Lagos, Portugal.  A beautiful seaside destination where all things summer come to life.  It’s been the ideal respite as we start this next chapter – the expat experiment.  And, while our visas took longer to get our hands on than we anticipated, it all worked out for the best.  I always say, life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.  Actually, it was Allen Saunders who coined the phrase, but I borrow it a lot.  I hope he doesn’t mind.

When the pilot announces that all crew members should stop serving and buckle up, you know it can’t be good. On the behalf of all those who, like me, can’t accurately describe the depth of how much I hate to fly, I’d like to thank the pharmaceutical companies for the invention of Valium.  It’s a game changer.

So, wouldn’t you know it?!  Cause and effect.  It worked!  I wrote a post yesterday explaining why we were still waiting and first thing this morning, we got the call.  Dina, from the Portugal Consulate, called us at 8:15 this morning and said, “Good morning, Abi, I want to start your day with good news.”  Whoop!

The logistics of leaving.  It’s an interesting situation in which we find ourselves as we continue to wait, wait, and wait a bit more for our Portugal visas to come through.

“The line between disorder and order lies in logistics…” – Sun Tzu

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”  Walt Disney

With 30 minutes to spare, we ordered our standard Starbucks, Americana and Chai Latte, and sat down to catch our breath and sip the hot steamy goodness.  As we sat and sipped, we casually browsed our paperwork and quickly realized we had forgotten probably the most important piece of the puzzle, our passports.  All we could do was slap a face palm and laugh. For two people who are ridiculously organized, to the point of obsession at times, how in the hell did we forget our passports?

Apparently, we are not quite ready to settle in to the country life of retirement; the life of mowing 5 acres of grass and then watching it grow again.  Moreover, what we find ourselves embracing in this chapter of life is that we don’t have to play by the rules.  It’s called redefining retirement for a reason, and that’s what we’re doing, again. We’re redefining our path of retirement.

Norooz and the Haft Seen

In March of 2015 we were in Iran celebrating Norooz, the Persian New Year, with our BIG extended family. It was my first trip to Iran and it was quite the exciting experience to see the whole country come together in celebration of spring and the new year. It is the #1 celebration in the lives of the Persian people.

I’ve always said that walking in the path of those who came before us is by far the best lesson travel can teach.  Graveyards, in particular, are treasure troves of stories. Walking across a civil war battlefield in Franklin, TN you’ll learn the story of Matilda Lotz, or Glen Worthington whose civil war story unfolded near Frederick, MD.  These are moments frozen in time.

It should come as no surprise that I am a lover of the written word; of books.  No matter how many times we pack up and move, there are a dozen boxes of books that move with us.  Over the years I’ve downsized as much as I can, but I have my collection of true loves and I will never part with them.  So, with that thought in mind, if it’s possible to be in love with a library, then I am hopelessly in love with the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.