Festivals and Events - Missouri State Fair 2011

It had been so very hot for weeks; staying above 100 much too long!  On the day Keith and I planned to attend the State Fair in Sedalia, rain was predicted.  We went anyway thinking it might at least cool the day for a change.  It sure did. 

It was a Friday and we were looking forward to attending the Lynyrd Skynyrd and Dobbie Brothers concert.  We had rode the Harley the past couple years to see Kansas one year and Three Dog Night last year.  But since rain was in the forecast, we drove this year.  Shortly after we got there, it poured!  Luckily we were in one of the buildings at the time.  The day was cool after that and I believe we picked the best day for weather.

We saw all our favorite places that included the Flower Building, the Art Show, the Commercial Building with all the variety and especially the MoDOT area with all the wonderful landscaping and plants.  It is a good place to rest and we found a quiet place to nap before the concert.  We weren't the only ones!  Mostly we love to watch the people.

Here are a few photos from our time at the State Fair:

                                                Here I am at the beautiful MoDOT Gardens

                                                             Keith at the MoDOT Gardens

Too bad that Lynyrd Skynyrd cancelled due to illness that a member got at Sturgis a few days earlier.  But the Dobbie Brothers were great! 

My Good as Gold Neighbor, Goldina Trollinger

Goldina came to the neighborhood shortly after her husband passed away sometime in 1997 and bought the log-styled home I could see from my house.  She called it her dream home.  It had a nice wrap around porch with a swing and she spent many hours out there always open to visitors.  I would usually stop and visit on my walks to the store or walking the dogs or on my way home from bike riding.  She always like to talk about her time on the farm in Avery. She sold the land when Truman Lake was made as it covered a large part of the area she knew well.  She still went to church in the area.

She was certainly a country girl and as solid and true as can be in character.  She had so many skills for living that are now hard to find in more recent generations. She always quilted and kept a frame open in her basement most the time. I listened and learned from her about living on the land.  Many times I would take her back to her old homestead area although the buildings were now gone.  We found many wild greens to eat and plants that I brought back and transplanted in my yard.  The ones that have thrived are the wild blackberry iris and the gooseberries.  I had transplanted many black raspberries but they died out after a few years as did a wild rose.

Keith and I would take Goldina blackberry picking and we took a nice photo of her she put on her wall for many years of her in a blackberry patch.  Keith loved to talk to her too and we would sit with her many evenings on her porch.  She made the best gooseberry pie.

There was a big celebration for her 80th birthday at the Senior Center in Wheatland that Keith and I attended.  When she turned 90, our local State Representative, Larry Wilson, presented her with a framed Resolution for the great milestone. 

There were many health issues over the years and she went into them in great detail when asked how she's doing.  I remember how hard it was for her to walk with her bad hips.  Then she had them replaced and was better for several years.  When she had problems with her leg, she didn't get out much and I also had some health issues that kept me home more and we did not visit so much in recent years.  She traveled a lot to see her family all over the country. Then I heard she had cancer in her leg.  Last Spring Keith and I went to visit her and saw that she was not going to get better.  A short time later she moved to Bolivar to live in a place that gave her full time care.  The log home went up for sale and I hold the key to show prospective buyers.  At her sale, I was given two china bowls and an owl to keep for remembrance.

Today I got a call that Goldina passed away.  I am so glad I got to know her and that I stopped to visit her as much as I did over the years.  She enriched my life with her stories and her strong country character. I will listen some more on Sunday from everyone else that knew her and say goodbye for the last time.  She almost made it to her 92nd birthday.

Real Estate Issues

I will begin with how I became interested in Real Estate Issues and then how it had become such an important part of how I made a living.  At this point in time, I am like a Senior in high school in that I have waited a long time for graduation and can hardly get through the final days until freedom.  Only until one looks back after reaching their goal can they really appreciate all the work that got them there.  In less than two years I will be retired from a career in real estate that actually began in 1981.

I believe I first developed an appreciation for real estate as young as three years of age when I remember going with my father on his Saturday work deliveries.  He sold Fuller Brushes door-to-door and his territory was Old Downtown Alexandria and Mount Vernon in Virginia.  I didn't go as often as my older brothers but the times I did go were very special and I will always remember.  The houses in this area were very impressive and I was more interested in the buildings than the people in them.  Same with the historic buildings in Washington D.C. where my father took me many Sunday afternoons.  In my neighborhood, most families fit into one of three categories - military families that stayed 2-4 years, government families that couldn't talk about what they did since they worked at the Pentagon or FBI or CIA, and then the families like us who serviced the area.  Many of these families moved a lot so I knew the houses better than the people in them.  The area grew so fast that school districts changed and classes became very large.  Property values increased rapidly especially after the Beltway was built around Washington D.C. and we were on the inside with more construction and population closing in.  The building growth was exciting and I loved seeing all the construction and activity.  The increase in population...not so much.  I had an opportunity to finish high school in Iowa; so I did.

