My Winter 2026 Bucket List: Am I Back?

Have mercy, this has been the longest 26 days in recorded history.  I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas.  Just a few more posts and I will have this A - Z Blogging Challenge in the bag.  But it is getting those 'few more posts' written that might be the death of me.

We left off yesterday with the letter T for which I wrote about the joys and blessings that traveling has given me.  And tomorrow we are embarking on another adventure as we head off to England and Scotland.  But between now and then, I need to get posts written for U, V, W is written, X, Y and Z.

U is for (YO)U

I am writing today's entry as a kind of THANK U note to you, the readers who wade through my silly drivel time and again.  Through this 12 year, on again-off again blogging experiment I have 'met' so many wonderful women who just enjoy writing like I do.  Have been fortunate to be adopted into several blogging groups and to write for a number of different series since 2014 when I wrote that very first post on my old WordPress blog.  

First Friends

Many of the gals who were beginning to blog when I started were 'acquaintances' I 'met' through Alison Lumbatis's Get Your Pretty On (GYPO) capsule wardrobe challenges.  It seems that a whole bunch of us decided we could be bloggers, too, following Alison's good example.  But a whole lot of these gals were fashionistas much younger than I.  I had followed a Facebook ad for Alison's very first capsule wardrobe challenge in the spring of 2014 and I was not alone!!  Carrie and Laura, Kellyann and Jill were some of those first friends, and in many ways they have felt like daughters to me.  Along with my sweet buddy Danielle who is no longer blogging but with whom I keep up with on social media and text messages.

Similar Seasons of Life

I had taken early retirement in 12.2013, had surgery in 02.2014 on my cervical spine and when I got to feeling better, joined the GYPO challenge and started Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After to document the changes in my life as I stepped into this new season.  In real life, I didn't anyone else who was retired so my days were all of a sudden really long and lonely.  

I decided to search for other blogs about retirement and connected with gals like Deb and Deb and Sue and Leanne and Joanne and Denyse and Christie and Julie.  Who all lived in other parts of the world with the exception of Christie and Julie who are here in the US of A.  There's Jennifer and Pat, too, who are also stateside and  bloggers who have retired for their careers.  All of these ladies have inspired me with the ways they have embraced and blossomed in retirement.  

Series and Similar Interests

Once I found and started 'hanging out with' my new retirement blogging buddies, I met other bloggers with similar interests to mine.  Probably the one interest many of these friends shared with me was books.  And reading.  Dara and Joanne are big readers and publish terrific book reviews.  Some of the other gals are prolific readers and their book review posts are among my favorites.

There are the gals with whom I bonded over photography.  Joyce and Lysha, Kym, Hena and Terri.  I think all 4 of us have sponsored some kind of photo challenge over the years.  Participating in a photo challenge really inspires me to notice the world around me.

And the blogging series friends.  Lots of series have come and gone but I have remained connected with the Tell Us About bloggers and the Where Bloggers Live gals.  They are Deb, Rosie, Suzy, Sally, Marsha, Jodie, Bettye, Em, and Daenel.  And although I am less about fashion and style than I ever was, I keep up with the  Ageless Style bloggers who include Mireille, Marsha, Amy, Bo, Jodie and Joanne. 

Finally, there are the bloggers I follow whom I kind of stumbled upon one way or the other.  Sometimes I will start following a blog when someone I follow mentions that blog.  Or I will read comments left by someone on a friend's post and will check out the commentor's blog.  I have begun following Paula through the A - Z Blog Challenge.  And Cindy whose sweet posts about family always make me smile.  

And YOU

I am afraid I have lost some of my friends and readers since losing my WordPress blog.  I miss hearing from everyone but am hopeful that sooner or later some of them will rediscover my new blog over here.  

Please know that I am thankful for every visit, every comment and every friendship.  Thank you for wading through my often silly posts.  Thank you for your support.

Your Turn

Do you have bloggers you follow who feel more like friends than strangers?  Isn't it kind of cool that through blogging and social media this big old world becomes much smaller?  

Not sure how much I will be able to write or share over the next couple of weeks of our trip but I look forward to telling you all about it when I get back.  

Allow me a shameless plug, my Facebook online book club is voting for its May book of the month.  If you are interested in joining a zero-pressure book club, Come Read with Me might be the perfect fit.  I can add you to the group and you can help us vote for our next favorite book.  Let me know!!

Off to bed.  The suitcase is finally packed and zipped closed.  We are almost on our way.

Hugs and kisses,