Merry Christmas to all

And so dear Blog World, I wish a merry Christmas to anyone who stumbles across my blog.  Today is the big day that people prepare for and look forward to, and then poof – it is done.  Well yes, it is mostly done, except I did not send out any Christmas cards, and I didn’t really finish decorating the house.  But it’s all OK.  Next year, should we be lucky enough to live that long, I will get another chance to do it right.

So, I kicked off six courses for University #2 on December 5th, while at the same time doing finals week at University #1 and wrapping up final grades along with end-of-course statistics and reports for accreditation purposes. It was a busy week, and then I made a quick trip to Washington.  Emily got impatient and put up our Christmas tree, set out our little nativity scene, and decorated the mantle.  It was nice that she did all that for us.  When I had a little time the next week, I put up lights on our rhododendron bushes outside, and we baked and decorated cut-out cookies together.  That is something we did together when my girls were growing up - a tradition. We might make another batch this week before Erin goes back to Louisville.

To remind us...

Sugar cookies made by Emily and me

 

Erin and Emily celebrated their 21st birthday this month.  It doesn’t seem possible that 21 years have gone by so quickly.  The girls were not home together this year, so we celebrated Emily’s birthday on her birthday, and then celebrated Erin’s a few days later when she came home.  Instead of a cake, Emily requested a pile of donuts – and she wanted 21 candles on them.  It was quite a feat to light 21 candles before the donuts became covered with melted wax.  Erin asked for a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing…with dinosaurs on top.  We had two dinosaurs, but took one off before lighting up the candles – two on one side and one on the other, sort of representative of 21 – she thought 21 candles would be excessive.

Donut birthday cake - we're taking photos while the candles melt

Erin's red velvet cake with dinosaur(s)

Sarah came home Christmas Eve, so that was fun.  To have my three girls together with me is the best present I could ever wish for. I hope this year we are able to plan better and take a vacation together. Emily is hoping to get an internship over the summer and take the GRE, so we will have to wait and see how that does or doesn’t work out.  Sarah may have an opportunity come up as well.  Erin might move to a new apartment or start a new job…so we’ll have to consider that in our plans.  I think we will visit Philadelphia if we can make it work. 

I made a pecan pie for Someone this week. He loves pecan pie, and Someone’s mother always gifts a large bag of pecans to us every Thanksgiving.  We celebrated Christmas last night with Someone’s family.  Everyone was there except for Someone’s daughter (Katie), who drove in today with her boyfriend. It is nice when everyone gets together, but it’s a lot of people and noise in one house.  At least Someone’s parents have a large house, so it’s tolerable.  And now, another generation is on the way.  Katie is pregnant…we will become grandparents this summer if all goes as planned.

Someone's pecan pie - cooling

Someone's parents and all the grandchildren, except for Katie

Tomorrow is supposed to be unusually warm and sunny.  Someone and I are playing golf with Someone’s dad.  I haven’t played since early November, so it will be a treat to get out.  With winter underway, any day that is warm enough to play is a gift.  The Farmer’s Almanac predicts a hard winter is in store for us, and they are usually right. We will see.      

     

Christmas delay

It’s December 12th.  Christmas is 13 days away.  We have no Christmas tree up yet, no lights put up outside, no Christmas cards addressed, about 10% of Christmas gifts purchased (nothing wrapped or mailed yet), and no cookies or candy made.  It’s not that I’m a Grinch…or well, maybe I am.  But no, I love Christmas, but it seems like I’m always scrambling to get stuff done just days before the big holiday comes.

Me?

My sisters-in-law are always ready for Christmas by Thanksgiving time…and then they pack up and put away Christmas decorations on Christmas day or the day after.  Hell, I’m just getting the Christmas spirit by then. It’s a lot of work to carry all those boxes of stuff up from the basement, and carry the empty boxes back down the stairs again.  I want to leave it all out for at least two weeks before dragging all those empty boxes back upstairs, packing it up, and dragging them all back downstairs.  Hmmm….maybe we should just do Christmas in the basement.

 

I made a weekend trip to visit my mother this past weekend.  It’s another thing I’ve put off for much too long.  It’s tiresome on this old KYLady to make a long trip like that, but it wasn’t a horrible drive.  I timed it right so that my travel would be during times of lighter traffic …well, it’s all heavy in comparison to what I normally drive in here in rural Kentucky.  My mother lives just outside of Washington D.C.  As bad as it was, it was nothing in comparison to driving in Houston.

 

So, this year, I made treks to visit my father and my mother.  My dad is 5.75 hours away, and my mother is about 6.75 hours away.  Both are in noticeable decline.  It’s depressing to think about them, but decline happens when people get old.  I should visit both of them more often…in all my free time. 

