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What We Are UP To – August 2019

August 28, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

August travel boats in a marina from under canopy

Watching| Aggretsuko

> This Netflix comedy anime series is about Retsuko the red panda and her life working in the accounting department of the Carrier Man Trading Company, Ltd. To relieve her daily frustrations, she belts out death metal karaoke after work. I have to admit I was a little skeptical after the first episode, but by episode two while binge watching in August, I was hooked. Can’t wait for season three!

Reading| A Nice Cup of Tea

> I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge tea fan. I ran across this essay from George Orwell on the eleven points to making the perfect cuppa tea. While I do agree with him about drinking tea from a mug, I commit blasphemy according to his writings by putting the milk/cream in first. Sorry, I see no sense in dirtying all those spoons. 

Remembering| Old Movies

>  I had a really fantastic time reading through the mid-August Twitter hashtag #BestMovieLineEver. I was reminded of old movies that I love like “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” from Jaws and “Yippee-ki-yay Mother F**ker” from that Christmas movie Die Hard. But I also saw quite a few people mention movies I’ve never seen like Fight Club. An old movie night might be on the schedule very soon.

Working On| Doctor’s Appointments

>  I’m not sure how it turned out this way, but we seem to have a whole bunch of doctor’s appointments this month. Nothing is wrong. Just the check-up stuff. But somehow, they managed to all show up this month. Oh well. While it might be tempting to push them off or wait until something doesn’t feel right, I know that’s not the right thing to do. It’s important to take our health seriously and be as proactive as possible. 

Feeling| Ready for Travel Season

>  Fall and winter are usually full of travel for me and this year is no exception. I’m looking forward to visiting some new places and revisiting some of my favorites (like Seattle). And selfishly, I’m looking forward to wearing my sweaters and boots. You just don’t get enough opportunities to wear jackets and sweaters living in Florida.  

Planning| Appliance Shopping

>  It’s hard to believe but we are getting close to closing on our Gainesville home. Which means we have a couple of appliances to buy – specifically a washer and dryer. So…many…choices! I don’t feel like it’s been that long since we purchased our last washer and dryer but the number of features…yowza! Amazon Alexa can talk to dryers now?! We started looking in August and still have some research to do. 

Loving| Mochi ice cream

>  Keith and I recently tried mochi ice cream. It’s a small round confection consisting of a soft sticky rice dumpling (called a mochi) formed around an ice cream ball. You can find mochi ice cream in freezer section of the grocery store. We are totally hooked on the vanilla and strawberry flavors!

Geeking| History of the Marvel Universe

>  I haven’t purchased a comic book in decades, but in early August Marvel came out with the first of a six-part series called “The History of the Marvel Universe”. I can’t wait to read issue number one. I loved reading comics as a kid. I’m hoping it’s just as much fun as an adult.

What’s UP with you? And what’s your favorite movie line?

Filed Under: Fun, Home and Lifestyle, Travel, Wellbeing Tagged With: travel, wellness

How to Become More Media Literate

August 7, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

blueprint drawing man woman shaking hands and media literate

Regardless of your politics, we’ve all been exposed to the concept of “fake news”. It might have been someone who shared an announcement that a celebrity has died, only to find out that it’s either not true or it happened four years ago. Or the news agency that labels an act of violence as terrorism before all the facts are in. Bottom-line: as much as technology and social media have enriched our lives, those tools have also created challenges in being media literate. 

So, each of us has been susceptible to misinformation on the internet. My guess is that it won’t be the last time. This isn’t something to be ashamed or embarrassed about. Even professional journalists have had it happen. And the answer isn’t to stop using the internet. It’s to get better about questioning what we read and see. 

I recently learned about a digital literacy project called MediaWise. The goal of the project is to teach 1 million teenagers how to sort fact from fiction via a course called “Civic Online Reasoning”. Don’t let the goal of educating teens keep you from being interested in this project. That being said, I’m not going to talk about the “Civic Online Reasoning” course today.

Instead, I want to talk about another course that was actually mentioned casually in a promotional video for MediaWise. CrashCourse Media Literacy is a 12-series program that focuses on how to consume and evaluate the media to become more media literate. After watching the Crash Course Media Literacy program, I would strongly recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn more about how the internet shapes our lives. 

The episodes are educational, informative, and sometimes funny. None of the episodes are longer than 10-minutes. I’d like to think that we can afford to take 10-minutes a day to learn more about the internet. And I’m not just talking about fake news. The program does a good job of defining what media is and how we need to think of it as more than Facebook or Instagram. I had several takeaways from this series that I believe will help me be a better media user.

