Garden update

Our garden currently has planted in the ground peas and potatoes.
But today I did a whole bunch seeds into starter pots: ( four pots of each unless otherwise noted)
basil
parsley (2)
Cilantro (2)
cucumber
zucchini
sweet pepper
beet
bush bean
tomatoes:
  Brandywine
  beef steak
  sweetie (cherry)
  Roma
  yellow pear
Radish
turnip

I'm waiting a bit for corn

Women, "leaning in," and more

Much is being made of Sheryl Sandberg's "Leaning In" book. At just 43 years old, she is COO of Facebook, a graduate of Harvard, formerly chief of staff for the Treasury Secretary, and an assistant at the World Bank for health projects in India. Oh, did I mention she's worth in the neighborhood of one billion dollars? Give or take.

This discussion, the discussion of women in the workplace, women in politics, women's style of leadership -- it is not new.  And that is the point I believe she is trying to make. With more women than men graduating college consistently over the last ten years, the numbers in top leadership are exactly the same.

I went to a statewide conference on "Women and Leadership in Government" 24 years ago and guess what? The same topics were discussed:

A man is assertive. A woman, using the same style, is called aggressive. Men are admired for success. Women are not. 

When applying for jobs, men consider themselves qualified if they meet 50% of the requirements, but women hold back if they don't meet 100%.  Yes, I have seen that as a hiring manager myself, looking across at a young man and thinking, "How the heck did you get through the screening process?"

As a woman, I appreciate Sheryl's work to keep the conversation going. The purpose is not to displace men. And the purpose is not to tear loving mothers from their homes, away from their children, and enslave us in the corporate world! The purpose is to ensure that options are left open for women to contribute equally. As she said, “It turns out men still run the world, and I’m not so sure that’s going so well.”

Oh, by the way, an aisle marker at Target still says "Boys Action Toys." Ponder that, please.

Gratitude

Hubby and I went to a Parkinson's lecture on "The brain and resiliency." It was part of an occasional series sponsored by Parkinson's Resources of Oregon, a terrific support and advocacy group we are thankful to have benefited from during these 15 years since his diagnosis.

I had one significant take-away, and I am committed to trying one thing: keep a gratitude journal. Now don't get all excited, dear readers, because I plan to keep the record on my separate non-public blogspot. Perhaps I will be inspired to share as I become confident in this new journey.

Here's the background. Research at UC Davis looked at gratitude and well-being.  Participants were placed in three groups and assigned to journal life events. One group was to asked to list positive events, another group was random events, and another was to list problems or hassles. 

The gratituders, if I may coin a term, had huge benefits! Among them:

• More regular exercise,
• fewer physical symptoms
• felt better about their lives as a whole
• more optimistic about the upcoming week
• personal growth attainment (academic, interpersonal and health-based

There is a reference to "daily gratitude intervention (self-guided exercises)" for which I am dying to get more information. With this exercise, they reported young adults had higher positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy compared to a focus on hassles or a downward social comparison (ways in which participants thought they were better off than others). And for adults with neuromuscular disease (yes, that includes Parkinson's), they had great amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more optimistic ratings of one’s life, and better sleep duration and sleep quality. 

So off I go to blog, and then research the "intervention" exercises.  Then I look forward to sharing with all of you. (I think there might be three...?!?)

Taquitos using rice paper wrappers

Short version: not so successful!

I thought I would be clever and make this taquito recipe using rice wrappers instead of egg roll wrappers.

First problem: rice wrappers are stiff, so they have to pre-soak which isn't a big deal. The soak is just 30 seconds in lukewarm water. But when you don't realize that and try to bend the first folds, watch out! Splinters of rice wrapper shoot everywhere! My version of chinese fireworks in the kitchen, I guess.

Second problem: they don't absorb some of my filling like the other wrappers would have, so the juices leak out in the baking pan. And that would have been fine, also, except I was using a cookie sheet.  M-e-s-s-y.

The results? Well, once the 'things' were cooked, granddaughter "C" and I decided to pull the filling out of the wrappers to eat. The filling was really good. The wrappers themselves were difficult, or impossible, to cut with a fork. And the sections with more than a layer of rice wrapper can only be described as gooey. Like an overcooked clam that you chew and chew and it just won't break down.

Just add water...

You know you are not using the soaking tub (jacuzzi) enough when: instead of cleaning it, you need to dust!

[true story]

Mortality

Facing retirement, facing mortality.

I'm here to tell you, if you will be drawing a PERS retirement, you will face your own mortality. And whether you are analytical (that's me) or emotional, deciding how to draw your money is almost enough to be paralyzing.

How long do I think I will live? How important is it to me to leave something to the kids if I die early? Should I take part of the money as a annuity for stability, and the other part to have in my own bank -- so it is available for my estate -- and then, how well can I invest and draw on it?)

There are 13 options! I kid you not. Behind the scenes there were many more options that PERS had to calculate before they could show me only the highest value choices. And there's an additional choice which kind of doubles the choice: do I  want to "purchase" my waiting time? What?  Here's the deal:

The simple part, waiting time, refers to the fact the I was not eligible to join the retirement system until I had worked six months for the state. But at retirement I can buy back that waiting time based on what the contributions would have been, about $1,400 in my case (6% of my salary at that early time for my contribution, and whatever the state match was at the time).

The real deal, the real options, are Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, or total lump sum.

But wait, here are the extra variations within each:

Option 1, refund annuity, and option 15C.
Option 2, option 2A
Option 3, option 3A
Lump sum option 1, lump sum option 2, lump sum option 2A, lump sum option 3, lump sum option 3A, or total lump sum.

So did I want the highest amount, but it would completely stop when I die?
Did I want slightly (about 1%) less, so if there was any money left in the "annuity" part of my account it would be paid to my estate?
Should I take less (about 2% from the highest) for "15 Certain," meaning at least 15 years of payments to me or my estate?

Should I take a bunch less with one of the kids as a beneficiary to receive the same payment over their lifetime after I pass?
OR, I could do that with a little less which allows a contingency to recalculate if that kid passes before me?

Should I take an amount that is about 2% less than the highest amount, where a beneficiary receives (for his/her life) half the monthly amount I was getting? [well, that 2% reduction was based on Mike being the beneficiary; I'll bet it would be a bunch less if I named one of the kids]
Or a little less than this half-survivor thing, with an option to recalculate...

This might make more sense if I shared my estimates; sorry, I'm really not comfortable with doing so, but trust me, it was staggering.

Argh. I won't say which one I chose, but I finally said "Heck with it" and submitted my paperwork.

What's up?

You are so correct, I have not posted here in two months! I've been a little busy in other places, including a private blog I use to vent. This spot is supposed to be for positive, upbeat posts!

So I'm promising to give you, soon, an update on my visit to mortality!

What's that, you ask, a brush with death?  No, no, just the options to consider when completing the paperwork to draw my retirement. 

More later, I promise.