A Break From Retirement

Retirement is great...every day is Saturday.  But I needed a break from my busy schedule (ha) so I'm here on Kauai, Hawaii.  My son and his family live here and they are skiing in Bend, Oregon.  They needed me to come to house sit, dog sit and chicken sit.  Two Golden Retrievers and 8 chickens need to be fed!  I did this last January when they went skiing and I guess it's going to be an annual thing.  I'm happy to do it and love the time to just relax...more so than I do at home.  One can't relax too much!

It's a shame we all have to wait until age 65 to retire (officially).  You spend your life hoping that you'll still be healthy and happy so you can enjoy the 'golden years' in whatever way you can.  I saved with a vengeance and it is paying off now.  I'm living comfortably in Texas on my social security and the small pension from my 6 years with the State Department.

I supplement my income by selling on Ebay.  It's so much fun going to estate sales, finding a real bargain and then selling it for much more.  Each month I make at least enough to make my house payment.  This week I went to a garage sale here on Kauai and found a vintage metal foil, waxed paper and paper towel holder...remember those from the 50s or 60s?  I paid $1 for it and looked it up on Ebay and found it selling for $25-29.  That's the kind of fun you have on Ebay!

So back to the chickens.  I have them to thank for breakfast.  I went out and pulled 2 fresh eggs from the hen house and had fried eggs for breakfast. The best!  That makes up for the rooster who sends out his first crow at precisely 4:00 am.  After a week, I'm able to go right back to sleep until he goes off again at 6:00 am.  You have to take the good with the bad, right?

The beaches here are so beautiful.  I don't swim much but I do love walking on the beach.

This ends when I return home on February 11.  I had originally planned on coming here for my twin grandsons' birthday March 1-11.  So, about 3 weeks after I return home, I'll be returning to Kauai for another 11 days.            

Life is good.

Glass Beach...lots of beach glass

View of Hanalei and Bali Hai

Huge surf at Hanalei

Hanalei Beach and the pier

Home Leave: Our Reward for Service

I have completed my tour in Muscat, Oman and am now spending the first half of my 25 days of home leave on the beautiful island of Kauai.  My son lives here with his wonderful wife and their adorable 3 sons...my grandsons.  Home Leave is mandatory and must be taken between overseas assignments.  And when I say 25 days,just weekdays are counted in that 25.  This does not include weekends and/or holidays.  It's a time when you reconnect with family and friends and it helps you stay grounded after serving overseas for an extended period of time. 

I'm a workaholic, to a certain degree.  So, for me, home leave can be painful.  I'll be ready to get back to work after about 3 weeks.  Keeping busy is key for me.  Currently, I have no problem doing that!  Today I took my 5 year old grandson, Gavin, on a trip to 2 different beaches here and we had a blast.  He insisted on bringing his pail and fishing net just in case we saw fish.  We didn't.  But we did encounter a monk seal at Haena Beach.  At Ke'e Beach (or End of the Road Beach) we saw some pretty wild surf.  You could see 2 para surfers surfing at Tunnels, on the outer edges of the reef.  It was beautiful. It was kind of a rainy day but hey...it's Hawaii and who cares if a little rain falls on you??  On the way back, we stopped and had a Bubba Burger in Hanalei. Gavin is so much fun to be with and we had so much fun today.

In about a week, I head for Home Leave, Part 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be wonderful to see my 97 year old Dad again.  And have some great Mexican food!  But until then, I will continue to spend quality Home Leave Time with Gavin and my other 2 grandsons, Micah and Makana.

Gavin, ready for a fish sighting

Looking Back...Looking Forward

My time in Honduras is now a thing of the past. It'sa good past, full of wonderful memories, lessons learned and so many people I'm glad to call my friends. I wouldn't trade my 2 years in Tegucigalpa for anything. As a 'first post' I couldn't have asked for anything more. Under the guidance of my great boss, Ted, I learned so much about security in an embassy. Whether he knows it or not, I learned much more from him, things you just don't learn in a book or from a class at FSI. I will miss his leadership and can only hope he is an example of what most RSOs are like. The difficulties we faced in Honduras were many but in dealing with each one, Ted went about it with confidence, calm and the knowledge that he was doing the right thing. I'll miss you Ted, and feel so fortunate to have worked with you.

Right now, I'm in Phase 1 of my Home Leave. As I sit here, I can hear the ocean and smell the salty breezes. The island of Kauai is indeed a bit of Paradise. My son lives here and visiting with him, Nicole, his wife, and my amazing 3 grandsons, Gavin and the twins, Micah and Makana, makes for the perfect Rest and Relaxation. Yesterday was Gavin's first day of preschool. He loved it and was looking forward to returning today. I stayed with Micah and Makana yesterday while my son and Nicole worked and we had a great time. I now know who Thomas, Percy and Emily are but can't figure out why the boys fight over who gets Percy. For those of you with no exposure to Thomas the Train, this will mean nothing to you, as it did to me before coming here. My son bought a huge box of miscellaneous cars, engines and tracks on Ebay and the boys sit and build tracks for hours on end. At just 2 years old, this is huge! I wonder what they did before to occupy their time? For more pictures of my stay on Kauai, go to my Facebook page.

Phase 2 begins Monday when I fly to Fort Worth, Texas for 3 weeks. My father lives there and I will spend lots of time with him. I'll also see many of my friends and catch up on what's been going on with them for the past 2 years. I'll also spend some times with other good friends, like Mr. Macy, Mr. Dillard's and Mr. Williams Sonoma! I'll be buying another car to ship to Oman and clothes for some very hot weather. And I already have a list of the places I want to eat...I can't wait for a good Mexican meal!

Phase 3 starts with my flight to Washington DC on June 28th. While there, I will take some classes in SharePoint and Excel. I'll meet with some of the people in Diplomatic Security that I may speak with while I'm in Oman, as well as some of the Directors for Western Hemisphere who I have dealt with over the past 2 years. Just putting a face on the name will be a good thing. I'll also be in DC for the July 4th celebration, which should be lots of fun.

Finally, on July 18th, I fly out of JFK headed for Muscat, Oman. The first stop is in Zurich, Switzerland where I will spend the night and most of the next day. I hope I have time to wander around and see something pretty enough to photograph. Then I fly into Dubai, which should be a sight to see with all the unusual buildings and man-made islands. After a 2 hour layover, I fly to Oman, landing at 10:45 PM, when it will most likely be 100 degrees. Being the eternal optimist that I am, I can only hope that over the next 2 years, I will be able to sweat off a few pounds!

So, farewell to a wonderful stay in Honduras and looking forward to an amazing 2 years in Oman. What a life!