So, I’m back from Washington.  Now it’s time to make Christmas happen.  Tomorrow morning, I’ll carry all the boxes up the stairs and get started.  Well, just as soon as I finish up some paperwork (statistics) about my classes that just ended, and get that submitted.  Oh, and then I have to attend and introduce a speaker at a short meeting tomorrow afternoon.  Oh yeah, and my brother is coming tomorrow afternoon to help me with a car problem, and to have me help him unbox and set up a new laptop.  It’s nice when we can trade our expertise like that.  OK, so maybe I’ll only have time to bring boxes up from the basement tomorrow…but it’s a start…right after I walk Miss Gracie.   

I always miss her.

    

lucky me

Sometimes I am really lucky.  There was a time in my younger days when my mindset was that I could never even win a coin toss, but in more recent years, I know that I get lucky.  University #2 contacted me and now I’m on schedule to teach classes all through 2017.  I’m delighted – totally.  And guess what else?  They’ve invited me along with some of the other adjuncts to complete a questionnaire to assess our interest in teaching in the doctorate program and to serve as dissertation chairs/committee.  I’ve been researching their PhD programs and intend to throw my name into the hat…maybe I can get lucky again.

Last weekend was great fun.  Sarah had a gig in Shelbyville, so I drove to Flemingsburg and picked her up.  Together, we drove to Shelbyville and went to her show.  I was like her roadie…which is really fun for me.  My favorite thing about going to her shows (besides seeing my daughter on a stage performing) is to be in the audience and hear what people say about her.  Perhaps I wouldn’t enjoy that so much if the comments were unfavorable.

Poor lighting for my iPhone

 After her show, we spent the night in a cheap motel.  My budget is thin these days…not that it has to be, but more that I think it should be.  Now that my income is like 20% of what it used to be, I try not to spend any more money than necessary.  It’s especially important to be strict until I reach the magic age of 59.5 – at that milestone I can withdraw money from my retirement savings without tax penalties.  With any luck, I will not be drawing on my retirement money until I’m 65 or so.  Our cheap motel room was OK, but it smelled like cigarette smoke, the lighting was poor, and there were some stink bugs crawling around on the ceiling and walls.

Anyway, the next morning, we drove into Louisville and picked Erin up for breakfast.  It’s wonderful to spend time with my girls – that’s another way that I’m lucky – I have three daughters.  I could just brag on them for my entire blog, but I won’t because everyone who knows them knows how wonderful they are.

LOVE these quirky girls

Thanksgiving is next week and I’ve only had fleeting thoughts of cleaning the house and preparing a grocery list.  We always go to Someone’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner, but I always cook a big dinner later over the weekend.  Someone likes to have turkey sandwiches and my girls like to have food over the holiday weekend.  This year, I invited my little brother to come for dinner.  He might come…sometimes he gets too busy with things and doesn’t make time.  It’s OK, I’d probably be the same if I didn’t live with Someone who reminds me that he wants me to cook.

Now that the girls have moved out for college, they are usually disappointed when they come home and look in the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator.  They claim we have no food in the house.  Of course we have food, but there’s usually nothing they want to eat.  Erin once asked if we eat anything besides mustard, mayonnaise, and carrots since she moved out.  Silly girl.  What she should have asked was if I could go buy her some pepperoni Bagel Bites or some potato chips. But she need not ask…I read her mind.   

marching on...

I hate politics and government.  Really!  But this time, with this election, I got caught up in all the drama which is completely out of character for me.  It’s not that I’m a Trump fan, but that I could not make myself vote for Clinton.  No doubt she is a capable woman, but when she played the dumb blonde card about wiping her email server (“…like with a cloth or something? I don’t have any idea at all…”) – grrrrrr – that was unforgivable in my book.  She should have just manned up and admitted she deleted anything that she thought might be incriminating – I’d at least have had some shred of respect left for her (well, maybe, but in light of other unethical acts she and the Clinton Foundation committed, probably not).

As for Trump, people make mountains out of anthills.  In my book, he’s a typical man.  I have brothers and I’ve worked with men all my life.  They’re all a bunch of gorillas - they trash talk – it’s what they do.  Their maturity ends at around age 14, at least for the majority of them.  It seems that Trump did some growing up in the last weeks of the race.  It’s good, he needed to.  Change is good.  Our country – our government – needs change and a reset of ethics.  If Clinton had won, we would have the same (or worse) as four more years of Obama.  I voted for change.

Enough politics.

The temperature is dropping this week.  We have not had a frost yet, but it’s coming soon.  I bought a baker’s rack to set plants on in our kitchen.  It’s not nearly big enough - rack and kitchen.  I like my rack though, but by the time I get all the plants in from the porch, we will need a machete to walk through the kitchen.  Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be wrestling the big plants in.  How in the world will I get that monstera through the door?   It’s got to be five feet in diameter at least…but I love it.

