Social Security Applied! Now what?

 I applied for Social Security about a week ago.  Bit the bullet and filled out that application. Some of the questions I did find confusing and wanted to make sure what I put down was the truth so there were no hold ups.  

They do have little info buttons near each question that let you read a little more so you can give a good answer. That helps. 

You can also check your status by logging back in.  

I just did that and it says it's in like step two for checking my application. It also said it could take 2 to 4 weeks for processing. 

It's only been a week but when someone/thing tells me there's a way to check, I mean, how could I resist logging back in?  

All in all the process was pretty easy, but when you're ready to apply find a quiet space and take your time filling out the application.  

Are you ready to collect?  How did you make that decision? 

Sixty the New Forty?

Could sixty be the new forty? Are people more in-sync with a healthier lifestyle that they eat better, stay active, and get medical care? Could be.

Turn on any morning talk show and half the time you find some doctor talking about the best way to do things. Eat your veggies, walk, drink water. All of this wasn't on our parent's radar when they hit sixty. The information highway has brought this info to us in a constant stream. TV, radio, and of course the computers. (Which are now inside our phones.)

So, yes. Sixty could be the new forty.

Sure I feel a little stiffer in my joints. I've got arthritis in my neck and shoulder from a car accident, and that extra weight doesn't seem as easy to lose as it used to be. But I can still walk a mile, lift weights and work. I think back to my mom at this age and she was already disabled and collecting disability. She had hip and artery problems which I think now were misdiagnosed.  Something we'll never know for sure. She hadn't been working for a few years by this age.

I see friends my own age that are in pretty good shape, too. Some have bigger health challenges but the information that's out there is helping them. They have more places to turn to than just their doctor. They were exposed to a time when new discoveries in medicine surprised us all. Vitamins, vaccines, food values, healthier sweeteners, the list goes on.

So someone tell me, how do we make Seventy be the new forty?

Surviving the Empty Nest

I'll be 62 in a few weeks. Truthfully, I don't feel any different than I did at 40 only, in a way, I have less responsibility.  Oh yeah, I'm still working, building my own business that I started at age 60, but the kids, my life's work up until they went off on their own are now building their own lives.
Empty nesting was hard on me. I had a sense of being lost, wanting to go back but of course there's no going back. Kids grow up and move out. It's pretty much a fact of life. I found myself falling back into the memories of things we did together, places we went, mountains I watched them climb, success and growth. I was drowning in memories.
They are off on their own, successful in their own right. Building their own lives, forging a path. I'm so proud of who they have become.

Now what?
Well, the hubby and I sold the house, moved 900 miles to be closer to the kids and started our own business.
Yikes!
We did that?
It's scary and fun and hard work. But so far it's work I'm loving. So I still have responsibility but it's different. No little lives depend on me, I don't have to wake anyone up in the morning but me. Make dinner or don't. It's just the hubby and I so we take turns or we go out.
I think after going through the empty nest portion of life I've emerged on the other side. My brother once told me empty next is like being 21 again but this time you have money. He's kind of right. Except I took all my money and put it in a business. :)

Truthfully, I think retirement at this point would bore me. The brain has to stay active to continue to grow. Chasing a golf ball around the green just isn't for me. Neither is sitting on the couch. If I had retired like that I'd probably be pacing the room look for the escape hatch.
Bottom line? To survive the empty next set goals. Don't just curl up and think about retirement.
THINK!

Is there something you always wanted to try? Something you always wanted to be? Set a goal. Make it big or small or make many and knock them out one at a time. Either way, don't forget that life is about moving forward.
So move toward a goal no matter how big or small.
It's out there. Go for it. Go for 60! It's gonna be a beautiful decade!

Suddenly Sixty

Funny, I don't feel sixty.
Except at work where I'm surrounded by coworkers the same ages as my kids. Yeeek!  The weird thing is, sometimes they talk to me as a coworker, sometimes as a mom. Yes, they want their cuts looked at and advice for how to handle that snarky so called friend, then they talk business with me. It's a very strange land I live in now.
Suddenly Sixty.

My kids moved 900 miles away and it broke my heart. I'm happy that they moved to a less expensive state and are doing great in their jobs, but they're 900 miles away. :(
Last week my dog went to Heaven. Another heartbreak. I cry every day now. I look to her spot on the couch and where she naps under the table as if I expect to see her. It was sudden. Wednesday fine, Thursday sick and rushed to the dog hospital, Friday gone. I can't stop crying.
I washed her beds and blankets intending to donate them to a rescue. They're still in my car. I can't let them go yet.


On top of all this, work sucks. Changes are being made and it's not what I signed up for. I told them I didn't want to travel. I never had a job where I had to travel and I don't like driving. Done.

List the house, move to Florida. Wish me luck.
Listing a house is like an opening night 24/7. Always be ready for the house to be "on" and ready to show. Its exhausting. Couple that with the fact we had to de-personalize the house, it doesn't even feel like our home anymore. None of my art is around the house, I don't have a workshop anymore (now it's a bedroom.) Boring beige bland house.

And I'm itching to paint something. Anything. Before I used to paint all the time. Now all my stuff is put away. Hidden in a box in storage. Blah.

I can't wait to move! Get me into my own home again with an art studio and family photos on the wall.


Sell this house and bring me to my new home in Florida! I will it to happen soon!  Please send positive vibes this way! Sell the house! Sell the house! Sell the house!