The first real estate I owned with my husband was a little one bedroom house in Onawa.  The payment was less than the rent and the landlord/seller, Bud York, lived a few doors down.  He had several similar houses on our street that he bought up after WWII.  He was very generous and we were very prompt with our payment in person each month.  After about 6 months of rent, he allowed us to put that rent towards purchase and didn't ask for any down payment. We paid ahead and avoided any interest.  I'm not sure Bud meant for that to happen but we were deeded the property in just 4 years.  We fixed it up a little and rented it out when we moved to Missouri in 1978.  We sold it and then it burned down and the new owner rebuilt.  I believe we doubled our money when we sold and had the rent money on top of than for a couple years.  It was a $10,000 house when we sold it.

The next real estate we bought was 50 acres of land near Elkton with a no value log cabin, large barn and an 8'x40' trailer on it with a pond but no well or lagoon.  It was $20,000.  We bought it from the Walkers with $5,000 down and $200/month.  We torn down the log cabin, built a 24'x24' building attached to the trailer, 400' well and a lagoon.  We fenced the perimeter.  Before we sold it, we removed the trailer and converted the attached room into a garage.  We sold it in 1986 for $30,000 with at least 10 years of interest before payoff.  The Ferris' bought it and put a new double wide mobile home on it and dozed much of the beautiful trees for open pasture which was a mistake because it was in trees because it was rocky ground and couldn't grow good grass.  The profit went toward our new home.

It was during this time that I was given a lot in West Palm Beach, Florida from my grandmother.  The intent was for each of her grandchildren and my father to build and enjoy the warm weather near where she lived.  We all keep the lots until shortly after her death in 1986.  My lot sold for $15,000 after keeping it for about 10 years.  It was a $5,000 lot to begin.  The profit went into bonds for my children's higher education.

In 1986, Keith and I bought our current house in Missouri.  We paid $50,000 with no down payment using Veteran's Benefit for a first time home buyer.  The loan started out as 15-year but we refinanced a few years later and extended it to 20 years for a lower monthly payment and interest rate.  The last payment was made in 2006.  There are no plans to purchase anymore real estate.

My career in real estate began while we we living on the 50 acres.  I applied for a temporary job as a Data Collector for Hickory County during the Reassessment that began in 1981.  That job gave me enough experience to apply for a state position in 1984.  The state position was with the Ratio Study which monitored the Assessor's Offices.  It was the increase in my salary from this state job that enabled us to purchase a house.  It was a beautiful house to become a Home Office and raise a family.  Keith's workplace and the children's school were only a mile away.  It was an ideal situation where we grew and prospered until changes began in the summer of 2001.

Because of these changes, I realized I must secure my position in real estate outside of the State Tax Commission.  I hired a lawyer and became my own Limited Liability Company in January 2003.  I worked very hard attending all the required classes and documenting all the required appraisal work to became a General Certified Appraiser by August 2005.  I attend the required 28 hours biannually of Continuing Education to maintain my license.  The real estate world has changed greatly since I began in 1981 and I have changed with it.  I do not like the direction it is going and am looking forward to moving on to other interests. Of course, I cannot discuss anything related to my work directly while I'm still employed by the State Tax Commission of Missouri. I can make sources available to help others find answers to their real estate questions and also show the path to certification. I will try to collect my thoughts on the Real Estate Issues I am involved in and have an opinion about and keep reporting in this Intuitive Value blog even in my retirement.  I hope it will be therapeutic.

Outdoor Activities

I have been involved in many different Outdoor Activities over the years.  I have always looked for things that can get me outside.  I was exposed to many opportunities from an early age and continue to seek new experiences.  I was fortunate to grow up in northern Virginia so close to Washington D.C. for the best sightseeing and incredible diversity in people and activities.