New baker's rack with succulent garden.

People are decorating for Christmas.  I just threw out the Halloween pumpkins last weekend and set out some Thanksgiving decorations.  Honestly though, I’ve already started some Christmas shopping…taking advantage of some early sales.  Money is not as plentiful as it used to be now that I’m retired.  I have to stretch it more and pay attention to value rather than convenience.    

I got a teaching excellence award from University #2 thanks to a wonderful review written by one of my students on an end-of-course survey.  One of the things I love about teaching is that I get to interact with students, and I never know (well, unless they tell me…sometimes they do) that I have somehow inspired them or influenced them in some way.  Sometimes the least little comment, something said without much thought or intention, makes a huge difference to that person.  It’s amazing when that happens.

Anyway, the dean emailed the certificate to me with congratulations, and said he hoped I would continue to have success at University #2.  I replied to his email, thanked him, and told him I hoped that University #2 would someday soon give me opportunity to teach again.  He replied back today.  Apparently, my name had been unintentionally dropped during the reorganization last summer, and that’s why I’ve not been given any classes for the past three sessions.  I am now on schedule for classes starting December, with a promise of steady employment through the end of 2017, and extra classes if I want them to make up for missed sessions.  It’s very good!!

disturbia

I’ve written several blog posts that were just not publishable.  Certainly, it’s not that my standards are too high – God knows.  The litmus test is that if I can’t even force myself to proof read it, kill it.  Since retirement, it seems that my life has become something like the Groundhog Day movie, or maybe like walking on a treadmill – repetitive, and nothing too exciting.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d ten-times rather have a boring life than a high-stress life.  It’s just that there hasn’t been much adventure lately, but it’s not that life is boring.  I can’t remember the last time I was bored. 

Procrastination has been a life-long problem with me.  It’s very weird, because really, I’m excellent with time management.  When shit has to be done, I get it done.  It’s shit that doesn’t have to be done that I tend to put off.  Really, it’s even more than that.  It’s shit that would benefit me personally if I did it that I tend to put off.  Maybe it’s a form of self-destruction. It seems incurable. 

Fall meant business earlier this week.  The nights have been just enough above freezing that I’d considered moving my houseplants inside.  Since there are so many plants now, and a few have gotten really large, I need to buy something to set some of them on, such as a baker’s rack.  Fortunately, moving my plants inside was put off and now we are having another Indian Summer up through the end of next week if the forecast stands correct.  Perhaps tomorrow I’ll go buy a shelf or rack or something.  Perhaps. 

It’s a long story, but the tiny little teacup Yorkie that I’d seen wandering in the neighborhood belonged to a neighbor up the street.  It infuriates me to think that these people would let a dog like that run loose.  Not only the danger from cars, but any dog, cat, hawk, or coyote could have killed it.  As it turned out, it was severely injured by something (Gracie?) and I happened to find him dying in my driveway outside of Gracie’s domain.  As do nearly all the houses in our area, we have an electric underground fence that keeps our dog in the yard.  Little Roscoe (I learned his name after his death) had a wooden fence around his yard that did not keep him contained, so the owner told me.  OK, but after he got out the 10^th time, maybe they should have just taken him out on a leash – do you think???  I rushed poor little Roscoe to the nearest vet.  They told me they preferred to have owner permission before they euthanized him; I would have to pay $50 for that, or I could pay $650 up front for x-rays to start an attempt to save his life. I snapped a quick photo and asked them to give me 30 minutes to find the owner.  I knocked on doors and found the owner on the second try, who told me later they had him euthanized.  His neck was broken.  Poor little Roscoe.  I should have collected him from the road and taken him to pound when I saw him running loose.  Somebody would have taken him home.

RIP - poor little Roscoe

Roscoe’s death was sad and upsetting, but not nearly as upsetting as the season premiere of The Walking Dead last Sunday night.  That was very disturbing…and come Sunday night you’d better believe that unless something terrible interferes, I’ll be glued to the TV to see what happens next.  No doubt, there will be more tragedy.    

Erin came home last weekend.  I took her and Emily to the greenhouse to get pumpkins and to buy some pansies.  It’s a fun place!

Erin and her pick

Emily picked a round one

My flowers in pots on the back deck are having their last hoorah.  They all nearly died while Erin and I visited Chicago…nobody bothered to water them and it was beastly hot and dry while we were away.  Some of them died and some recovered.  Those that survived are lovely now.        

Alyssum and petunias 

Verbena and Petunias

     

head games

I should be grading assignments or applying for jobs…but I’m tired of working.  Oh hell, I’m just tired and not in the mood to work anymore today.

