So now I'm a retired school teacher. Now what? All I really know is I want something different. I loved teaching and did it for over twenty-one years, with three years before that spent working in a daycare center. I finally got bored doing what I was doing, and I guess I got tired of always riding students' backs, trying to get them to do what they ought to do for their own good. If that sounds like burnout, then I guess I'm burned out. Really, though, I have so many other interests I've always wanted to pursue, and I'm not getting any younger (51). So the big question now is, what do I do first?
In this blog, I hope to answer the questions people ask me all the time since I retired - What do you do with yourself now? ( A lot.) Are you enjoying retirement? (Yes.) Do you miss teaching? (Not really.) I also hope it helps me sort out my thoughts as I try to figure out what to do in this new phase of my life.
My retirement started out this summer with two great trips. We spent a week with friends David and Linda Lavender in their really nice motor home, traveling to Branson, MI. On our way we stopped in Memphis where we ate great BBQ, walked along Beal Street listening to the music, and visited the home of Elvis. In Branson, we thoroughly enjoyed several shows there. My favorites were the Dutton family, Remembering the 50's, and Yakov, who was hilarious. Our next trip was a week long visit to our friend Celia in Oregon. We flew to Portland and stayed at their home in Lake Oswego for several days. While there, we rode up the coast to Washington, saw where Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific, went to the top of Mount Hood, and walked to Multnomah Falls. Then we drove to central Oregon and stayed in a resort called Black Butte Ranch. We had great fun, but my friends tried to kill this slightly overweight and very out-of-shape woman with a six-mile hike up and down hills at Silver Falls, a nine-mile bike ride, and a steep hike up to the lookout over Crater Lake. Crater Lake was my favorite part of the whole trip. I never saw such blue water! Traveling is something I hope to do more of now that I'm retired.
Just before we left for the Oregon trip, our 27-year-old son got engaged to a lovely girl. We are all busy planning a wedding now. Our traveling was followed by two or three months trying to catch up with cleaning and work around the house and yard. I'm an organization nut, so I've tried to get really organized, but still have a ways to go. Then it was time to get ready for Christmas, which is big with my family. We entertained a number of times over the holidays.
In addition to the things already mentioned, I've tried to visit my parents in the mountains of North Carolina as much as I could. They, too, aren't getting any younger. Not only do I have old parents to worry about, but we have a seventeen-year-old poodle that needs lots of looking after. He is on medication for congestive heart failure, is deaf, sees poorly, constantly runs at the eyes, has alzheimers, and is incontinent. Yes, our dog wears diapers, which takes care of the peeing, but he poops in the house. One might wonder why we don't have him put to sleep. There are two reasons. One, he isn't suffering. Two, we are afraid our son would resent us if we did. We do love the dog, but he really isn't the same dog anymore. He spends most of his time sleeping, and when he is awake, all he cares about is getting something to eat. Sometimes he just stands in one spot in some kind of a daze until he slowly flops over. It really is pitiful.
Well, time to get to work on some of those projects; be back later-
Paula
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