25 School Days To Go To Retirement Day!

25 School Days To Go Until Retirement Day!

September 25, 2013

 

This is how I think I look when I am teaching my gifted classes!

Photo Credit:  Unknown, from www.Pinterest.com

 

     Only 25 more days of school for this teacher!  I have to say that I am vacillating between leaping for joy and trips down memory lane each morning.  Am I sad?  Definitely not.  Am I worn out and used up with so many years of teaching?  Definitely not.

 

Do you see a sad teacher here?  Nope!  Not me!

Photo Credit:  www.teachermum.com



 

     What I have become is reflective and contemplative.  The days are flying by, and I am busying myself each evening by filling boxes with school supplies to take to my school.  Those supplies may be used by the teacher who will soon replace me.  I hope to have a clean house, cleared of all traces of school supplies and equipment.    I will always have my memories of school, of course.

 

This is what I'm doing in the evening now:  boxing up extra school supplies to take to school.

Photo Credit:  www.livingwaterborger.blogspot.com



 

      My days following retirement are already scheduled with dental appointments (root canal and new crown), clearing the overgrown butterfly garden in my front yard, and having the air conditioner repaired in my very old car.  These activities are in no way enjoyable, but I will finally have the time and motivation for getting them done. 

Hope I get all those butterfly bushes and weeds under control soon after retirement!

Photo Credit:  www.gardeningtipsforall.wordpress.com



 

      There is a trip in my near future, to my friend in another state, where I may take an extended vacation while I remap my future life.  In addition, I hope to finish redoing my guest bath, my kitchen floor, and painting the entire inside of my home. 

 

Well, my little vacation may look like this...or not!

Photo Credit:  www.thedigeratilife.com

 

     Very soon, but not soon enough for me, I will be launching my professional home organizing business, Simplify Your Lifestyle, and that business will be a big part of the future I have been seeking.



Photo Credit:  www.busybeeorganizingplus.com

 





     While none of these activities sound like the "fun" I have been researching all year, they are the things that must be done BEFORE I can take off for parts unknown.  Thank you very much for sticking with my blog all year while I worked through the "scariest year of my life." 

 

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My Mother Is Passing Away Now May 19, 2013

 My Mother Is Passing Away Now

 

May 19, 2013

 

I held her hand as she struggled to breathe.  She does not know it's me.

Photo Credit:  www.querulousone.com

 

     As I worked slowly to clear the mess in my recently robbed house Saturday evening, I received a phone call that my 99-year-old mother was in the emergency room with pneumonia.  I was told to come to the hospital as soon as possible.  I left her side a few hours later as she continued to hold on to life.  As I write this, I do not know if she is still alive.  The critical care nurse said she would call me if there was any change.  It is now 3:04 a.m. on Sunday morning.

 

     Next week, on May 26, my mother will be 100 years old.  She was in the first group of women in the Women's Army Corps, when it was founded.  She spent two years in London during World War II, and endured the blitz raids there. 

 

     She had the sharpest mind and sharpest tongue of anyone I ever knew.  She could be charming and witty as well as stinging and sarcastic.

 

     She has lived longer than Queen Elizabeth, and she actually met King George III, Queen Elizabeth's father, during WWII.  She has shown me the actual photo of the meeting many times.

 

     I am praying that she will somehow recover, if God is willing, so that we can celebrate her 100th birthday with her next week.  She will not enjoy her birthday, as she is deep in her dementia and Alzheimer's these days.  Last year both of her long and shapely legs had to be amputated at the knees due to a rare infection.  She lived through the operation we thought would kill her for sure.

 

     So, tonight, friends, my heart is heavy with memories and sadness for her lost energy and vigor.

 

     God bless you, Mommy.  I hope I get to see you tomorrow morning, one more time, before you leave your daughter, your two grandsons,  and your five great-grandchildren forever.