 

I didn’t want to roll out of bed this morning, but there was much to do today - too much to do.  In fact, I only accomplished about 20% of what was on my mental to-do list.  Monday is Columbus Day, so because Someone is an employee paid by taxpayers, he gets a holiday.  And because today is Friday, Someone always gets away early in the afternoon (he denies it, but we ALL know he leaves work early every Friday).  Someone begged me to play golf today, so it was on my mind to get up early, get shit done, and then go play golf with him.

 

Even though I’m retired from Big Oil, I still have to get up early four mornings a week.  I still curse the damn alarm clock when it wakes me up, but I’ve come to realize that no matter how dead I am in the morning, a hot shower is all it takes to revive me.  A hot shower is my greatest motivator in life.  My best ideas happen in the shower.

Anyway, let’s fast forward to the afternoon and a round of golf played at Sandy Creek.  Today was a beautiful October day – sunny with a few puffy clouds, and not too hot – really divine.  It would have been a spectacular kayaking day, but I had too much to do (or so I convinced myself).  Anyway, the course was more crowded than usual.  I prefer it to be deserted so we don’t have to wait, or have people hit into us, or have to play through other groups.

 

Anyway, I was playing well today, which makes it fun.  It’s not that I was getting lots of birdies, but more that I played more consistently that usual, which makes me more confident when I pull any club out of the bag.  So, we had been pushing a foursome of old men on a few holes.  They had just hit their tee-shots on #7, a short Par 4, when we arrived at the teebox.  They offered to let us play through.  FINALLY. 

Someone always gets nervous whenever he hits in front of people.  To be honest, I HATE to play through other groups unless the wait time is just unbearable.  My tolerance for slow play is minimal. Someone was teeing up his ball when I heard one of the guys mutter, “I can’t believe you’re letting this woman play in front of us.  We’re going to be here all night.”  Asshole, but as a woman on a golf course, I know that men think that way.  Sometimes, it’s justified, but there are way more slow men golfers than slow women golfers, in my experience.  Anyway, Someone hit a decent drive.  My turn.  I stepped up to the red tees (ladies’ tee), although I’ve been thinking recently that it’s time for me to start playing the whites again.  Today, the reds were only about 10 yards in front of the whites on that hole, so there wasn't much difference.  I teed up and hit a really nice drive – little right-to-left draw and the ball rolled at least 60 yards past the longest man-drive.  Yeah – that was great fun! The ball stopped about 20 yards in front of the green.  Nice!

   

Golf is a head game, for sure.  If you have any doubts at all when you step up to hit a ball, chances are good that the ball will go just where you hoped it wouldn’t.  It’s important to visualize the shot, and imagine the ball going where you want it to go.  If you start thinking about hitting the tree, or going into the creek, or going over the green…well, it’s probably exactly what will happen.  When I know I need to hit over-top a tree, or know it's impossible to get over the tree but going under is also impossible, I remind myself that trees are 90% air (like a mantra...90% air - 90% air - 90% air)...it's probably more like wishful thinking in reality.  

Sadly, Someone talks too much when he plays golf.  For me, golf is a head game so I like to keep it in my head.  Someone comments on every shot – his and mine.  I do my best not to listen, but it’s hard sometimes.  When he gets too annoying, I turn it around on him.  I’ll say things like:

• What club are you going to use to get over that ditch?
• Better aim left so you don’t go out of bounds.
• With the way you slice, you never have to worry about that sand trap.
• Boy, the greens are as slick as ice today. 

Or my most favorite weapon ...."Let's see you make this birdie putt."

When he starts making bad shots, he shuts up.  I kind of like when we play golf with Someone’s dad.  They get a cart together and Someone talks his dad’s ears off instead of mine.

Tomorrow is Saturday and I have much to do.  Grading assignments mostly, but also I have some pansies to plant.  Also too, Someone and I have tickets to go hear Lewis Black tomorrow evening.  That should be fun. 

This week, I applied for a full time job at a university.  I’m not sure I even want to work full time again.  The job has been open for a long time, so maybe they really have no intention to fill the position.  Even so, my hat is thrown into the ring now.  If they call me for an interview, I will find out more about the job before making a decision.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.        

reflection

I’ve not written…not because I didn’t want to, but mainly because life has been very busy lately.  Busy, frustrating, and too much stuff swirling around in my head to think straight line enough for writing.  Two weeks ago, things got out of hand.  I abandoned all reasoning, loaded my kayak, and took me to the Little Sandy River to get away from the world.  Escape is a wondrous thing.  We’ve not had much rain this summer, so Sandy was very still (hardly any current at all) and muddy…like it always is.  It was a beautiful, hot summer late afternoon – blue sky, dragonflies, butterflies, herons, ducks, turtles, and lots of fish – just me and my world with nary a single human soul to interrupt during the whole adventure.  This time, cattle were standing in the river and laying in the shade of trees along the banks.  They ignored me for the most part.  Sometimes the silence clears the noise in my head.  Sometimes, I get lost in the reflections on the water...it’s good. 

