Entertainment

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about entertainment is the form it takes to come to me and makes it readily available when I want it.  I like to call this Home Entertainment.  Second to that would be the types of entertainment that are worthy of my travel time and expense.  I like to call this Away Entertainment.  Of course, I am always open to the spontaneous type that can happen anywhere anytime and is usually the most memorable.  I like to think that I carry a certain kind of vision with me at all times that is ready to see these special opportunities and hopefully a spark that can ignite the action to enjoy.  Most of all, I can enjoy the game with or without others...but it is always more fun to share the joy.  The Key is to remain engaged in life itself.  Life is a Gift not to be wasted or taken for granted.

Home Entertainment is quite basic now, but adequate.  We have a 1985 stereo console TV that was won in a contest with a roof antenna for access to nine channels for free.  Cable and satellite service is available in our rural area but right now we do not miss what we never had and have better use for our money.  We have had the appropriate video equipment to view movies since they first were developed in the mid-1980's.  We have Netflix movie service by mail and a nice video store down the street that has the best pizza and food variety to go. We have land line phone service that also provides 1.5M online service.  There is a broadband line available but it currently is at 1M but plans to increase more than I can imagine very soon using government stimulus funds so we may look at that when it happens and let go of our land line service all together since we have cell phones. Still undecided about keeping both land line and cell service.  Will decide as retirement begins to keep life simple.  If I decrease my phone service, I may increase to cable/satellite service.  Wait and see about the broadband service since it could change everything and be dependable and less costly.  I am planning to spend some of my intitial retirement money on a new entertainmnet system with Keith's help. We have a nice Toshiba laptop with remote access now.  I will get a new personal laptop when I retire and return my state provided electronic equipment.

We love music.  Up until 2007, we had a very good, but very old, music center that was built up in the late 1970's.  Since then, we have transferred all our music to MP3 players to carry away from home and use portable small speakers to access while at home/work.  We continue to download new music online to add to our vast collection.  I would like to have a better music system incorporated into a new TV system which will all be serviced by this new broadband should it be all that it is hoped to be.  I see a big expense coming to satisfy all these needs within the first few years of retirement.

Many activities around the home can be considered work or entertainment depending on the mindset at the time.  We both love to garden and landscape.  Creative home projects can be fun including hobbies at home such as painting, sewing, fly-tying, creative cooking, flower arranging, and only limited by our imagination.

I have not been very regular about entertaining people in my home.  I would like to increase that activity as I have more time to find friends and acquaintances who also are retired and have the time to nurture relationships. 

Away Entertainment has usually been dinner and a movie and I don't believe that will ever change.  We also like the yearly Home & Garden Shows and Watercolor Art Shows in Springfield.  Nearly every month, we travel to Springfield, Osage Beach, or Branson for entertainment depending on available extra money.  There's plenty of things to do and see within 50 miles of home and we are blessed with so many lakes and parks.  We live in a lake tourist area which has much seasonal diversity.  In the Fall, we travel further to include wineries throughout the state and the quaint little shops nearby.  Our biggest time and expense together is our yearly trip for a week in Hot Springs, Arkansas which we began on a regular basis in 2007 after my neck surgery.  Other than that, we both take separate trips as our work time allows to visit relatives and enjoy people and places far away.  So far, that would be about 1-2 weeks per year in addition to the one week Arkansas trip.  I would like to increase my travel time with another week when I retire but will likely use it to visit relatives that can best accommodate me.  I will always make time for those that make time to visit me. There are many places we haven't seen yet such as National Parks out west that we will find time in retirement to see together.  There likely will be a trip to Eastern Europe combined with geneology reseach.  I will find some time most years to spend on the beach as I have always been attracted to water more than anything else.  Luckily, I have relatives on the East Coast.  I am hoping to see them more.

Most of the time, we don't spend a lot of money on entertainment away from home because we are a bit thrifty now.  Things we do away from home that are generally inexpensive include bike riding, motorcycle riding, walking, and many other outdoor activities that will be discussed in more detail in another section of this blog.  I like physical vacations appropriate for my age and physical abilities.  The yearly Hot Springs trip is a rest and rejuvination vacation for health purposes with its healing waters and spa treatmnets.

I am looking forward to more Entertainment in my retirement years and hope to use vacations to increase time with loved ones and make new friends that have similar interests and available time for relationships.