Today I turn 65! Yikes. For some reason, I have been reflecting on a lot of things prior to this day. I retired in June of 2022, so I have had over two years to let the job wash off of me, so to speak. My husband retired six months before that, so it is just us together every day and we love it. My husband, a cancer survivor, seems to have a theme for life and that is to have fun. I realized within the last few days, I too have a theme for life; live, love, travel and play pickleball.

My children are grown with families of their own and we don’t see them a lot. I have also had to come to terms with that. I see them when I can. But what I do have is a husband who loves to spend time with me, and we have turned the last two and half years into new adventures and I am loving it.

Since my birthday falls at the end of the year, I always seem to reflect on the year that is ending and the new one coming up. The last year was pretty great. We did all the things in my new motto and will continue to do so.

First off, we play pickleball six days a week for 2-3 hours at a time. We have a great group of pickleball friends, we call them our pickleball family. I am not a very social person, but pickleball has helped me with that. When we travel, we take our gear and find some place to play, which means meeting new people. Last February we took our motor home to Tuscon and stayed at Rincon West RV Park for people 50 and over. We had an absolute blast playing pickleball every morning and riding our Ebikes on the Loop in the afternoon. The pickleball group in Tuscon was so nice and welcoming. I hope we can visit again.

Last May we checked off a bucket list item by taking an 11-day Mediterranean cruise. They had two pickleball courts on that ship. The first morning we played, we were docked in Nice France. We just thought we had wind in Oklahoma. Playing pickleball on a cruise ship is worse. However, if you are a pickleball addict, you work around the wind. There were about 40 pickleball addicts on that ship. You can always find friends on a pickleball court.

Our biggest pickleball adventure for 2024 was when we played in the Oklahoma Senior Games. This was a qualifying year for the National Senior Games, which will be held next summer in Iowa. My husband and I won gold in our mixed division, I won gold with a friend in our women’s doubles division, and my husband and a friend won gold in their men’s doubles division. We are headed to Nationals!

In our continued effort to stay fit and active, we also have Ebikes. When my husband first said we needed these, I thought he was crazy. He was absolutely right! My favorite place we have traveled to ride them is on the Katy Trail in Missouri during the fall when the leaves are changing. Beautiful scenery and I love riding through all the little towns. The trail is across an old rail bed made of crushed limestone. I love the crunching sound under the tires and the wineries along the way. If you ever get to Hermann, Missouri, you should spend a few days.

The last bucket list item we tackled this year was a trip through the Canadian Rockies on the Rocky Mountaineer. This was a trip that we were supposed to take in August of 2022, but it got canceled (after we arrived in Canada by the way) due to the Canadian Wildfires. The trip was rebooked for August 2023, and part of it again got cancelled by a horrible wildfire in Jasper. We were still able to have a great trip, but we did have to be flexible and go with the flow.

I am excited to see what great adventures await us for 2025. On deck is a trip to Costa Rica, a cruise to New England to see the fall colors and of course the National Senior Games! I think I am enjoying this new theme to live, love, travel and play pickleball.