morning fun

Today has been an excellent day.  I finished lesson plans for today and tomorrow last night, which resulted in some free time until early afternoon when it was time to meet my class for their daily grind.  Today we mucked around in Word, creating an overly-fancy memo.  In real life, most memos are emailed and plain.  Also, who takes time to add Word Art and graphics to a memo?  But, this assignment gave us a reason to practice the new alignment guides feature in Word 2016 and the Format.  My students also hopefully retained some idea of the traditional format of a memo (but that’s beyond the scope of what this class is about).

 

Sarah gave me a giant tray of succulents as a retirement gift.  All these lovelies just waiting to be appreciated and nurtured, but there were too many to fit into my existing succulent garden.  I ordered a bigger bowl from Amazon knowing full well the exact dimensions, but when it arrived, I convinced myself it was much too large.  The garden will have to occupy our kitchen table all winter…and it was just way too big…and where would that leave my poor African Violets for the winter?  So, last night in Lowes, I found a lovely sea green ceramic bowl for 50% off.  Life is good like that sometimes.  I bought it, brought it home, set it on the kitchen table, and declared it perfect for the task.  Just the right size, and very pretty too.

My mission, this morning, was to recreate a succulent garden – merging my plants from the old bowl with the tray of new ones, creating a magnificent masterpiece in the new ceramic bowl.  Cheerfully, I began the task, but with half of them planted, I realized the new bowl was going to be much too small.  My darlings would not be pleased to be so crowded, and how could they grow with so little space?  It just wouldn’t do, so I pulled out the Amazon bowl, telling myself there is no other way, and planted them all.  Even the big bowl does not leave enough space for what I had in mind…I was going to add many rocks,driftwood, perhaps some small sculptures.  Perhaps at some point I’ll add a tier to the big bowl to add interest, but for now, it is finished.  I do love it.

New succulent garden has been started

 

And what will happen to the new ceramic bowl?  Pansies!  I’ll plant a bowl of pansies for the porch just as soon as the greenhouse gets them in.  It should be soon!  I’m starting to see pots of mums for sale around the grocery stores.  Fall is coming.        

Chicago

August is flying by.  Heck, all time flies by these days.  Old age has warped my sense of time, or so it seems.

Someone spent two weeks in South Carolina with his familyin June.  In July, Emily spent two weeks in North Carolina with her boyfriend, and Sarah went to China for a few weeks.  Although Sarah’s trip was not really a vacation (she went there to perform music with a group), it was still a grand adventure.  Erin had been working most of the summer and I was not using vacation time for anything other than teaching classes this entire year, choosing to get paid for left-over vacation time.  Trust me – there was not much vacation left over by the end of June. 

Anyway, Someone told Erin that if she could get a few days off work, he and I would take her anywhere she wanted to go.  Anywhere.  Seriously?  It was completely out of character for Someone to make such a bold offer because he hates going to unfamiliar places.  He remarked to me that he was quite certain Erin would choose Myrtle Beach, Disney World, or maybe someplace she’d never been like Hilton Head or Wrightsville Beach.  Clearly, he fully expected her to select a beach or amusement part.  I knew better…and I fully expected her to select Las Vegas, New Orleans, or maybe San Francisco.

 

Erin surprised both of us and selected Chicago -  a place she had traveled through very briefly on a school trip and a place Someone and I had never been to.  I only had a few days to make reservations by the time she picked a place to go.  As it turned out, Someone insisted he just “couldn’t” take off work.  It was too expensive to fly on such short notice, I was not eager to drive into the big city and pay $40+ to park my car every day, so we took a train.

The train itself was a great adventure.  I rode Amtrak once when I was a kid, and Erin had never experienced Amtrak.  Our tickets were very reasonably priced.  I drove to Louisville and picked Erin up there, and then we drove to Lafayette, Indiana – a few hours south of Chicago.  Lafayette became part of our adventure; it’s a small and quaint college town, a place I selected by virtue of its location on the map.  We had time to drive around and walk around town.  Parking at the train station was practically nil, but we found a parking garage nearby (and paid nothing to park there for 5 days).  We spent the night in Lafayette.  We caught the train very early the next morning and found ourselves at Union Station in Chicago mid-morning on a Saturday.    

The whole train experience was very pleasant.  Lots of room in the seats and for our legs.  We had AC power right there at our seats, so we didn't have to worry about our batteries dying.  Northern Indiana and Illinois are mostly flat fields of soybeans, corn, and wind turbines - not a lot to look at, but we went through several small towns and those were interesting to see.  

