Retirement 101

As of today I feel I am officially retired. This is the first day of school for students and I am happy to be home--not sad that I am not there on the first day of school, after 25 consecutive years in the Eaton District. (teaching approximently 600 students during those years)

I walked Barkley, ate breakfast while reading the newspaper, took a shower, talked with the nice landscaper working in the yard west of me, spent some time on the computer, talked with Megan, and had a nice visit with Katherine when she stopped by the house. And then it was time for lunch--pumpkin raisen bagel (from Portland) with peanut butter and a glass of soy milk. I watched The Daily Show and then read some more of the newspapers that I had missed.
I am thinking of this as a snow day --and I have 175 more of them until next summer.
It is now 2:00 and I am starting what I hope will be a consistent habit of writing down thoughts in this great blog that Megan set up for me. She tells me that I should write my thoughts down, my memories, my goals--that it will be good for me and good in case anyone else (grandchildren) might be interested.

I am always optimistic when I start something like this-do you know how many times I have started a journal on the 1st of January? More times than I would like to count.

Things I will not miss
* 15 minutes for lunch
* having to wait to pee until a break
* committee meetings "didn't we do this 5 years ago?"
* parents who have children who are never wrong
* administrators who know better than those in the 'trenches'

Things I will miss
*the school family --especially my team--our talks after school about nothing and everything
*the students who make me laugh, cry, and make me feel so wanted
*the creative parts of teaching
*taking the dog or dogs who are part of my life to school--and having the students bring their pets to school
*the music programs
*reading the books I love to students who really enjoy the stories
*the little child gifts--the flower picked from a neighbors yard, the 'recycled' gifts
*the hugs
*parents who thank me for my commitment to their child's education.


I know there are more but if I spend too much time on this I know that I will not keep this up.

I am now off to more reading--I really must get organized and have a plan for each day--but today I am just enjoying the beginning of the rest of my life.