Media literacy isn’t just about what we share. Yes, it’s important that we share only legitimate news. But it’s also important that we don’t assume the all the news we receive is always 100% complete. It’s possible that we’re only hearing a small portion of the news or the facts. And it’s our obligation as a media consumer to research the whole story. We can’t make informed decisions with a fraction of the facts. Granted, there might be times when we don’t get all the facts and we’ll have to decide what to do with that scenario as well. But sometimes, we can find more information if we go looking for it.

You should know what happens with your data. I’m not anti-marketing. I think it’s fantastic that marketing companies have access to consumer data that helps them make good business decisions. That being said, as a consumer, you do need to know what data you’re sharing with companies and what they have permission to do with it. I must admit, I was surprised that CrashCourse included a section on user data, targeting ads, and terms of service agreements. It made me realize that part of my responsibility in being media literate is understanding what happens with my data. 

Media consumers might find it helpful to understand the business of media. Another aspect of the program that I thought was interesting was the conversation about who owns what media and how media ownership can impact what information we see (or don’t see). The program also spent some time talking about which media entities are regulated by the government, which ones aren’t, and why we might want to know that information. Finally, it discussed about how media companies partner with the businesses that make our phones, computers, and televisions to form bundles and exclusive agreements, which may or may not benefit us the consumer.

The purpose of this article isn’t to scare anyone. It’s not to imply that anyone should close all their social media accounts. And it’s certainly not to say that marketing and media companies are doing anything wrong. The purpose of today’s article is to encourage people to become more aware about their relationship with media. The more aware we are about media, the more internet and media literate we can become. 

I am so pleased that I went down the rabbit hole of the internet and found CrashCourse’s Media Literacy program. I spend a lot of time on the internet. We write content that other people consume. It’s important that we’re responsible media publishers. And as individuals, we must learn how to be responsible media consumers. 

Image from the Sharlyn Lauby book Essential Meeting Blueprints for Managers

Filed Under: Law and Legal, Technology, Wellbeing Tagged With: law, technology, wellness

What We Are UP To in July 2019

July 31, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby 1 Comment

Watching| Spiderman: Far From Home

> I loved, loved, loved it. Nothing against the others, but in my opinion, Tom Holland is the best Spiderman. The movie had just the right amount of wrap up from Avengers: Endgame and future focus for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). There was a nice balance of seriousness and humor in this July movie. 

Reading| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

> This is the second book in the Harry Potter series. While the first one was good, this one is better. I’ve been really drawn into the story line and can tell that there will be some cliffhangers that will only be resolved in future books. We’ve also started playing the phone app Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and you can see the connection between the books and the game. Both are a lot of fun.

Remembering | Getz/Gilberto

> Sad to say, João Gilberto, one of the founders of the bossa nova sound, recently passed away in July. Keith and I have recently become big fans of bossa nova music and discovered his 1964 album Getz/Gilberto. Fantastic! It includes one of our favorite songs, “Girl from Impanema”. If you’re looking for something new to listen to…might want to check this out.

Working On| Our Fantasy Football Draft

> Because of our move to Gainesville, we took some time off playing Fantasy Football. Well, no more. We’ve signed up for a league on NFL.com and are now spending time trying to learn player statistics, etc. It’s a welcome distraction and a nice way for us just to spend our Sundays relaxing, watching football, and maybe cooking something in our new Ninja Foodi. 

Feeling| Productive!

> I typically work with three monitors. Yes, three. For years, I worked with two. Then one day, while fixing one of our computers, our technician suggested three. I thought to myself, “I don’t know. That seems a bit excessive.” Well, later I had the chance to test drive three monitors and OMGosh…it’s fabulous! Anyway, my external monitors have been out of commission for the past month and now they’re finally working again. I’m in heaven and productive again!

Planning| Home Time

> With the exception of a short business trip, I’m basically at home for the next couple of months starting in July. And I’m delighted. I don’t mind traveling, but for those of you who are like me and travel regularly, it’s also nice to be home. 

Loving| Herman Miller Cubert Personal Light

>  A friend of mine sent me the best gift – a Herman Miller Cubert Personal Light. I adore the modern design. And it’s very functional. Not only is it a light, but it has USB ports and an outlet. It has a touch-sensitive dimmer and an auto shutoff. Beautiful and functional. It’s what I love about Herman Miller.     