Pretty church seen from the train window - somewhere in Indiana

  

While in Chicago, we did some typical tourist things – visited two museums (Fields Natural History and the Art Institute), the Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, and Millennium Park.  Of all that, I think the totem poles in Fields Museum were my favorite thing.  We went to the theater Sunday evening and saw The Book of Mormon.  It was great!!  Really hilarious, especially if you know anything about Mormons.  It was very inappropriate, and I know poking fun at a person’s religion and sexual orientation is not politically correct, but we both loved it.  The dancing was really excellent.  Great comedy, great show!  We ate deep dish pizza one evening because that is what Chicago is known for.  It was yummy.  We saw a fantastic fireworks show from the Navy Pier, and took water taxis several times – a boat ride along the shore of Lake Michigan instead of a taxi on the city streets.   Our vacation was a real treat for us.  What a wonderful time I got to share with Erin!  We both remarked that Someone (Erin’s daddy) would have been miserable on our vacation.

Entrance to the Navy Pier

Some of Chicago as seen from a water taxi

On the steps of Fields Museum - Willis Tower in the background (tallest building)

PrivateBank Theater, The Book of Mormon - our most memorable (and expensive) treat in Chicago  

Building diversity - newer and old

Newer buildings around very old building

Just inside Union Station (Chicago)

Union Station - marble floor, giant columns, guilded light posts...awesome building

University #1 is keeping me busy with three classes that started last Monday, and another class that will kick off on September 12th. For somebody who wanted to teach only online, three of my four classes are face to face.  No complaints; I’m grateful for the work.  University #2 has low enrollment right now.  After working steadily for a little more than a full year for them, I have no classes just now and no idea if or when I’ll get work again.  The next session also starts September 12th…I’m hoping they can give me a few classes.  Meanwhile, it’s time to update my CV and start applying again.  Rust never sleeps, and neither should I.             

morning rain

Gracie and I are just back from a glorious walk in the rain.  It wasn’t my intent to be in the rain, but that’s how things turned out.  Since my retirement and because there are no face-to-face classes going on just now, I’ve adopted a bad habit of lying in bed for an hour or so playing games on my iPad and looking at Facebook.  (Admittedly, it’s a huge waste of time but I’ve just not stopped doing it.)  Then it’s hop up, shower, do the get-ready-for-typical-day rut, log into my classes to see what’s going on, then take Miss Gracie for her new-habit morning walk.

Wet cane in the morning rain.

 Anyway, this morning there was a magnificent thunderstorm.  I shut off the alarm before it went off because Someone was already up (the thunder woke him, apparently, and then he woke me with all his morning thrashing around that he does).  I used to always get up before him, so maybe it’s just his way of paying me back.  Long story short, the storm changed my morning routine and I lingered too long in bed.  Rather than dry my hair first, I took Gracie for her walk because the rain had stopped.  Yes the sky was ominous, but we headed off – I take her to a remote road where there are rarely other dogs or people – she is snarly around strangers and aggressive with other dogs…it’s just easiest, plus we oftentimes see deer, groundhogs, and hawks there.  We were less than a quarter mile from the car when the rain started.  At one point, it was like a gully-washer, or frog-strangler, or whatever other name you like to give a hard, down-pouring rain.  By the time we got back to the car, we were both totally soaked.  It was great though…other than I don’t like wearing wet socks.  We came home and straight away I toweled Gracie off and took off my shoes and socks.  She is now sleeping blissfully beside my desk on her little rug, and Molly has made herself comfortable in an inconvenient spot beside my laptop – just like a cat does.  It’s cozy and lovely.  I’m grateful.

Miss Molly will have to move when I begin to work.  

 

I’m planning to drive to Flemingsburg today to visit Sarah.  I’m not eager to make to trip in the rain, but I miss her.  She has been gone to China and soon we will both be busy, very busy, again. 

Retirement has been great so far, although for the first few weeks it seemed more like vacation…probably because I’d not taken a vacation for a year.  On the first few days of retirement/vacation, I caught up on some housecleaning chores.  After that, cleaning house – all the things I thought I would be doing – just didn’t happen.  They still haven’t happened, and today would be a perfect day to work inside, but here I sit typing a blog post with three papers waiting to be read and evaluated, and a trip to Sarah’s planned for the rest of the day.  What’s wrong with me?  Obviously, no motivation.  That has to be it!

So tomorrow I have training to attend, and a haircut.  Thank the Lord!  My hair is a disaster lately.  Why do I always wait until it’s a wreck to schedule an appointment?  Why don’t I clean house while I have time?  Why don’t I get up earlier in the mornings instead of playing stupid games on my iPad?  I need to institute some time management and muster motivation.  Somehow.  I used to manage my time down to the last minute, and never look at the balance in my checkbook.  That has completely reversed.  Yeah – KYLady has decided to sign off here for now, and get started on something constructive.      

