Monday, February 3, 2025

LOL!

This is my big bucket list retirement vacation. It is ridiculously expensive, but something I've always wanted to do - a river cruise down the Rhine. Adding the Danube leg of the trip was my brother's idea.

We start the trip with a few days in Amsterdam. From Amsterdam we'll get on the Viking River Cruise ship and go down the Rhine and then go east on the Danube and finish in Budapest. From Budapest we fly home. So, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Palaces, cathedrals, a museum tour of stolen art that survived the bombing of Nuremberg, horses and soul food will be the tour highlights. I also popped for a day trip to Salzburg. I was in Salzburg for a single afternoon in 1987. I fell in love! It's a bit off the beaten path from our cruise, but one of the excursions that was offered. Ron will love Salzburg - especially since we'll get to attend a Mozart concert and see St. Peter's Abby.

The perfect way to kick off retirement!

In my limited experience with golf, I frequently swing and make no contact with the ball. I am going to try again this summer, because DH wants me too, and I guess I am a little curious to see if I could actually gain any skill.

Paula, keep getting better! Love how your DC thought you might be ready to take them out for lunch. The optimism of youth :)

A little snow today, and cold air tomorrow. Just gloomy here, day after day. We're gaining several minutes of daylight each day, so one day it will be a long, bright day.

Just waiting for DH to return home tonight. While he was in Boston, a house on daughter's street burned. After watching the firefighters put out the flames he asked DD if she had a fire extinguisher. No, but she has one now!

I bet she does (have a fire extinguisher)!

Sure didn't like hearing CCs Dad was in the ICU, but glad to know he is moving to a regular room. Hope he's home soon!

Greetings all

Another rainy day. I spent most of it driving up and down the 101 to pharmacy, accountant, studio to deliver payroll and sign checks, to gallery to take new stuff, post office and grocery store. That's a lot for this old lady. No gym today though I may use home treadmill. It seems like such a junker compared to the ones at the gym.

Yeah legal stuff can be icky. Most states give a surviving spouse the option to "elect" against the will and receive a certain portion of assets, even if the spouse has been left out of the will. Complex rules about how that is figured out including life insurance, joint accounts and retirement accounts. So ya just have to sit down and think it through. Some people set up living trusts to avoid probate which is sometimes good but there are other ways to avoid it. The thing about those trusts is that you have to put all your assets into them and many people forget as they acquire new things or accounts.

Fog Liz!! Thats what we get here. Hope yours leaves soon. It spoils the view. Club improvements sound great.

Yay Peps for the Lipizzaners. How fun. Lucky all of you that had horses. After VSG and losing 100 lbs I considered getting one. But I concluded I just would not make the time. Just as well. Could not dream of riding one now. Anyway Peps glad you got the tours.

CC so good to hear your Dad is improving.

DD you had a pony and a horse. How wonderful to have that growing up. So nice.

Well I still have more adulting to do today but maybe will blow it off. Gallery deposits and stuff. Oh well.

Whoo hooo Ann, under budget bid. Now you can get gold plated drawer pulls!

So I told DH I wanted us to go to the sushi restaurant. Checked the menu and there are plenty of tempura options. He asked me if they had any cooked food there. Yes they do. Don't know why I am curious about this place. Maybe because there are only about 6 restaurants in the whole town.

diane s

It really easy to overlook these details. When FIL passed away, there was a life insurance policy that did not list my youngest SIL as she did not exist when he took out the policy. Luckily she has nice siblings and they gave her her rightful share of the policy. A divorced Uncle died, and he had left a huge life insurance policy in his former wife's name. (Not part of the settlement). Did he just forget? I think not. I think he wanted her to have it. But whatever his intention, it sure angered his evil second wife!

When my MIL died she also did not have one child in her will because of a large loan she had given him at the time the will was drawn. By the time she died, he had paid off the loan so her other children all agreed to split the estate equally including the missing son (they inherited per the will terms, then each child wrote a check to the missing one). Thank goodness there was no animosity around it.

I hope you enjoy that sushi restaurant!