Earlier this week, as I was waiting for my car window to be repaired (great job by Safelite, by the way), another customer started to chat with me. Turned out that he was a recently-retired teacher from Loudoun County, and he wanted to give me advice, based on his experiences. He told me he loved being retired, but that he was not prepared for his also-retired wife always being underfoot. So he suggested that Husband and I take up separate hobbies that get us out of the house, and that we consider part-time employment. Too much togetherness was not a good thing, he emphasized. I pointed out that during the Covid lockdown, Husband and I did pursue separate hobbies in separate areas of the house for several hours of the day, so we have some practice in respecting each other’s boundaries.

Based on how eager this dude was to talk to a stranger, I wonder if he is spending any time at all with his spouse. I don’t want to be like him.

Tonight’s cocktail, my version of a Vermouth Cassis, has a lower alcohol content that most of my preferred drinks, and manages to be interesting and refreshing.

In a tall glass, combine 3 ounces dry vermouth with 1 ounce crème de cassis. Add several ice cubes, and about 3 ounces club soda.

Yesterday, we visited Gainfully Employed Son #2 for an early celebration of the end of his 26th year on Earth. He opened his wallet and withdrew his new insurance card. HIS new insurance card! A card listing policy numbers for medical, dental, AND vision coverage! And most importantly–a card that did not have the names of myself or his father on it. His own card!

And so it ends, it at long last ends: Birthday number 26, thanks to The Affordable Care Act, means Husband and I no longer have any financial obligations to any of our offspring. Now it’s just the two of us!

Metaphorically speaking, this pushes the baby bird completely out of the nest. But he has been flying confidently for a few years now, he’s building his own nest, and we know his future is bright and sunny.

Tonight’s cocktail is my version of a “Dark and Stormy” since I like irony. Combine 1/2 ounce or more of lime juice with 6 ounces of (non-alcoholic) ginger beer in a tall glass. Add ice. Slowly pour in 2 ounces of dark rum or a similar cane-based liquor. Admire the “stormy” effect, then stir and enjoy.

Time to embark on the prologue to my next chapter in life. Time to start a countdown, as I seek to fill the remaining months with meaning and fulfillment, a prelude to enjoying my golden years.

Time to booze it up, because these days are going to crawl by.

Time to start another set of blogs.

Husband and I have decided that we are both retiring in the summer of 2024, when we both hit the glorious age of 62. We refuse to be deterred by the sluggish performance of our stock portfolio, or by all the financial advice columnists who tell us to work as long as we can.

Nope. Life is short. We need to have time to savor it.

This week at work was tough for me. My high school students have spring fever already, and I caught several of them in boldfaced lies. Does it say “born yesterday” on my forehead? Or “new to this job”? Or “never parented teenagers of my own”? Or “never actually was a teenager”? Yeah, give me a break.

And Tuesday was 3/14, or Pi/Pie Day, and for the first time in years, not a single student from the Math Honor Society offered to bring me a piece of pie, even though I saw carts filled with pie slices and multitudes shoving the aforementioned slices into their–do I dare say it?–pie-holes.

So yeah, I am salty today. Thank goodness tomorrow is a teacher workday and I don’t have to face the kiddos.

Tonight’s cocktail, therefore, is my version of a Salty Dog.

Stir together 2 ounces dry gin, 4 ounces pink grapefruit juice, 1/2 ounce simple syrup, and a slice of lime.

Pour into a salt-rimmed glass and add ice cubes.

Enjoyed: Sunday, March 12, 2023

Listed on the menu: Not on the brunch menu, but I found it on the cocktail menu as “House Old Fashioned”.

Ingredients: Bulleit rye whiskey, malted barley syrup, angostura, orange bitters, Luxardo cherry, orange garnish.

The occasion: Sometimes, the best things in life are those closest to home. And the best company to keep? People you’ve known for decades. On this particular Sunday, we joined four of our dearest friends for brunch on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall. We followed our lovely meal with a stop at Rockfish Brewing Company, just a few blocks away, to continue our conversations.

My rating: **** out of 5. The cocktail was sweeter than I expected, likely because of a heavy dose of the molasses-like malted barley syrup. Yet the syrup did give the drink a distinct flavor, which complemented the eggs, pork, tomato, and potato of my meal. I would order it again for brunch, but maybe not with a more savory supper entree.

Final thoughts: It snowed! Yes, Charlottesville–the first we have seen all season! None of the big, wet flakes stuck to the roadways, happily, but we really enjoyed watching them fall from the sky and land on us as we walked the mall.

Enjoyed: Sunday, March 5, 2023

Listed on the menu: Not really. The vivacious bartender (“I’m a New Yorker, and we work hard!”) told me she made delicious Old Fashioneds which were different from the ingredients listed on the menu, so I told her to create one for me.

Ingredients: Bulleit rye, simple syrup, bitters, muddled orange, muddled maraschino cherries. Bartender said that muddled orange was essential.

The occasion: I was returning home from a five day visit with my mom in northwest Indiana. The trip was last-minute and overdue, and I was happy to be there with her, even though she didn’t recognize me at first. Other than the shared meals with my sister and her family, there were few bright moments. Life is hard, and aging is cruel.

My rating: *** out of 5. The cocktail was satisfying and exactly what a “traditional” Old Fashioned should be, especially since this was a busy airport bar.

Final thoughts: As I raised my glass, in my mind, I toasted the hospice workers and the nursing home staff who are taking care of my mother and making her comfortable. I am in awe of what they do, day to day, and I am grateful.