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Officially retired – June 30^th was the last day I worked for Big Oil.  It was not the kind of last day I expected.  There was cake and gifts, lots of hugs and tears from coworkers in my office, and lots and lots of phone calls from people, contractors, and vendors I’ve worked with for more than 20 years (some I’ve never met in person).  For one thing, I didn’t know people really cared so much whether I showed up or not.  The other thing is that I continued to get calls for help and requests for me to sit in on meetings…like clear up until I quit answering the phone at 5 PM.  The last two things I did were record my out-of-office voice message greeting and automatic email reply.  Signing off…forever. 

Packing up

So, I’ve been retired now for five business days (Monday was a holiday).  I think because I’ve not had a vacation since last summer, it only seems like a really great vacation so far – the kind I’ve always wanted to take but never did, where I just stay home for a whole week.  I’ve been messing around in the garden, reading, rummaging, and doing some house cleaning…but I’ve not done anything significant yet (besides scrub the kitchen floor…you just have no idea what kind of filth we live in here). 

There’s no rush, right?  Wrong…I have to get my office space cleaned up.  I dragged books and boxes of personal stuff home from the office and stacked it in my “office”…which is really still the dining room with a giant, piled up table, boxes of stuff from my brother’s house, boxes of dishes from my grandmothers (both of them), and just some boxes of miscellaneous crap that I think is mostly kids’ school papers (that I think can be trashed).  It’s such a cluttered mess it’s hard to work in.  Tomorrow – I start on it!  Er…well…maybe Monday.  Tomorrow is supposed to be clear and sunny – if so, I’m taking my kayak out.

I brought my office plants home.  The big one is a bit shaken up.  I set it in the darkest corner of the porch because I was worried that the afternoon sun might not agree with it.  Some leaves are turning yellow so perhaps it’s time to move it where it gets more light.  I good friend at one of the refineries shipped a splendid present to me – a bonsai gardenia.  Alas, it’s already failing; I doubt it will ever bloom before it dies.  It’s planted in a wonderful ceramic oval pot though.  When the gardenia dies, I’ll plant something else in it. 

My porch jungle :)

Corn plant in the darkest corner

Sarah gave me a whole tray of unusual succulents.  Now I must decide whether to repot all my succulents into one large bowl, or maintain two succulent gardens.  I’ve not decided yet, but a bigger bowl is on its way thanks to Amazon.  I can put them all in one, or just put the new ones in the new bowl.  At this point, my mind is not made up. 

Possibilities...

My flowers on the back porch make me happy.  The deer don’t eat what is planted on the porch (perhaps they are afraid to climb the steps).  I wish the Japanese Beetles were afraid of the steps.  The beetles eat the petunias and Verbena.  Every time I step outside, there are a dozen or so beetles munching away at my flowers.

Sarah’s friend is going to come and do some building for me.  She says if I show him a picture, he can build anything.  ANYTHING??  A potting bench, raised beds, a little greenhouse perhaps, a fire pit, perhaps some other landscaping, install a door (because I’m too impatient to do it), and do some repairs.  A talented handyman is worth more than his weight in gold.  

Gracie and I are spending more time together.  She’s my shadow.  

  

Nine

Counting down now…like, for real counting down.  Today was the 10th day, and now there are nine more days to work at Big Oil.  Admittedly, I’m going to miss some of the people at Big Oil – some of these people were here when I hired in, and I get to leave before them.  It’s OK, they are happy where they are…they certainly don’t have to stay.

I’m excited, and worried, and happy, and yes, even all the way scared.  It’s about the money, or the fear of having a shortage of it.  Well, it’s just silly.  Of course I will continue to pay the bills.  Of course!  If I thought I couldn’t pay the bills, I’d abort the whole plan and march my large floppity ass right back down into the dismal rut that has been my work life for the past way-too-many-years.  Burnout is a dreary thing, but the steady fat paycheck is a hard habit to break.

    

Saturday, I took a break from grading papers so that Someone and I could play a round of golf.  It’s the first time I’ve played golf in 2016.  It was ugly (my game, not the weather.)  Still, I managed a few pars and birdied a long par 3 which was completely delightful.  The other holes don’t matter.  I didn’t lose any golf balls, the course was nearly deserted and in good condition, so it was a spectacular afternoon.  I’ve still not taken my kayak out this year.  😞

Indulging in a few hours of leisure reminds me of my former life in an odd sort of way.  In my former life (pre-twins), even when there was only Sarah, but especially before her, there were great expanses of leisure time.  I could leave home for an entire weekend and go camping.  There was time to sew, paint, read, pick around on my guitar, do crafty things, cook, play piano, watch TV, organize things, and just mess around (you know, just do nothing in particular and waste time). 

