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Showing posts from May, 2015

(Almost) Free at last: Week Two

It's been an interesting week. The chair of my department offered to "rehire" me in a new university process that would allow me to work two more years. I said "How kind of you to consider me as a candidate! No thank you!" I was able to change my summer teaching schedule to an 8 a,m, class instead of a noon class, thereby allowing me to watch my grands on Tuesdays and Fridays while their Mom works. Thanks, Dan! I went to Florida over Memorial Day and really enjoyed watching my dear friend Nancy (who teaches at a private K-12 school)  grading research papers and creating tests while I read mysteries and napped. Nancy could retire, too, but I do believe she will hold out for at least another year, and maybe two. She thinks about money and health insurance; I think about how much I don't want to be in the university system. Retirement can't come soon enough for me, even if I will be poor. Well, not really poor, just in the same boat the other 99 ...

(Almost) Free at Last! Week One

After five weekdays of no teaching, no grandchildren, no and obligations, I'm starting to feel the joy of retirement.  No, I'm not there quite yet -- it turns out that I started working in the University System in October 2005 -- so I'll be teaching one class this summer and five more in the fall. THEN, I'll be able to retire. That means more annual dollars in the long run, so I can survive until December 30. But for right now, and until June 20, I am in rehearsal for retirement. It took two days of afternoon naps to get up-to-date on sleep. Monday and Tuesday I kept trying to read, but after three pages my eyelids dropped and I was sound asleep. Having the cat climb up on my lap makes a nap even more likely. I went to the gym each morning for my treadmill and machine work, but on Wednesday, I decided that it was time to get myself in gear and my house in shape. For those who know me well, it's no secret. I hate to clean. I always keep the kitchen counter...