Random thoughts after a three-day weekend

Meaningful retirement
This weekend I listened to the podcast of Joshua Sheats Making the Transition to Retirement: Interview with Fritz Gilbert from The Retirement Manifesto blog. It was a thought-provoking conversation that touched upon the fact that if we complain how meaningless our 9 to 5 jobs are, we better plan on how to bring more meaning into our retired life. As Joshua Sheats said in the talk, if there is no plan, retirees become bored, boring, and sick.
 
Keeping physically active
During the winters, in addition to cleaning and cooking, I keep myself physically active by walking in the house. I do so since I hate the cold weather (it is 10°F outside!). Since I am cheap, I do not own a treadmill, so every evening I walk for 30 to 60 minutes by circling the periphery of my living room that includes also the kitchen (it is an open plan). This reminds me of a few zoo animals I have observed in the past – confined into small spaces, these creatures keep walking back and forth for hours. This is me…at least tonight I was listening to an interesting podcast.
 
Could I be a better mother
Today I realized that I am a bad mother. My child admitted that sometimes I scare her. It is true: I realize that I should not vocalize all my internal fears in front of my child. I do not remember my parents doing this to me. The admission of my child reminded me of a post by Leo Babauta (Zen Habits) about his mom. When she visited, she inspired everyone and made them feel better. Can I achieve the wisdom of being an inspiration and comfort for my family, rather than being a joy extinguisher and an inspiration killer?
 
Are we ready for retirement
This weekend I decided to look at the retirement tools created by the Mad FIentist. Specifically, I used his FIRECalc. In addition to my finances, I had to pull my husband to input his financial data as well. We have never planned our financial life. After so many years of living together, for the first time we had a few moments of analyzing our “state of the union”. Briefly, we are not there yet (“there” = financial freedom).
 
Heal thyself…safely
Do you know the difference between infusion, decoction, and tincture? Do you know how to make an ointment or a cream? I just discovered a great series of YouTube instructional videos on herbalism/homeopathy. Start with How To Make A Herbal Infusion Herbalism Basics 1. The videos are short (5 minutes each), but precise and informative. Exactly the way I like them - curated to the point.