“I just want to live it in peace, calm, and ease.” (taken from my Retirement story post)

It’s been roughly 2 months since I retired. And, you guessed it, it has NOT been peaceful or calming…OR easy, by any means! That above shot was taken from my Retirement Celebration Day. The Huz took the family on a coastal drive (one of our favorite things to do), stopped at that cool lighthouse (cool nature-framed shot by moi but of course!), then went to our favorite brewery. Yes, I even had a few pours! So nice.

So what I didn’t anticipate tho was, the Monday following my Retirement post- having 3 doctor’s appointments on that day. Actually in the month of November, to be more precise, I had a total of FOURTEEN! Those that are asking if I took time off to better care for my health needs…uh, NO!! That was not the plan! What I thought would be a standard check-in with my PCP escalated very quickly. She sent me to a couple Specialists, I was having in-home PT coming every week, and a 12-week treatment program was started. Whew! It was A LOT, to say the least. December was fewer, but still 8 doctor’s appointments in one month is a lot for anyone. I just had my last big one this week, then a few MRI’s in Jan. (sigh)

To pass the time and keep sane between appointments, I collected Disney pins!! Okay so, when we went to Disney earlier this year…I did not know that pin collecting was a thing?! I bought ONE cuz it was cute. But frankly, I didn’t know where I was gonna put it or what to do with it. Another time, a friend that went surprised me with one that made her think of me. Now I had 2! Maybe a month or so before, I stumbled on what are called “blind box pins”. Found out these particular ones were going to be released early November. So I waited, impatiently. The GLEE that came from me opening these tiny boxes of surprise pins was totally unexpected. Like I was giddy yall! My inner child had. A. Blast!! I mean, they were little tea party tables with tiers on them and matching chairs of different princesses!!?! Like, how could I NOT collect these?? It’s like they were made SPECIFICALLY FOR Olyve Rose of parTEA with me!! Hellooo! Thankfully, I only got 3 doubles…which were perfect to gift to my daughter, Cutie Jr. and Cutie Sr.!

Another fun unforeseen thing that happened/is happening… This website has been CONSISTENTLY bringing in the numbers!!?? (three shocked face emojis) This is WITHOUT a social media presence yall!! (another shocked face emoji) Dare I say sometimes my numbers have even been better than when I was regularly posting on socials!? Hahahah! I AM SO GRATEFUL. When I decided to retire and get off socials, I wondered just how much my views would drop. But (as I’ve said many times before), I have thee best + most loyal Readers on the planet. *Shout Out* to those reading from Australia, France, and Singapore who have been blowin us up!! I see yall. And a new location viewing from Laos, welcome! Thank you for CONTINUING to hang out with us here. Yall mean so much to me.