four years and gratitude

today is the fourth anniversary of the blog- started on the kitties birthday!

four years ago I began this blog - my only sister had just died and my mother was very ill (she passed away in December of four years ago) I was starting out on a new phase of my life - working only part time (hence semifreelife) which 15 months later became even less than part time (consulting only) and finally in January of this year - 2014 - to full retirement...

a lot has happened since I started the blog- and I have been many places along the way- I write this post from "on the road" and will get back to the Italy trip (we're off to Venice next) as soon as I get back home...

it has been a ton-o-fun sharing my retirement process and blog life with my readers- so thanks for coming along for the ride. a side benefit of blogging (in the mixed blessing category) is that I don't have to look too far to find out the answer to questions about things I don't remember - LOL with labeling and search functions I can usually find the name of that restaurant in Paris or where I was on any given day of a trip...

in an aside- my Uber driver on Monday morning mentioned that he doesn't know his daughter's phone number anymore ("I used to know hundreds of numbers but now they are all in the cell phone") and I laughed telling him I had to look up my own home phone number in Florida just that morning because I didn't know it....

the world changes quickly - and days pass sometimes without noting the fullness and richness of the blessings we have- in some ways the blog helps capture that - and acknowledge the blessings along the way.

and speaking of blessings- happy 9th birthday Lucy and Penny (two little furry blessings - and sometimes aggravations- LOL) we're happy to share our lives with you!

four years ago my husband asked me why I was blogging and told me that no one would want to read about my cats LOL- well oddly enough apparently my more or less stream of consciousness (or swamp as my buddy TB calls it- LOL) musings have attracted roughly 42,000 views in four years so someone must find me some what interesting - LOL

so thanks again for coming along!

splendid china

is coming soon- we are back- and it is brother Larry's birthday today - so first a photo of his "birthday cake(s)" from Hong Kong where we celebrated on our final night of the recent China trip-

well - it won't ever make my list of most wished for birthday treats but it WAS a different way to celebrate!

and here is another- the view from our room- overlooking the Hong Kong harbor!

and since it is Larry's birthday there are two other events to celebrate- all "birthed" on the same anniversary-

the blog is now three years old today! thanks for reading along -

and the kitties are eight today! where did that time go? you can see they are hard at work - even though I did not take this photo today- they are in the same places doing the same thing this afternoon- LOL- can you say "creature of habit"? but then who isn't?

enjoy your day and we will be back shortly with lots of posts on China- off the beaten path...

and just to whet your appetite - the first day that Larry joined the trip we went to Daxu - so let's get started with Daxu pics-

Chairman Mao souvenirs for sale-

the "famous" little red book-  in many languages-

I had asked to go to this town when I found a blurb about it online but our guide said she hadn't been in over two years- so it was clearly off the beaten path- exactly what I wanted- and while some improvements had been made - this was exemplary of a old village from the era before China went rushing into its future in the last several decades-

lots more to come---- check back over the next few weeks as the story unfolds- interspersed with reviews of the three plays we have scheduled in the next ten days and several big social occasions - including Schwa and Next and a visit from Poul and Lene (from Denmark) along with meeting a new baby Andrea Sofia at a sushi making dinner at Ross & Dario's --- why slow down?