjoy each post!especially the weekly ones. I am not a big commenter, mainly bc I am not sure what to say. Please continue, these “real life” posts are very appreciated. Can’t wait to get there myself (naps! Winter sun! Reading! Learning!)

    Reply

  25. Do Not Stop!!!! Even if I have a few to catch up on, which I will during my upcoming 2 weeks off (yay!), I love these so much and they help me get through these hectic last days of work haha.
    On a less selfish though perhaps manipulative note to somewhat encourage you to keep going lol, I have a feeling it will be awesome for you to look back on in the future… Like a little time capsule of this very special time!
    P.s: so glad little one is okay! That sounds scary!
    P.p.s: hunting beavers is like a huge part of Quebec & Canada’s history, like even hundreds of years before the first Frenchman stepped on these shores.

    Reply

    1. Haha ok I won’t stop 🙂 . And that’s some good manipulation you’ve got there 😉 . And good to know about beaver hunting! I hadn’t thought of that.

      Reply

  26. First time commentator here! I read your blog regularly so please don’t stop. ☺️ It’s so refreshing to hear from someone I can actually relate to and when I get behind on your weeks, I just binge read it later.

    Also, I just read about Vanguard investing heavily in private prisons and my heart broke. I was wondering if you’ve ever looked into this or had any thoughts about it? I was planning to do 100% of my investing in Vanguard. Now, I’m not so sure. 😔

    Reply

    1. Hi Estella! Thank you so much for commenting 🙂 . It seems unanimous that y’all want me to keep going so I will! And OH NO – I haven’t heard about that with Vanguard. I’ll look into it.

      Reply

  28. Oh god, please just continue to be a relatable, sane human being I can check in with a couple times a week and “catch up” with your life in a meaningful, interesting way. The year has been garbage, and it’s been great to see someone actually living their best life despite the dumpster fire (or as close to their best life as 2020 will allow).

    Reply

  29. (maybe there’s a way to add a “like” button to each post so you know we’re here all here reading along & supporting you…comments are le hard….effort…multiple fields…pushing buttons…I’m so tired…. ps I will totally join in the Patreon crew, especially if it helps you feel positively motivated)

    Reply

    1. Hahaha oh my – well I’m sorry I asked so much of you and really appreciate you making that effort 🙂 . No need to join Patreon – strangely comments motivate me more than money at this point.

      Reply

  31. Thank you for these posts! They have been really very inspiring to spark my own early retirement plan. Please please continue posting.

    Reply

  32. Sounds like you had another great week. It’s been great for all of us reading along, but I think it might be even better for you checking back on your posts in a few years to reminisce about the early days of your financial independence and early retirement.

    So with that in mind, I reckon you keep these going.

    Reply

  33. I identify with your observation about non-fiction books. If you can’t muster the energy to read non-fiction, you are coming from a place of depleted energy. I congratulate you on re-attaining the non-fiction energy level!

    Mea culpa, I have not commented on your posts recently. In my defense, work has been taking its toll on me and I have barely had the energy for reading blog posts. Don’t forget, some of us aren’t retired yet [wink]

    Reply

  35. Commenting super late because life is trying to eat me and also because my reader didn’t tell you had a new post! Bad, Feedly, bad! But I’m glad a bunch of others have already chimed in to call for the continued posts if you are so inclined.

    I am in love with the nail polish you have on and totally impressed with your application technique. I’ve never gotten mine to look so good but I can always keep hoping to get there.

    Your crayfish spotting had me craving a good crayfish boil again 🙂

    Yay for the return of your Italian! I used to have a smattering of conversational Italian, just enough to get by in the country but not enough to communicate with people who didn’t speak English, and I yearn to gain fluency. How did you pick up the language? I’m wondering if there’s a way for me to slowly trickle it back into my brain …

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    1. Oh no! I hope life has not eaten you 🙂 . And WTF Feedly?! (Put also maybe that’s my fault for some reason lol – I’ll look into it…) And thank you about the nail polish! I think it’s mostly been weekly practice – I’ve improved a lot just with that, but also learning patience lol and waiting for it to be fully dry before doing a second coat. Also being ok putting on light layers and multiple coats instead of just putting it on thick one tip #impatient. Other than that showering after its dry is helpful too because it gets any bits I messed up and got on my skin off. So professional 🙂 !

      And yumm crayfish boil…now I want one. Sorry little friend lol! For Italian I took daily immersive classes for 2 years and then started university there and lived with Italians as well – so basically just throwing myself in the deep end haha. Terrifying, but effective 🙂 . Good luck!

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  37. Sorry this is such a late comment, but I got caught up in the holiday rush! Fur traders were often the first to open up areas on this continent, including the PNW. They did such an efficient job that they almost wiped out the beaver and otter populations. The beavers are missed because their dam building made great habitat for fish and birds and changed the land patterns for grazers as well. The PNW, at least, has slowly been rebuilding the populations. My understanding is that beaver fur was prized for use in hats. Lincoln’s famous top hat (at the Smithsonian) was a beaver and silk construction. The fur is soft and water resistant and was used for such hats through the Victorian period and beyond.

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    1. Haha no worries! And all of this is absolutely fascinating – despite living in Seattle for 5 years I don’t think I learned any of this! Thank you 🙂 .

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