Fitness Log #98 And Friday Firsts

I have been keeping track of my exercise every Friday for over a year, and plan to continue doing so.

I started the Friday Firsts sections as a way of keeping track of some of my “firsts” as I dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. Things seem to be settling down, but I will keep it for now–more as a way to be aware and thankful of what is happening in my life.

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Monday Melange: Medicine

I have been saving links to posts by other people for over a year. Some of these posts just struck my fancy at the time, others I find myself thinking about for weeks or months afterwards. I would like to share them with others, rather than hoarding them on my list of saved posts. I hope some of them speak to you as well.

It’s almost September, and another year has started at the medical school. In honor of those eager, earnest students I see (and in memory of the eager, earnest student I once was), here are some articles I have saved about…Medicine. With some segues into health, finance, the business of medicine, and the meaning of life.

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How To Retire Earlier

When I worked through my retirement numbers earlier this month, I was pretty excited to see how things worked out as far as retiring before age 65. I thought that 5 years from now, I might not have quite enough money, but should be in a position to start making firmer plans. I.e. retirement would be affordable just a few years after that.

After a few days, though, I realized that I would like the freedom to leave work sooner. Working another 5 years and then recalculating how much more I’d need to save–this started to sound like an interminable process.

Surely, I thought, I can make things go faster.

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How Much Finances Can Improve In 5 Years

I wrote this on Mother’s Day, or, in my household, Step-Mother’s Day. My husband was kind enough to give me a card, and we spent a little time reminiscing, especially about the 5 years since our son graduated from college. Talking about his life doesn’t seem appropriate for this blog; but looking back to his graduation, we were amazed at how much more stressful our finances were then, compared with the life we have arranged for ourselves now.

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Are We There Yet?

I stayed home from work for nearly a month this summer. It took a while to adjust to the slower pace, to find meaning and accomplishment in my day, but I did. I very much enjoyed waking up without an alarm, spending time with my husband, and getting chores done around the house. On the eve of returning to my regular, full-time work week, I found myself asking: can I retire yet?

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Summer Memories

Today I went out for what was supposed to be a short walk. It ended up going much longer than I expected–both distance walked and years traversed.

I live far enough away from where I grew up that the flora and fauna aren’t quite the same, nor is the weather. Today, however, it was similar enough that memories of summers decades past came back to visit me as I walked.

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