We rallied the troops this afternoon having cleared out some space on the single car side of the a garage. The life cycle, a seating bench, bookcase, Pilates chair and Pilates bench and arm chair are now in the garage waiting to be loaded onto the rental truck. We also have an oak book case in the living room - originally, we planned to take it with us (and the other one just like it from B's room) but in talking it through, we realized we honestly don't have any place for either unless it's for garage storage. So I think we've decided to possibly post it on the virtual garage sale for $10 [or even free] or just have Salvation Army come pick it up.
We're having Mountain Mike's pizza for dinner so everyone was happy about and looking forward to that feast which made the work easier.
We go back and forth between 'just get everything up there and we'll figure it out then' or 'why are we taking this with us again'? It's a constant discussion - but it's good. No point moving things if we don't have a purpose for them and realizing how much the moving part will cost is an eye opening 'so we're not taking anything if we don't plan to use it in the house'.
Before B. leaves next Sunday, we will do another round of moving heavier items down to the living room to get as ready as we can be for loading the truck.
We are taking some things that are 'they will work for now' items - because while we hope to buy new furniture for our dining area, that is a low(er) priority budget item than the move expenses, etc. . - so we may have to make do for a bit.
It feels really good to get those 'things' out of the house - we're making steady progress, albeit sometimes slowly. But we'll get there.
I managed to make it through today with no nap which will have me in bed an hour or so earlier - I've been sleeping in until after 7 which is LOVELY - but I like my quiet, dawn is breaking mornings and think I'll eventually be back to up around 6. I feel more rested than I have in a long time - and that's a welcome perk of retirement.
We've been roughing up the backyard soil and plan to add some new top soil and then toss down some grass seed and see what happens. $80 investment that might work and we'll be no worse off if it doesn't. (Down $80 but oh well. Worth a try). I was excited to order some fast growing ground cover from our 'go-to' High Country Garden site - but those plants don't ship until September so that won't work. We'll hopefully have the house sold at that point.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Retired Week 1
There won't be a weekly synopsis of retirement, I promise - but it's hard to believe it's been a full week already! It's flown by!
I've enjoyed plenty of down time but I'm working hard at doing stuff daily - and that's pretty easy 'cuz there's quite a bit to do around the homestead.
Last night, J. and I went Home Depot and got some supplies we need to do a few things around the homestead. The list of things that need attention are growing daily - most recently is the heater in the pool/spa isn't working and the sheet fountain pump isn't working either. We're planning for doing what we can to ensure a smooth sale - but we're not a bottomless pit of funds these days - I get my last monthly paycheck in two days. I'll get a check in July but it will be paid out vacation and most of it is going to the IRS. (I've been working mostly to send a bucket load of cash to the feds every month since March).
I'm heading to Reno on Friday for my 'Retirement Lalapalooza'. A few days of my happy place solo - plenty of time for vegging on the computer, watching TV, reading, sleeping, eating, gambling, maybe a spa visit. I've been looking forward to this so long -
We got the estimate from the movers for the 'staging' load up to storage - the quote was very close to $5,000. No way we're doing that. (And now I truly fear calling a full-service moving company to give us a quote on moving us up to Carson City - my $25,000 budget for those expenses might not be too far off). Going the route of PODs seems the way to go but it involves way more work on our part than a pack and go service. We are going to hire some hourly labor to assist with packing and loading and we won't have to do most of that until the house is in escrow and sold.
So J. and his friend R. are renting a box truck and taking up the load of all the things we think we can move down and/or out to the garage [to prep for loading the rental] up to the storage unit. We've listed all the things we want to move out to prep the house for sale - removing extra things to give the house a more spacious feel. (It's 3,200 square feet so it's spacious by definition? But making the house look like no one lives here involves removing a lot of stuff before people start trekking through). They plan to head up on the 8th and back on the 9th.
We have reservations to go up on the August 12th for 3 nights - it's the annual Chalk Art Festival. It's loads of fun but the main reason we were going was to make a trip up to check on the house and take stuff to storage - so I think we'll skip that trip. We'll plan to go up in early August and see how the house is coming along.
J. and B. had a great time in Reno - I was really glad B. had fun - he enjoys it up there. He also won a couple hundred dollars playing black jack so that may have something to do with his 'fun quotient'.
I took a nap yesterday and today but I don't plan to do that daily - getting caught up on rest feels great!
Even with a nap, it's approaching 9:30 and I'm feeling ready for a great night's sleep.
I love retirement! It's amazing - busy but no pressure. Lots to do and deadlines abound but...it's things that benefit us entirely - and it's so great to know that we can and will get it all done - it's all on US now - not just J. (who's always done an amazing amount around the homestead). We've got this covered - one day, one daily task list at a time.