Leisure completely ended when the twins were born.  Emily came home from the hospital with me a week before Erin was released.  It was perhaps within two days after both babies were home from the hospital that I looked up from whatever it was I was doing (probably changing a diaper) to see Sarah standing there, looking at me with such a pitiful, hopeless expression – she was only 8 years old then. 

“What’s wrong, honey?” I asked her.
She said, “You’re just never going to have any more time to play with me, are you?”
You can only imagine the guilt.  “Probably not for a long time,” I answered her, sadly.

Sarah has assured me many times that she loves her sisters and she's glad they were born.

About the time the twins became less needy, my folks (actually, my grandparents) became more needy.  In and out of nursing homes and hospitals, I made time to cook for them, take them to doctors, help them with stuff…all the way to the bitter end (and beyond) for both of them eventually.  Then it was going back to school, the doctorate, and then brother Richard took the place of grandparents as far as hospitals (and jail), and doing stuff for him.  His estate is still not settled, and I have one final promise to fulfill for him…something that will take a large investment of time.   

But soon, ladies and gentlemen, I’m taking back my life.  I’ve got BIG PLANS.  Not really….it’s more like lots of small plans.  But whatever, It’s going to be really, very good.      

goodbye to May

With yesterday as Memorial Day, we were graced with a three-day weekend.  It was WONDERFUL!!  Even though I only completed perhaps less than 30% of the tasks on my list, significant progress was made.  One task in particular that I’m always eager to get out of the way, is scrubbing down the screened porch so we can sit out there…as if I ever sit out there anymore…but I will be doing more of that this summer.  In fact, I could sit out there and work – we have power and Wi-Fi…all the necessities of work life right there in the midst of Mother Nature (not quite Mother Nature, but not far from it).  The porch and furniture is now free from dead bugs, bird droppings, cat and dog fur, and pollen (at east for now).  I’ve set my plants out there, and now realize I must buy a plant stand that will survive the great outdoors.  There are too many plants to set on the porch floor.  I am bringing home one very tall corn plant, one large spider plant, and two big philodendrons from work this month.  Those will go on the porch as well.  It’s going to be like a jungle!!! 

mini-jungle

Glad to have this out of my kitchen!!  It takes up lots of space.  

      

I planted stuff all weekend.  The garden has beans, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers, cucumbers, and cabbage.  For all my gardening readers who want more detail (you know who you are), we are growing Mountaineer half runners (beans), Silver Queen (corn), Marketmore (cukes), California Wonder (bell peppers), Hungarian Wax (banana peppers), Better Boy and Celebrity (tomatoes), and Bravo (cabbage).  Sadly, the cabbage is doing piss poor and there is nothing to cheer about if you saw the sickly plants.  I think we waited too late and it’s just too hot for them.  

Out there in the corner of the vegetable garden, I planted some zinnias and tall snapdragons.  Someone insists we need to cut down trees because our garden is shaded too much.  He whines so much about it, that I plant that corner in sun-loving flowers because he insists vegetables won’t grow there.  Silly city boy.  That’s fine.  I’ll grow pretty flowers to cut for bouquets, but I can’t really bring myself to cut them when they pretty.  While I was down low to the ground tonight planting my flowers, I saw this little reptilian cutie watching me.  He had dug a whole under the bean fence that is closest to my “shady” corner.  Someone will probably want to remove him, but I will advocate strongly for him to stay.  Turtles eat bugs (and I hate tomatoes, so he can have all of them that he wants).   

I never saw him blink

I planted flowers in pots and strawberry jars for the porch.  I also ripped out a whole row of overcrowded day lilies that were growing across the front of the house.  They are lovely when they bloom, but I haven’t seen one bloom in several years.  The deer eat all the buds before they open.  In place of the day lilies, I planted impatiens.  I think there may be too much sun for them to do well…we will see. 

I gave my poor succulent garden a revamp.  One plant survived well and one is still barely hanging on.  I put three new specimens in it.  I love it!!!  I want to add some more over the summer. 

More to come...

Someone and I took Gracie for a walk out to Greenbo earlier last week – the sky was overcast and the water like glass.  I have to get my kayak out soon.  Tomorrow is June and adventure is calling my name.  Green is my favorite color. 

My kayak wants to be over there

Earlier this month, just two days before our brother’s birthday, Mike and I visited the cemetery and set a gravestone for our brother.  I had no idea how heavy a chunk of granite is.  The concrete slab underneath was even heavier than the stone.  How very odd it was to see it there on the ground amongst all our other family members – a gravestone for our brother.  It was kind of like a family reunion. 

not forgotten