Retirement

  I retired ten years ago when the grandson nearest us was born and I haven’t looked back at teaching since. I do miss my students, but I don’t miss my administrator.

The day after the grandson was born, I retired. I’d put in my paperwork with my school district, I filled out my retirement papers with the state, I cleaned out my room’s 30 years of teaching materials (about 1,500 books), and never went back to my school again.

Instead, I had TIME to spend with the grandson and his sister, who is three years older. I retired April 30. By August, hubby asked, “Why aren’t you going to work anymore”? (I didn’t even tell him!) So, he decided to retire, too. (He’s a little slow…)

I did nothing that first year of retirement. I was burned out mentally and physically. I slept a LOT. I stayed in bed. I did NOTHING. But, by the second year, I was bored, so I had a lot of paper leftover from my teaching days and I started making handmade journals. I’ve always loved to write and I hoped others did too. I ended up making almost 200 of them (I think I got to 193). At first I gave them away, but then I opened an Etsy shop. I don’t make them to sell anymore. I do, once in a while, make one for myself.

Then in 2018, two years after I retired, I bought a new Brother sewing machine. I’d sewn often with my maternal grandmother and I was eager to take the time to do it right. I sewed fabric on the edges of my journal pages, I made fabric tabs, I even sewed fabric onto the covers of my journals.

Then, this year, I decided to try to make some simple patchwork tote bags for either books or shopping. I’d made some aprons and sold seven of them at the granddaughter’s craft fair for girl scouts, so I was encouraged by that. Now I have ten extra large tote bags and some smaller ones for this year’s craft fair.

I also got interested in growing my own food, so I began a backyard garden. Unfortunately gophers got most of my first crop, so I switched over to using plastic tubs. I love the tubs and no more gopher problems! Last winter I grew celery, lettuce, peas, Swiss chard, early tomatoes, radishes, and even turnips. I’m not growing any summer vegetables because, well, I need a break. But, nexst fall I’ll plant another round of winter vegetables.

So, we are content. Hubby sits in his recliner and either watches TV all night or reads novels on his Kindle. He doesn’t drive anymore, so I have to run out and do all the errands. That’s fine with me as it gives me a break from him…ha, ha!

And, the two grandkids are close by. I pick up the grandson every Wednesday which is early release day (both of his parents are teachers) and either bring him her to our house or drive him down to his. We are very close now. (This is the one who looked at me when he was three and said, “When are YOU going home?” I guess he has forgiven me for putting him in time out!

The days now melt into one another and as summer approaches here in the desert, I’ll stay inside and sew and sew and sew. Soon it will be too hot to venture outside and I’m finding that as I get older, I can tolerate the heat (and humidity) less and less.

/cd