H. and J. went to San Mateo this morning - H. is schedule to do his community service on Saturday, July 6th. He was on time there this morning so they gave him credit for a day of service. (As a citizen who thinks penalties for crimes should be stiff, it's a little disappointing to realize that they are giving people credit for things that should be expectations in general - but as the parent of someone who has to do service in a town 50 miles away (and that drive takes 2+ hours to make), I'm grateful for one less day to get him there - and one less day he has to miss work. We paid his fines and he submitted the paperwork for low income consideration to possibly reduce his public defender fees. He'll be making monthly payments to us to cover what we paid for him - he doesn't have a checking account that allows writing checks and it's way easier to just pay it and have him pay us every other week out of his paycheck. He's also attending his DUI class every Wednesday (he missed today for a court date which is OK).
He's getting closer to getting things resolved so he can make arrangements to head to Houston. He's ready for a change. He's is a huge help these days - asks pretty regularly what he can do to help us, follow through on things and generally does what he can to be helpful and present.
I've enjoyed plenty of down time but I'm working hard at doing stuff daily - and that's pretty easy 'cuz there's quite a bit to do around the homestead.
Last night, J. and I went Home Depot and got some supplies we need to do a few things around the homestead. The list of things that need attention are growing daily - most recently is the heater in the pool/spa isn't working and the sheet fountain pump isn't working either. We're planning for doing what we can to ensure a smooth sale - but we're not a bottomless pit of funds these days - I get my last monthly paycheck in two days. I'll get a check in July but it will be paid out vacation and most of it is going to the IRS. (I've been working mostly to send a bucket load of cash to the feds every month since March).
I'm heading to Reno on Friday for my 'Retirement Lalapalooza'. A few days of my happy place solo - plenty of time for vegging on the computer, watching TV, reading, sleeping, eating, gambling, maybe a spa visit. I've been looking forward to this so long -
We got the estimate from the movers for the 'staging' load up to storage - the quote was very close to $5,000. No way we're doing that. (And now I truly fear calling a full-service moving company to give us a quote on moving us up to Carson City - my $25,000 budget for those expenses might not be too far off). Going the route of PODs seems the way to go but it involves way more work on our part than a pack and go service. We are going to hire some hourly labor to assist with packing and loading and we won't have to do most of that until the house is in escrow and sold.
So J. and his friend R. are renting a box truck and taking up the load of all the things we think we can move down and/or out to the garage [to prep for loading the rental] up to the storage unit. We've listed all the things we want to move out to prep the house for sale - removing extra things to give the house a more spacious feel. (It's 3,200 square feet so it's spacious by definition? But making the house look like no one lives here involves removing a lot of stuff before people start trekking through). They plan to head up on the 8th and back on the 9th.
We have reservations to go up on the August 12th for 3 nights - it's the annual Chalk Art Festival. It's loads of fun but the main reason we were going was to make a trip up to check on the house and take stuff to storage - so I think we'll skip that trip. We'll plan to go up in early August and see how the house is coming along.
J. and B. had a great time in Reno - I was really glad B. had fun - he enjoys it up there. He also won a couple hundred dollars playing black jack so that may have something to do with his 'fun quotient'.
I took a nap yesterday and today but I don't plan to do that daily - getting caught up on rest feels great!
Even with a nap, it's approaching 9:30 and I'm feeling ready for a great night's sleep.
I love retirement! It's amazing - busy but no pressure. Lots to do and deadlines abound but...it's things that benefit us entirely - and it's so great to know that we can and will get it all done - it's all on US now - not just J. (who's always done an amazing amount around the homestead). We've got this covered - one day, one daily task list at a time.
H. and J. went to San Mateo this morning - H. is schedule to do his community service on Saturday, July 6th. He was on time there this morning so they gave him credit for a day of service. (As a citizen who thinks penalties for crimes should be stiff, it's a little disappointing to realize that they are giving people credit for things that should be expectations in general - but as the parent of someone who has to do service in a town 50 miles away (and that drive takes 2+ hours to make), I'm grateful for one less day to get him there - and one less day he has to miss work. We paid his fines and he submitted the paperwork for low income consideration to possibly reduce his public defender fees. He'll be making monthly payments to us to cover what we paid for him - he doesn't have a checking account that allows writing checks and it's way easier to just pay it and have him pay us every other week out of his paycheck. He's also attending his DUI class every Wednesday (he missed today for a court date which is OK).
He's getting closer to getting things resolved so he can make arrangements to head to Houston. He's ready for a change. He's is a huge help these days - asks pretty regularly what he can do to help us, follow through on things and generally does what he can to be helpful and present.
Monday, June 24, 2019
Job Search
I signed on to the Carson City School District job search listing a while back - just keeping my eyes open for anything that might be something to do on a part-time (maybe full-time) basis at some point.
I branched out and signed on to a 'Nevada Jobs' jobs list too - and it suggested a 'Driver' position. I thought 'cool, I could drive part-time'.