Earliest good memories are ones that involved going outside to play.  I was fortunate to grow up in a time when it was a safe enough thing to do as long as I was back home by the time the street lights came on and checked in somewhere in the neighborhood for lunch.  I can only remember one time I got into trouble as a preschooler when I followed a dog out of the neighborhood and had everyone looking for me.  I was probably missing a couple hours.  After seeing how I upset everyone, I was sure to tell someone where I was going after that.  I was trusted and I had a great deal of freedom growing up which expanded eventually about a mile radius.  In my hometown of Alexandria, Virginia, this included the woods and creek area between my home in Braddock Acres and Thomas Jefferson High School, Backlick Shopping Center, and about 2-3 other similar neighborhoods such as Edsel Park and Sleepy Hollow.  I learned to drive from my friend, Anna Strictland, who took me to the Pentagon parking lot 5 miles away and my Dad who taught me in everyday situations. Shortly after my 16th birthday, I received an old red Mustang that took me into nearby Annandale to the George Mason Library and social activities at the nearby churches such as John Calvin's and St. Alban's for dances on my own.  By the time I was 17, I was venturing as far away as Georgetown in Washington D.C. about 7 miles away.  Then I left home for the wide open spaces of Iowa.

It was during my life in Iowa that I expanded my Outdoor Activities to include fishing, hunting, gardening, motorcycling, swimming in natural waters, snow mobiling, archery, trapping and being around farm activities.  I had some early exposure to farm activities as a child when my family spent summers at my Uncle John Hudak's farms in Ohio and Michigan.  He had three farms and three sons.  So many good memories being around good old fashion farming such as milking cows, growing all kinds of grain and hay, harvesting, gardening, chickens, pigs, working dogs and cats, neighboring farms and the whole community.  It was from these wonderful experiences in rural Ohio that I realized I did not belong to the city and found my place in rural America.

After meeting and marrying my husband, Keith, in Iowa, together we discovered the joys of canoeing.  On a canoe trip to Missouri in 1978, we fell in love with the state and knew this was the place for us to grow.  After securing employment and a place to live, we prospered and found a life intermixed with the natural outdoors and the especially pristine waters.  We live on a hill above the Pomme De Terre River which is about 3 miles from the Pomme de Terre Lake.   This lake is the smallest of a US Army Corps of Engineers flood project that also includes Lake of the Ozarks, Stockton Lake, and Truman Lake; all within 30 minutes drive.  There is also my favorite Bennett Springs State Park about 30 minutes from home where some of the best fly-fishing for trout can be found in the state. The watershed is environmentally clean with no fertilizer or chemicals from modern farming practices and a natural filtering system with predominant limestone bedrock.  2-3 hours to the south are more lakes -  Taneycomo, Bull Shoels, Table Rock and the wonderful Roaring River State Park for trout.  Farther east would be another great area known as the Mark Twain National Forest with excellant trout fishing and streams for canoeing and kayaking.  With so much water so close to home, our Outdoor Activities most definitely center around water.

I have listed the Top Ten Outdoor Activities that have my interest now and will expand on each as I make time for the activity:

1.    Gardening
2.    Walking
3.    Biking
4.    Fly-Fishing
5.    Kayaking
6.    Swimming
7.    Boating
8.    Festivals and Events
9.    Travel & Sightseeing
10.  Motorcycling

Food

As simple as the title is, it is one of the most difficult topics for me.  Such a basic need yet it fuels every aspect of life affecting the quality.  It is difficult for me because I am diabetic. I do not process carbohydrates normally and must be aware of everything I consume as well as the amount of exercise and activity I have daily.  If that wasn't enough, I also must be aware of added stress.  Keeping all these things in balance is a chore. When I find a comfort zone, things change not because of anything I have done wrong, but because it is a progressive disease.  The levels of medication are progressive also.  So I will discuss how I manage my Food as an efficient source of energy that is simple to prepare and tastes good.

I am currently attending nutrition classes for the third time.  My first classes were immediately after my diagnoses in 2003.  I managed well with the custom menu plan and was in good control until three months into my new job as a manager which required I move to the capital city and live alone during the week.  It was a stressful 18 months compounded by a neck injury that required surgery in 2008.  I needed medicine to help control the diabetes and attended my second sessions of nutrition classes during this time in 2006.  It has now been five years since my last class and I am in a good place now with much reduced stress and completely recovered from my surgery.  I have also have a new injectable medication that works very well for me once per day.  I do not need insulin yet. 

I have a great attitude and want to manage my Food to have the best quality of life possible in my retirement years.  The meal plan is one that is good even for those that are not diabetic and want to balance their carbs, fats, and proteins.  At this point, it is not difficult anymore for me to understand the Physiology of Food.  I highly recommend anyone who does not understand food as a fuel to seek the advice and custom meal plan of a licensed Nutritionist. There is just too much bad information out there to do it yourself. Because I am a diabetic, my health insurance covers the large part of the expense. I will include some online sources that were made available to me that can be helpful for everyone.

