After years of working hard, building a business or a career, raising a family, dedicating time to my community, saving and investing, making sacrifices, I now find myself in retirement. I now have the freedom to choose what I want to do, when I want to do it, who I want to do it with and how often. Time is my new found freedom. I think this has been the one thing I enjoy the most. The ability to choose where I want to spend my time and discovering new ways to use it. When I decided to retire I was seeking an open canvas. Let the process take me to places I never thought about. I enjoyed what I did for nearly 40 years, and it provided so many opportunities to meet and work with people from all over North America and I had the honour to work with an awesome team. I will always cherish that but now it is time to discover another side of me. I want to use my new found freedom to enjoy my family and nurture my friendships. I want to invest in myself and get into the best shape of my life. ...

My friend Brigitte Clement joins us today with her first post to this site. Brigitte also retired recently from a career in social work. Today she shares with us her first of what I hope is many tidbits.  Thank you Brigitte. A sisterhood By Brigitte Clement   There is increasing research confirming that female friendships are critical to women's health and happiness as it links us to social support, increases our self-esteem and inspires hope.   It seems especially critical as we head into retirement to stay connected and to be well surrounded. Female friendships are a powerful bond which is often unmatched. The beauty of these relationships is that it offers not only support but also an emotional connection; a sense of sisterhood. It allows us to be vulnerable and to receive advice through life's many challenges and to celebrate the small victories of everyday life. It allows us to laugh together and not to take life too seriously. Laughter ...

I was up early and at the dealership getting my winter tires put on and checked out this beauty. Yes one can dream lol.

 Just minutes from our home, the Long Sault Parkway is a series of eleven islands in an arc through the St Lawrence River. Nicole, Archie and I love to spend some time walking and exploring the various islands, beaches, picnic and hiking areas. While it's closed to traffic in the winter, we find it a great time to have our morning walks and let Archie run and explore. This morning we started our morning with a 4 km walk in the section near McLaren's Campground. Archie just loved it.  Our goal is to embrace winter, dress accordingly and keep adding KM to our daily walks. We want to mix it up everyday, explore new areas, get in better shape while enjoying the Canadian winter. 

 What a great way to start a Saturday morning. A brisk 3.5 km walk followed by a heathy breakfast. Sometimes the little joys in life are right in front of you to enjoy.  8

Let's talk about retirement and how you are living your best life. I started this blog to have a conversation about how we can live our best life in retirement. This can be a place where we share thoughts and ideas about health, well being, travel, hobbies, and really anything that comes to mind that can bring value to our life. It is not meant to discuss politics or religion in anyway shape or form.  Enjoy the journey!

 Introducing my new blog logo. Join afternoontidbits@blogspot.com and enjoy some daily tidbits about retirement and living your best life. I am anxious to get started and share some daily thoughts and share some interesting feedback with all of you.

Meet Archie my 3 year old Bichon Frise. He is full of life, loves to cuddle and play. He is an amazing friend. Brings so much love to Nicole and I.

 My name is Paul Lefebvre and I retired 6 months ago after 34 years in the hotel and restaurant business. I am starting this afternoon tidbits blog to record some of the highlights, thoughts and cover interesting topics on retirement. I am 59 years old and focusing on health and wellness right now in order to start my 60's in the best shape of my life.  Follow me through this interesting journey called retirement.