Reality

I received my first retirement check from the school system.  Holy drop in the bucket, Bat Man!!!!  I should have stayed employed!

A Day

She has  to say
That she is  grumpy today.

One would think, "No way!"
What does she have to be grumpy about
Anyway?

She can eat bonbons
All day!

She can go outside
To catch a ray.

She can sit on her porch and
Watch the trees sway.

And yet, still, she is grumpy
Today.

Dreams

I have been having school dreams.  Guess my mind has not completely gotten the message that retirement has begun!  Last night's dream was interesting.  I had gone to school because I had forgotten something and before I knew it, I had been hired to serve as a teacher assistant for the young woman who has taken my place.  It was the first day of school and she and I were both trying to get the students in the classroom.  They were jumping out of the classroom window or simply walking out of the room an roaming the halls or hiding behind lockers.  By the way, there were some very familiar faces in the rowdy bunch of kids, too!  We finally corralled the students and began a lesson, but I was trying to teach the kids.  The teacher gave me a look that I instantly recognized as "The Teach Look" and  I meekly retreated to the back of the room.  The dream on went with a trip to the cafeteria that I can't begin to explain, but it was again a situation where kids were out of control and we were trying to gain control.  I went the the principal, Jodi, to resign and she said, "Too bad, and we are going to hire Jack as an assistant principal at Ronda-Clingman (an elementary school)!  With those words, I awoke, thank goodness!

A Fantastic Movie and Good Book

We have just returned from seeing "Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close".  Gripping doesn't begin to describe this movie.  The story is superbly written and the acting is equally great.  Interestingly Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock really played rather minor parts.  However, the young boy who played the main character has talent dripping from every poor.  This one is on its way to many awards!  Run don't walk to your nearest theatre!!!!!!!

As to the book, its title is "Following Atticus", by Tom Ryan.  I suppose this falls into the memoir genre although the author and his dog are still living.  Perhaps death is not a prerequisite for memoirs??????  I love dogs, dog owners, and stories about dogs and their owners.  It is also about mountain climbing in New Hampshire.  Ever since teaching the novel, "Banner in the Sky", I have been hooked on mountain climbing or more accurately, reading about mountain climbing. The actual climbing does not interest me.  I am too fond of my extremities to risk loosing them to frostbite! "Following Atticus" second theme revolves around the ability of  an animal to change a person's life. No, this book is not Pulitzer Prize material, but it is a good read if you like dogs and mountain climbing.

First Day

Today was my first day as a docent at our local museum.  I put on my schoolteacher clothes and my best first-day-of-school smile and arrived a few minutes early just to show my eagerness to perform.  I had diligently studied my tour guide notes prior to arriving and was just bursting with scintillating tidbits of arcana which I would graciously disperse to the uneducated masses.  I sat patiently at the docent desk and reviewed my guide notes, not willing to be found wanting in my knowledge of the history of Wilkes.  I sat and sat and sat when suddenly the phone rang!!!!!!!!  Yeah, but wait! Could I remember how to transfer the call?  So many buttons on this phone, so little training!  Where were my inservice notes?????  Oh the pressure!!!!!  "Hello, Wilkes Heritage Museum, may I help you?"  My finger thoughtfully traveled over the many buttons.  My eye wandered to the list of transfer numbers(3).  Finally a light bulb flashed in my muddled mind and wait, yes, that was it.  Press transfer and the proper number!!  Yes!!!!!  I hadn't cut anyone off!!!!  The battle of the phone had been waged and won by the first time docent!  The afternoon waned and I sat.  No one came to see the museum.  The directors were very kind and said some days are just like that.  One week from today I will again don a schoolteacher outfit and put on a schoolteacher smile to go forth to educate the wandering masses and do battle with the many-buttoned phone.  The daring docent back into the breach.

Well ...

I have been retired for about 2 weeks now.  One of the questions I am often asked is, "What are you going to do?"  This question has haunted me for sometime.  What am I going to do now that I have time on my hands?  So, here is a rundown of some activities that have served to pass my time.  They are not in any particular order.
Wake up, not at 5:00 a.m.
Water aerobics at Y
Cook
Read
Nap - this is probably my favorite so far!
Play with dogs
Brush dogs
Practice dulcimer and flute
Make cards
Scrap booking
Watch old movies
Volunteer at local museum
Being quiet - this is the hardest of all.  I am used to moving at warp speed and still get a feeling the pit of my tummy that tells me I need to grade papers, pack lunch, make parent phone calls, iron something to wear, make lesson plans and on and on.  This feeling usually happens Sunday night.

Retirement is a good thing, I think.  Of course, if I have to stand in the local breadline I may have a different view.  Hopefully that won't happen.  My friend, Ann, says she likes the flexibility retirement offers.  I agree.  My time is so flexible that I have postponed cleaning out a very cluttered bedroom for 2 weeks!! 

Did you know that a synonym for retirement is fall back?  I like that.  Next time someone asks about my career, I shall simply reply that I have fallen back!  Sounds very mysterious, doesn't it!