Geeking|Groove Life

> As a small business owner, we like to help out other small businesses. One of the ways we do that is by backing Kickstarter campaigns. Our latest is Groove Life. The company has been around since 2015. They make silicone jewelry. Groove Life was looking for backers for its latest product – silicone watch bands. As backers, we received new Apple Watchbands and their signature silicone rings earlier in July. So far, we’re impressed. Great for a hot day when you don’t want to wear metal. 

We hope you’re enjoying the summer. What’s UP with you?

Filed Under: Fun, Wellbeing Tagged With: travel, wellness

What We Are UP To in June 2019

June 26, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

June

Disclosure: Occasionally we receive free products for review or include advertising links in posts, but no one impacts the honesty of our opinions. 

Watching| Rocketman

> I’m a big Elton John fan (Keith not as much) but we both enjoyed Rocketman that was released earlier in June. Especially seeing the concert scenes on the big screen. Not going to give away any spoilers except to say that the movie focuses a bit more on the person versus the music. At least that was my takeaway. Oh, and lead actor Taron Egerton really sings Elton’s hits. 

Reading| How to Live Forever

> Currently, the most popular post on Unretirement Project is “3 Ways You May Contribute to Your Own Ageism”. If you haven’t read the post, I hope you will. One of the things we discuss in the post is networking across generations. Marc Freedman’s Book “How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations” is an in-depth look at what people – at every age – are doing to stay connected and learn from each other. 

Remembering| Gummies

> Remember gummy bears? I used to love eating them as a kid. Well, I’m happy to say that adult gummies are a thing. In June, I discovered a retailer called Sugarfina that makes adult gummies including flavors like Moscow Mule, Margarita, and Pale Ale. Oh, and if you want something caffeinated…cold brew gummies! I love snacks when I travel, and this is just the kind of little indulgence I could get used to.

Working On| The Perfect Eat Out

> I do not like to waste food. Whenever Keith and I go on long trips together, we try to leave our refrigerator as close to empty as possible. So, we do something called the perfect eat out (aka the PEO). It’s kinda fun to come up with meals just pulling from what’s in the fridge. Our meals for the first couple of days are fine then it starts to get a little weird. LOL! Anyway, with a move coming up to our forever home, we’re in serious PEO mode…and it’s getting weird.  

Feeling| Unsettled

> It’s probably because the move we’ve been waiting for is coming up, but it’s hard to feel settled right now. It might also be because we splurged on a rug during Wayfair’s Memorial Day sales and it’s rolled up in the middle of our living room. Kinda feels like we’re living in a warehouse. Ha.Ha. But for those of you who’ve been in this place before – and I know some of you have – it’s very unsettling. 

Planning| Erin Condren’s Life Planner

> I know, it’s hard to believe how fast time flies. I’m already talking with people about 2020 so June is time to find a planner. For next year, I’ve purchased an Erin Condren Life Planner. I really like how I can customize the cover, pages, etc. to suit my needs. 

Loving| Dr. Bronner’s Soaps

> I’ve mentioned before how we’re trying to pay more attention to our skincare routine. I’m not sure how I didn’t know about this company, since Dr. Bronner’s has been in business since the 1940’s. We purchased a couple of organic shower soaps and have been very impressed so far. 

Geeking| Orion Ascent Abort Test

> Keith and I have been approved to attend NASA’s Orion Ascent Abort 2 (AA-2) Test from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). All our years living in Florida and we’ve never been to Kennedy Space Center together. We are super excited! The Orion test will demonstrate that the Launch Abort System can safely send the space capsule a safe distance from a failing rocket if an emergency arises during ascent to orbit. 

What’s UP with you in June?

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at the Flora Icelandic HR Management Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland

Filed Under: Fun, Home and Lifestyle, Wellbeing Tagged With: home, wellness

What We Are UP To in May 2019

May 29, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

vizcaya, dock, travel, May travel, May, retirement

Watching| Marvel Cinematic Universe           

> In anticipation of Avengers: Endgame, we’ve watched Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1. I won’t give away any spoilers, but IMHO, Endgame lived up to the hype. We’re going to see Endgame a second time in May on the big screen. The only other movie I’ve ever seen on the big screen more than once is the Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

Reading| Older, Wiser, Shorter

> A huge thank you to Jane Seskin for sending me her book of poems about the journey to seniorhood. “Older, Wiser, Shorter: An Emotional Road Trip to Membership in the Senior Class” definitely lives up to it’s title. The topics range from Meditation and Memories to Chores and Conscious. It’s an easy read that many will identify with.

