Telling the Children

This week, I have been telling my students that I will be retiring at the end of this month.  It's been an end-of-class, many-of-you-already-know, low-key thing.  Some responses from the youngest have been funny.

  Me to class of first graders: I am going to retire.  Do you know what "retire" means?
  One first grade girl:  Yeah, you've been doing this a long, LONG time and you are SICK of it and are NOT gonna do it any more!

After the substitute, who happened to be a retired teacher, and I finished laughing, I tried to assure them that I am not sick of being a librarian, just ready to do other things.

All week, the short "talk" has gone well.  I have not cried, not even a catch in my voice... until today.  One of the fourth grade classes came in this morning.  Everything was normal until the last minutes of our time together.  I was  telling them the "I'm going to retire..." thing and one of the boys kept working  with the dominoes. He loves making mazes with the dominoes.  When I finished talking, he stepped to the side so I could see the table.  It is the picture above.  P is the first letter of my last name.  I lost it.  I love my students.

Go Do Them.

I'm trying to live up to this goal.  Knitting - check.  Quilting again - check, well, kind of - at least I have all of the fabrics.  Kayaking - check.  Home at the beach - check, well, again, kind of - we have the land and the contractor has our plan.  Daily exercise - check.  

Still trying to get to: stand up paddleboarding, daily walks on the beach, retirement, inner peace, eternal kindness and positive attitude...

Gee, thanks...

Dear Members of the Board of Education:

      Thank you SOOOOOoooooooooo much for the $126.32 bonus you gave me today!  Yes, I thought it would be a little closer to $500.00 since we were told it was going to be $500.00.  In reality, I knew taxes and retirement and social security would be taken from it.  But - really - I was expecting a little more. When the federal government takes $262.38 and I only get $126.32, something is WAY wrong. 

     No joke.  Of the $500.00 gross, retirement took $30.00, federal took $262.38, social security took $28.25, and state took $53.00. 

     Yes, I am thankful to have a job.  And not just a job, a job  I LOVE.  I am thankful to have had the opportunity to have done this job for almost thirty years; however, this "bonus" is a joke.  Please don't let me see anything in print about the $500 bonus teachers and school employees received.  Like most things, it sounds good but the reality is not so pretty. Make sure the public knows that in addition to no real raise, not even a cost of living adjustment for the past four years, some of us got $126.32 of the advertised $500.00 "bonus" today.  Gee, thanks.

What will you do with your one wild and precious life?

     So.... What do I plan to do with my one wild and precious life???? The "working" days are winding down.  I cleaned closets yesterday and carried all of my spring/summer "work" clothes to a consignment shop today.  After thirty years, my last day at work will be February 28. I won't be needing those teacher clothes any longer.  Not that they are bad, they just are not what I wear away from school.  What will the future hold?  Hang on, we're all waiting to see that answer.

Circuit Training - Next New Thing...

Since the week before Christmas, most days have been cold, damp, and rainy.  Not conducive to my long walks outside.  I have tried working with the elliptical and sit up bench, but I just don't enjoy it for days on end.  I broke down near the end of December and, like thousands of other people, I went to get a membership at our local gym.  After asking the prices, I just could not do it.  Mentally, I can't make myself pay fees to exercise when I have an elliptical and sit up bench at home.  I started investigating other "winter" options.  When I first started using Pinterest, I made a "Move my Ass" board.  Blunt, yes, but that has always been my philosophy.  I don't think it matters specifically what type of workout you do, just get up and move.  That, along with a reasonable diet, and you will be fine. I sat and looked back through all the pins on that board and it clicked.  Circuit training!  Some people refer to it as interval training.  Not a new concept, but something I've never done for any length of time.  It meets my requirements including movement, the ability to be done inside, and no need for expensive equipment.  Over the past week, even when out of town, I was able to complete a thirty-minute circuit each day.  Even on days that I have been able to get out and walk a couple of miles, I've still done at least a twenty-minute circuit.  Since I already had an old set of three pound hand weights, I added those to the circuits.  I love that there are MANY different moves that can be incorporated in your daily circuit.  It is wonderful to do something a little different each day.  To give me no excuse, I printed out several different thirty minute circuits.  Each day, I choose a different one. I pulled together moves from several different ones to make some of my own.  Some of the best I've seen are from http://backonpointe.tumblr.com/tagged/workout-challenge, written by a young woman who is a college student and dancer.  She had different workouts for different areas of the body.  Here is one of her ab circuits:

                             

So far, so good.  Boredom has not set in thanks to the variety.  If you would like to "Move Your Ass" along with me, please look at my board on Pinterest for some ideas: http://pinterest.com/terrip919/move-my-ass/.

OMG! 145

OMGoodness! Holy $#!t! I have gained almost ten pounds in less than two weeks! Thank you Christmas dinners!  Cold, rainy weather and family gatherings provided the excuses not to walk or exercise and now, reality sets in for me.  I stepped on the scales and - BOING - I have gained ten pounds!!!! Holy Batman!  I got on the eliptical and walked a mile, did fifty sit ups on the bench, and did thirty leg pull ups  -  too little too late??? Not how I had planned to start the new year...

I knew I had been slack about the exercise; however, this is ridiculous!  Tomorrow = back to walking at least two miles in the weight vest, and more.  At fifty-two, I can't start this stuff...

Gym membership? Starvation! Common sense?  WTH???  Help!

A Move into the 21st Century

In an unexpected move, I got a smartphone.  And it's about time. My old flip phone was dying and when I looked today at Costco, there was no line.  I could walk right up to the kiosk and talk to a real human. A human who answered my questions and did not try to sell me more than I needed.  Sold.

The afternoon has been spent getting familiar with the phone - a Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II - and downloading apps AND setting up email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, my blog, and all of the other really important things I "need" to do online.  I can see that this phone can become an addiction.  

Although,as a librarian, I work with computers all day long, live online on my home laptop, and have a Kindle, I had wavered about spending additional money each month for a smartphone.  Today, I caved.  And so far, it is worth every penny of the extra $30.00 each month.  Well, really only $20.00 extra, because the very nice human at the kiosk saw that he could save us $10.00 each month on the data package for our home hot spot! See, this smartphone is already saving us money...