For all the time we spend craving leisure time, discussing it, dreaming about it and planning for it, few among us use it well. Now, cozy up in a comfortable chair with this book and share a margarita with couples who have found a way to fill their retirement years with passion, purpose, and potential. Listen as singles discuss how they live comfortably in Mexico on just their Social Security. Visit with retirees who have discovered the joy of making a difference in their community. You’ll laugh, cheer and cry with these gutsy gringos as they transition from their structured working lives to rewarding retirements in Mexico. They tell it like it is—the rewards and the frustrations. The boomers talk about moving to Lakeside, the real costs of living here, security, crime, health care options, community, what they miss from back home, and their answers to that oft-asked question from friends and loved ones: “But what do you do all day?” This book is unlike any book you’ve read about moving to or living in Mexico. It doesn’t focus on the the wheres, the whats and the hows. Instead, you’re invited to appreciate—up close and personally—the experience of retiring on Lake Chapala’s beautiful north shore. Eighteen years ago, Karen Blue, known for decades as "Blue," escaped corporate life in Silicon Valley at age 52 to retire and write in Ajijic, Mexico. Blue holds a BS in business management and has had at least seven careers ranging from information systems to business-to-business direct marketing to vice president of an international soft-ware service and support organization. And who knew? She ended up as a published author in Mexico. It took a while for her to put her right brain in motion. She has two grown children and one hunk of a grandson. Over the years, Blue has authored hundreds of articles on moving to and living in Mexico. She published her first book, Midlife Mavericks: Women Reinventing Their Lives in Mexico, in 2000. As part of her retirement in Mexico, she sits on three different boards of directors as treasurer, secretary, and director-at-large. It's her way of giving back to the community. In addition to reading and writing, she spends time line dancing, playing bridge and scrabble, as well as myriad other card and board games, traveling, cooking for CASA (Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic) and simply enjoying the weather, culture, fundraising events, and social activities which abound at Lakeside. She believes that the Lake Chapala area of Mexico is perhaps the best place in the world for a single woman to live.