Remembering| Old Music

> No offense against today’s music scene, but I’ve noticed a growing number of public places (like bars, restaurants, conferences, etc.) playing older music from the 70’s and 80’s. I’m certainly not upset by it. I grew up with the music. It’s been fun reconnecting with old tunes. The only downside is I’m downloading quite a bit of it. LOL!

Working On| Cast-iron Skillet Pizza

> While we’ve been living in the rental house, one of the things Keith and I miss is pizza. In South Florida, we had perfected making pizza at home on our gas grill. When we arrived in Gainesville, we put the grill in storage thinking we can live without pizza for a couple of months. Well, a couple of months turned into a year and we miss pizza. I don’t hate restaurant pizza, but it’s not the same. The other night, we saw a new episode of Rachael Ray’s 30-minute meals and she made cast-iron skillet pizza. Now, we are very excited about trying this!

Feeling| Health-Focused

> In particular, we’re focused on healthy skin. It’s amazing how this little UV skin tracker I mentioned to you a couple of months ago makes you hyper-focused on wearing sunscreen, moisturizing, and keeping your skin in tip top shape. While Keith isn’t wearing the UV tracker, he’s always asking me what the scans say because his skin is being equally exposed. We are also focusing this May on mineral-based sunscreens because they aren’t absorbed into the skin like chemical screens and they are more environmentally friendly.

Planning| Another move!

> It’s hard to believe that our home in Gainesville will be finished soon and we will be moving into our forever home. This has been the longest house building project ever and we can’t wait for it to be completed. While we’re happy that we took the leap and moved up before the house was completed, it will still be nice when we’re settled.

Loving|Thai Coconut Peanut M&Ms

> I’m a sucker for seasonal food flavors that come out – pumpkin spice, eggnog, etc. Recently, M&Ms came out with a handful of seasonal flavors including jalapeño and toffee. But the real winner was Thai Coconut Peanut. Part of me would love to see this as a regular flavor and the other part of me is hoping they leave the shelves as quickly as possible (if you know what I mean). They really are that good! 

Geeking| Our first “Con”

> There are many meanings for the word “con”, but in this case, I’m referring to a fan convention. Probably the most famous is San Diego Comic-Con. No, we’re not going to that one. MegaCon is nearby in Orlando in mid-May so we’ve decided to see if we’re “con” people. It should be fun. 

What’s UP with you this May?

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, FL

Filed Under: Fun, Home and Lifestyle, Wellbeing Tagged With: fun, home, wellness

5 Activities to Avoid Becoming the Indoor Generation

May 15, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby 6 Comments

indoor, indoor room, indoor office, indoor generation, retirement, Unretirement

I heard a term recently that fascinates me – the “Indoor Generation”. As the name implies, it’s a label for people who spend most of their time indoors. They’ve figured out how to do as many things as possible without leaving the house. 

I totally get it. We can do our shopping on our home computers or mobile devices. We can order food, and have it delivered to our home. We can talk with a doctor via webcam. Keith and I are building a house and we talk about it being both the place we work and our sanctuary. I can absolutely see how the term came into existence. 

The indoor generation is also a term that defies age. I see young people who spend a lot of time inside – maybe reading or watching television and playing video games. But for today’s post, I want to talk about the indoor generation in the context of getting older.

In a study sponsored by Velux, it’s been found that there are health risks to being indoors all the time. We need sunlight as part of our wellness. The research found that daylight can improve learning abilities up to 15 percent. We need fresh air for our health. Living in damp or moldy homes increases our risk of asthma by 40 percent. And a lack of sunlight impacts our general wellbeing. According to the research, a lack of daylight makes 15 percent of us sad. 

So, what’s the answer. Well, it’s easy just to say get out more. But the reality is, going outside needs to feel good. Otherwise it will be a chore and we won’t get the desired benefit. Here are five things that might help us get outside more:

  1. Talk and walk. I’m going to mention this one first since it’s the most obvious. Find time to take a walk. Keith and I have what we call walking meetings. Instead of sitting inside the house to talk about stuff, we take a short walk. It’s good for us and we can still have a productive conversation.
  2. Take up an outdoor activity. People laugh when we mention that we play Pokémon GO. But it gets us out of the house every single day. We also discovered a nearby botanical garden that has lots of Pokémon Gyms and PokeStops. So, we purchased an annual membership. We get to see the gardens and play at the same time. 
  3. Build outdoor time into our daily routine. One of the things we’re looking forward to in our new home is drinking our morning beverages outside. It doesn’t seem like a lot, and it’s not, but it’s a few more minutes outside. 
  4. Turn outdoor chores into something worth looking forward to. This is totally not me, but Keith loves working in the garden. And he enjoys mowing the lawn. Once a year, I’ve been known to assist with mulching (well, maybe). My point is, find a way to turn being outdoors into something more than drudgery. 
  5. And finally, if all those ideas don’t work, try to bring some plants and sunlight into your home. We’ve discovered that we enjoy having live plants in our home. And dark walls might be on trend, but they make the house dark. So, we’re opting for lighter colors.