The other aspect I will address is the Psychology of Food.  It is my biggest challenge keeping food interesting and flavorful.  My injectable medicine, Victoza, works for me to decrease my appetite and tells my brain I am full.  This allows me to really look at food and think about it before I decide to consume it.  I can watch those wonderful cooking shows on TV without getting hungry.  I can take my time looking over a whole menu in a restaurant for just the right combination of flavors to satisfy.  I almost always need a box to take half home for another meal!  I can take time to plan my own menu knowing there is nothing I cannot eat if I know how each food item contributes to the whole meal and is in its right portion. 

It has taken years to be in a position where the work of food planning is not consuming me.  I started out by writing everything I ate in a little portable notebook trying to stay on my Nutritionist's Meal Plan that required me to count carbs, protein and fats.  After a year of discipline in 2003-4, it became second nature and didn't need to write it all down anymore.  Not that I am perfect in my eating choices, but I developed a sense of knowing when I was not and why.  I have all the tools to help me get back on track.  One bad choice can usually be corrected in 24 hrs.  Two bad choices likely will take three days to straighten out.  I have to decide if the bad choice is worth the added efforts; sometimes it is, especially when eating out with family and friends on a special occasion!

There are many hidden obstacles to overcome and I know where and when to watch for them.  Some of these obstacles include hidden sugars in processed and restaurant food.  Stresses can come from many directions and greatly affect my metabolism.  These stresses include the common cold or any sickness or injury, irregular work or recreation schedules that don't allow the proper amount of time between meals, emotional issues involving loved ones and friends, worry and anxiety about external issues in the world around me I can't do anything about.  Stress releases the hormone, cortisol, which wrecks havoc unless it is released properly.  This is mostly done by regular exercise.

The Food issues in my life are not so different than normal people except that I must be conscious of the need for balance and cannot rely completely on my intuition. The consequences of ignoring the need for balance is an increasing poor quality of life and an early death.  The challenge is to not get depressed when I am doing all the right things and still cannot control my blood sugars at times.  I know I must work with my medical team as this disease progresses.  A big part of avoiding that depression is to keep food in a nutritious and happy place in my life enjoying it as much as possible.  This can be done by making good choices when I cook, sharing good dining experiences with people that include good conversation and atmosphere, and keeping the stresses in my life to a minimal.  I love to exercise and have no problem doing it at least three times a week for at least 30 minutes.  Typically, I do 3-4 times per week for 60-90 minutes.The good part of exercising is that it does increase my appetite enough for a nice treat that I know I can afford. 

I will use this area of my Blog to share my current Meal Plan that I will receive from my Nutritionist in a couple days and add recipes that work for me and for anyone that is interested in this healthy meal plan.  I will also update my online sources to share.

Community and Friends

This is an area of my life that definitely needs some increase and improvement as I have been treading water too long now.  It does seem to come and go in waves...

Start out slowly and cautiously with great anticipation and enthusiasm.
Positive attitude that this will be worth time and efforts.
Increased efforts to maintain an equal balance where I am giving as much as I am receiving.
Satisfaction in this balance.
Re-examination if it is still worth the effort or sometimes life just changes.
Watch as little problems are allowed to grow to destruction.
Limited time and effort or end of involvement.

I have been involved in many Community activities and groups over the years.  Outside of church activities in my growing years and a few fund raisers, I had experience with Girl Scouts mostly both as a young girl and as an adult.  Those were some of the best memories growing up and I found that to be an inspiration to share with my own daughter and grew to be scout leader and service unit manager in four counties.  There were so many areas to grow in the Girl Scout experience.  It ended when my daughter grew up to spend her extra time at a job and building her life and my job began to include more travel.  During these wonderful half dozen years or so, I was also involved with Boy Scouts as my son and husband grew in their directions.  My skills as certified lifeguard and in first aide allowed me to be involved in most outdoor activities.  It was a fun and rewarding time.

During the years my children were growing, Keith and I were members of the Lions Club.  I held leadership roles and there were many yearly fund-raising projects to benefit the community such as Market Day, 5th & 6th Grade Basketball, High School Scholarships, flowers and caring for the Veterans Memorial and other public places in town, and so many individual needs and projects as they became known.  I was very much involved with the local school as a home room mother who was always available for field trips, bringing food for celebrations and other activities, PTA involvement and ballgames concessions.  These efforts ended by 2000.

