I have mentioned on this blog that my spouse and I worked for eight weeks to build a waterfall, pond, and patio in our back yard forest retreat this summer. This was a labor of love that I wanted to see happen for my spouse, who so enjoys sitting quietly in the forest while watching the birds, squirrels, rabbits, and now frogs… sing, scamper, jump, and swim/hop.

And in so doing, we saved at least US$7,000, I lost 16 pounds, and both of us achieved nirvana. Here’s how we did it.
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When I was a kid in grade school, within the first week of school, we always had to write a paper titled, “what I did on my summer vacation.” Back then, I would regale about happy, carefree days traveling with my family to each state of the United States, visiting family, and many more fun activities. These days, as an adult, I looked back at this past summer and ticked off a list — what I did all summer:
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I bring this up from time to time — I feel that as a responsible adult, I should manage my finances in a responsible way. However, there are so many choices, some of them quite sneaky…or enticing… however you want to classify it that it can be way too easy to spend money and get into debt.

I have had to learn financial discipline. That is, I stop and think before I spend money. My spouse is the same way. Here are some of our personal financial discipline principals:
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Our drive to my mother-in-law’s home near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was uneventful, though driving 11 hours (round trip) has made this biker-stuck-in-a-car quite tired. My spouse still can’t drive, so I did all the driving.

She is with us at our home in Maryland now. Photo below shows my spouse with his mother at peace in our newly-constructed backyard retreat – garden – waterfall – pond.

Ahhhh… warms my heart to see their smiles.

Life is short: show those you love how you love them!

The word “pazienza” means, in English, “patience.” Being calm, kind, and patient with people who annoy me is a lesson that I must continue to apply. My depth of pazienza has been tested recently and will be tested again soon….
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As we call it in the United States — a vacation is the same as a holiday in other countries. Whatever you call it, I need one of those things. I was remarking to my boss, “I haven’t had a real vacation in a decade.”

His reply–
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