As we age, it can be very easy to shift our routines, so we spend more time inside and less outdoors. It could have a negative impact on the way we feel. Maybe we just need to change what we do outdoors. Find new activities that fit more with our unretirement lifestyle. 

Image created by Sharlyn Lauby

Filed Under: Fun, Home and Lifestyle, Retirement Life, Wellbeing Tagged With: home, retirement life, wellness

How To Help Your Parents Downsize Their Home

February 13, 2019 by Keith Lauby 1 Comment

downsize, shiny pretties, sign, declutter, retirement, Unretirement

Thanks to Marie Kondo, downsizing is now a thing. If you haven’t heard of her, she’s a Japanese organizing consultant and author of the best-selling book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. Her method, called KonMari, focuses on only keeping possessions that bring you joy. While the book has been out for a few years, Kondo recently starred in a Netflix series, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” reminding all of us to organize and downsize our stuff.

While I still need to read Kondo’s book, I do find the whole idea of decluttering fascinating. Neither Keith or I are big collectors of stuff, but last year when we were getting ready for our move to North Florida, we realized that we had accumulated a lot of stuff. It’s easy to do and we wrote about our experience in the post “6 Lessons Learned from Decluttering”. 

To learn more about downsizing, I recently picked up a copy of the book “Downsizing The Family Home” by Marni Jameson (published by AARP). This book takes a very different (and practical) approach to downsizing in that it views it from the standpoint of a person having to downsize their parent’s (or loved one’s) home, which may or may not be your childhood home. Here are a few of my takeaways from the book:

It’s possible that we will have to ask our parents or loved ones to downsize. While some adults might decide that it’s time to downsize the house for a condo, it’s also very possible that our parents have a very comfortable lifestyle and don’t want to downsize. It won’t be until their health or age start to prompt the conversation. That means an adult child or close family member might be the person who initiates the “we need to get rid of a few things” discussion. 

Getting rid of our stuff is both physical and emotional. Jameson’s book deals with both the physical and emotional aspects of downsizing. Let’s face it – all of our possessions have stories attached to them – how we got them, who gave them to us, etc. Getting rid of items that have long-term or significant memories is more than simply disposing of stuff. It’s an emotional message tied to our mortality. 

Consider phases. You cannot organize and declutter your home in a day. When Keith and I were moving, we did a room every week and it took about three months. So, put together a plan. If you’re helping your parents or a loved one and don’t live close by, it might take even longer. It could also be helpful to space it out, so it isn’t a big shock when larger items (like furniture) leave the house. 

Make downsizing a regular event. It could be possible that your loved ones don’t need to move or downsize into a smaller home today, but you’re thinking someday they might. If someone is apprehensive about moving to a smaller home, moving in with children, or into assisted living, it could be helpful to start downsizing early. That way someone doesn’t associate downsizing with moving away from their long-time home. 

Figure out your disposal strategy. Okay, you have a big pile of stuff to get rid of. Now what? It’s time to figure out whether to sell it, donate it, or junk it. Jameson’s book devotes quite a few pages toward estate and rummage sales – how to figure out whether older items have value and disposing of them. She also spends some time talking about the difference between what parents might think is collectable and what actual collectors think. 

Make a plan. One of the things I like about this book is that there’s a companion workbook (Yes, you have to purchase it extra). Instead of calling it a workbook, I’d actually characterize it as more of a downsizing journal, with prompts that allow the user to document their downsizing goals, how they feel about letting go of items, and planning for the sale of items. 

It’s one thing for us to decide to get rid of our stuff. It’s another to have to help our parents part with their stuff. Especially when it’s our childhood home. We’re dealing with both our emotions and theirs. Books about downsizing, like Jameson’s, can help us bring some structure to the process.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of New Orleans, LA 

Filed Under: Home and Lifestyle, Wellbeing Tagged With: home, wellness

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