In my neighborhood, I check on elderly neighbors and go to the store for them on occasion.  There are always individual needs such as house burnings or extraordinary health problems for people in need and I try to support them in some way locally.  I make large donations yearly to the Salvation Army. I recently started contributing monthly to a backpack program for school children in the Joplin area so the needy can have food on the weekends in addition to their school breakfast/lunch programs. On a larger scale, I support The National Wildlife Federation.  I am finding as my work keeps me home more often with state budget restraints, I have more time on my hands and will start looking into some volunteering by the time I retire.

Friends are few and far between.  I would like to think that I have maybe a half dozen old friends that go way back but I'm not sure I am on their top ten list.  Most fall into that Limited Time and Effort category and all are far enough away that efforts to get together require at least a week of flex time to make it work.  I try to make the effort but after three tries, I move on and try again another time.  I do not see any old friends making that much of an effort to see me.  Of course, old friends just accept that life happens and we enjoy whatever time we find together without any score-keeping or judgement.  Life would be sad without them.

Now it seems that relationships are maintained online more often through emails and social networks like Facebook.  While I look forward to emails from friends and relatives, they have become fewer and farther apart as people get too busy to write in their own words.  It has been replaced more often with forwarded emails of shared interests to keep in touch.  These are usually clever and I am happy to receive/share them as long as they are not political or overly self-serving.  I just want to know how people I care about are doing.  Things that interest me are what makes friends happy or sad, health issues, progress or challenges in their goals, issues of interests that affect them directly, and so much more.  I would like to think that friends would return that interest in me.  I will continue to keep in contact with friends by email.

Since the winter of 2010, I have participated in Facebook online.  My original intention was to keep up with daily activities and thoughts from family members.  I saw this network as being a fast means of communication and also one that doesn't disrupt lives and is there whenever one wants to participate. This network got my interest when Keith had a motorcycle accident after midnight the Fall of 2009 and family was calling me about it early the next morning before the doctor had evaluated the seriousness.  I saw the need for an immediate prayer circle.  I have since expanded from 12 'friends' to about 30 and am happy at that number for now because it includes only people I have actually met.  Right now it is mostly entertaining and keeps me open and engaged in people's lives on a daily basis even though it is basically superficial.  Mostly I want to keep in touch to pray for others in need and to have them know when I am in need.  It is a good break in my workday from time to time in my home office especially when my human contact is limited during the weeks I am home.  I expect I will continue using online social media but will try to keep it as real as possible.  As with emails, I will 'unfriend' people that offend me with their bully politics and self-serving agendas.  I will honestly and fairly acknowledge my 'friends' with affirmations as deserved and hope they will return the same to my posts.  I will evaluate my 'friend list' each year for activity.

It will be time to find new friends in this new phase.  Life changes and I need to find other people that have the amount of time to build and maintain friendships as I plan to have in retirement.  Just as I had friends from child-rearing years and  work-related relationships, I am anticipating I will have friends in retirement.  I will try to be an interesting and caring friend and maybe I will attract similar friends. I know I have to be a friend to have a friend.  Looking forward to that journey!

Re-Nesting: Mapping Out a Plan for the Rest of My Life

My Golden Years are an extension of the life I have lived up to retirement which began on December 1, 2011.  I have organized this blog to include these top ten relevant topics: 

Financial Planning
Health Issues & Exercise
Family Time & Geneology
Home & Landscape
Personal & Spiritual Growth
Entertainment
Community & Friends
Food
Outdoor Activities
Real Estate Issues

I have addressed each topic in no particular order other than what is currently on my mind on the day I am posting.  I started each topic by describing where I am now and then exploring the possibilities of progression and any goals that I would like to meet.  After that, I write about the path to reach that goal as it happens.  I welcome any comments and questions as I travel these paths and hope to share my growth with interested persons who may find some common elements in there own path to the rest of their life.  I hope to use my skills as an appraiser for nearly 30 years to observe different perspectives  on a subject and reconcile into a conclusion that is of value to me.  I have developed analytical skills in my profession and used systematic methods to find wanted results.  Of most importance to me is the confidence developed in my intuitive skills over the years and it is that part of my character I am trusting to put value in the rest of my life.  I believe that this is an important time of change and I can be enriched by finding my true self using my intuition.  The analytical part of my life no longer has a financial grip and I can begin to let go of what absolutlely makes sense in favor of what feels right.  I have a lot of work to do and I hope you will join me as I explore this approach in My Golden Years.