Okay, now really, what do you guys do on Thursdays? ‘Cause I’m just saying, you don’t visit my blog. For months now my lowest traffic days are Thursdays. Always. Is that weird or what?
I feel like someone is throwing a party somewhere and I’m not invited. You’re all going to that party behind my back. I just know it…
So, what ARE you doing on Thursdays? (Besides avoiding my blog, that is… 
)
So SuperGuy and I talk about where we want to go when we retire. Where. What kind of place. Do we want to leave the cold and snow of the midwest and go some place warm? But most of our family is here in the midwest. We haven’t come to any decisions. (Except this winter was doing its darnedest to try and make me want to move some where sunny and warm!)
So we visited SuperGuy’s aunt at her new retirement community in Kansas. Santa Marta. We weren’t sure quite what to expect. Well, it was….well, see for yourself…
The sitting area off the main entrance. Which leads to…
this fabulous wooden bar area. Nice place to meet your friends before dinner for a quick drink. Then on to…
their gorgeous dining room. Yes, people cooking for you whenever you want. A certain amount for meals is included in your monthly fees. Okay, so they never did get one of our orders right while we were there, but they are friendly. The place is fairly new, so I figure they’ll get the kinks worked out of the food service. The food was good, even if the wine wasn’t. 
We have “white” or “red”. 
There is also a lot of do there at Santa Marta.
SuperGuy liked this.
I was glad they were feeding my jigsaw puzzle addiction here.
They have a library with a fireplace. Chess. Newpapers. A computer. Lots of books you can borrow.
They have a pool, and exercise room, a place to get your hair done. They have a bank branch right inside the retirement center. They have a cleaning service to clean your apartment. 
They have apartments in the two main wings of the main area, as well as villas scattered around the property. They are just finishing up an assisted living facility, memory facility and skilled nursing area. The people working there are very friendly and nice.
The whole Santa Marta retirement center is a cross between a hacienda feel or a Tuscany feel.
This was the view out our “guest suite” that they have available for people coming to visit.
This was a courtyard, not finished yet, between two wings of the main building.
Well, SuperGuy and I aren’t ready to make any decision about what we’re going to do when we retire, but it was fun to see what one option on retirement is. We keep thinking we’ll find some nice little house with a bit of property, down south. We had talked about moving to Bay St. Louis in Mississippi near where SuperGuy had a small farm…but it basically got taken off the map in Katrina.
Do you ever think about what you want to do when you retire? Where you want to live? Have you looked into any areas?
So a lot of you commented about my 13 things on my desk. About my Whee-lo toy. I love my whee-lo toy.
Of course I thought it was Wheelo, not Whee-lo so my googling for information and a place for you to get one was stumped for a bit… Cracker Barrel has them, but their online shop shows them with colors on the inside of the wheel instead of the holes. Not sure what is up with that. You can’t improve on a classic! Besides it’s cool to watch the holes on the wheel spin…
I consider it a kind of vintage toy. Whatever vintage might mean to you. I play with it when I’m stuck with my writing.
I play with it when I’m avoiding paying bills.
I play with it when I should be cooking dinner. Doing laundry…well, you get the picture. I’m so mature like that. I love to watch the wheel spin as I rock the whee-lo up and down. It goes up one side of the rail, then down the other. Spinning wheel. Up and down. Up and down. Wait, I’m still here. I was playing with my toy.
You notice he likes to be photographed. He’s agreeable like that. How do I know my wheelo is a male? Come on, shiny and has a wheel. Has to be male.
I don’t know if you’re old enough to have had one of these as a child, but I’m just so excited I found one again. 
(I even had one in my desk drawer when I worked at SuperGuy’s office. Don’t tell him!!) It’s like the ultimate baby boomer toy. I love my wheelo. Well, not as much as SuperGuy or my kids or my camera. But it comes in a close tie with them. Sometimes comes out ahead of the other males in the house, come to think of it…
Have you ever had a whee-lo? Any toy from your childhood that especially stays in your memories?