Pizza Hut. No. Not happening. IF I ever decide to work again, it won't be doing pizza delivery.
I branched out and signed on to a 'Nevada Jobs' jobs list too - and it suggested a 'Driver' position. I thought 'cool, I could drive part-time'.
Pizza Hut. No. Not happening. IF I ever decide to work again, it won't be doing pizza delivery.
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Blissful Sunday
The first Sunday when I don't have to go to work on Monday - ever! Lovely feeling -
H. helped me tackle the bottom half of the pantry and we made huge progress. I've run the dishwasher a couple times and will be packing up an assortment of canisters and storage containers to take to storage eventually. Cleaning it out reminds us of just how much space is wasted in our current 'corner' pantry - still hard to put stuff in it because it ends up being out of sight and unreachable. That was confirmed today based on the amount of stuff we found and tossed because it had been out of sight for a long time.
I can't wait for our new, spacious, lovely pantry combined with more than adequate cupboard space in our new kitchen -
I started the day doing a 20 minute workout cleaning the tile grout and tiles in the family room.
In addition to the pantry work, we cleaned the sliding door track - sprinkled baking soda on the track and then added some white vinegar and let the chemical reaction do most of the work. It worked pretty well.
I'm waiting for the outside temp to drop a bit and I'm going out to do a good watering on the patio pots - including soaking two very well so I can pull the plants out - we've been letting some plants that are gangling and not growing well go - along with some broken/cracked patio pots. Not moving stuff we won't use.
I told J. that I felt sad that I will be gone next weekend so we'll have two weekends without each other - I feel off kilter when he's not here - and he said 'BUT we'll have 4.5 days TOGETHER before that weekend because YOU ARE RETIRED!'. He's right. Feels awesome.
Tomorrow, we have a Facetime call scheduled with a moving company - we are getting an estimate on the labor and transportation for them to take a truckload of stuff up to storage - things that we want to stage for the house. If the quote comes in super high (we have no idea even what 'super high' will be, honestly), then we'll go back to planning to use a POD for staging and we'll hire hourly help for packing and loading. We are completely not able to load the big items we have into a pod - treadmill and Life Cycle, for example - and a bunch of other furniture items.
J. and B. reorganized the storage unit a bit while they were there this weekend to make room for bigger items. Fingers crossed the quote is something we feel is reasonable.
Other than that 'commitment' tomorrow afternoon and a haircut Tuesday afternoon, I'm pretty much 'clear schedule' for the rest of the week - time to keep doing stuff around the homestead in preparation for listing and selling the house.
There have been SO MANY fireflies darting about this weekend - it brings tears to my eyes to see so many because I know it's my Mom and Dad and someone else flitting about. They get my attention by hanging out by the study window and then as soon as I see them, they dart off. Always makes me smile (even with some tears) and feel joy - because I truly think they are here with me. I always feel that but especially when fireflies show up.
I'm making a loaf pan angel food cake for no other reason than that the mix was in the pantry and I want to use it up. :-) The kids appreciate the treats. (I do, too).
H. helped me tackle the bottom half of the pantry and we made huge progress. I've run the dishwasher a couple times and will be packing up an assortment of canisters and storage containers to take to storage eventually. Cleaning it out reminds us of just how much space is wasted in our current 'corner' pantry - still hard to put stuff in it because it ends up being out of sight and unreachable. That was confirmed today based on the amount of stuff we found and tossed because it had been out of sight for a long time.
I can't wait for our new, spacious, lovely pantry combined with more than adequate cupboard space in our new kitchen -
I started the day doing a 20 minute workout cleaning the tile grout and tiles in the family room.
In addition to the pantry work, we cleaned the sliding door track - sprinkled baking soda on the track and then added some white vinegar and let the chemical reaction do most of the work. It worked pretty well.
I'm waiting for the outside temp to drop a bit and I'm going out to do a good watering on the patio pots - including soaking two very well so I can pull the plants out - we've been letting some plants that are gangling and not growing well go - along with some broken/cracked patio pots. Not moving stuff we won't use.
I told J. that I felt sad that I will be gone next weekend so we'll have two weekends without each other - I feel off kilter when he's not here - and he said 'BUT we'll have 4.5 days TOGETHER before that weekend because YOU ARE RETIRED!'. He's right. Feels awesome.
Tomorrow, we have a Facetime call scheduled with a moving company - we are getting an estimate on the labor and transportation for them to take a truckload of stuff up to storage - things that we want to stage for the house. If the quote comes in super high (we have no idea even what 'super high' will be, honestly), then we'll go back to planning to use a POD for staging and we'll hire hourly help for packing and loading. We are completely not able to load the big items we have into a pod - treadmill and Life Cycle, for example - and a bunch of other furniture items.
J. and B. reorganized the storage unit a bit while they were there this weekend to make room for bigger items. Fingers crossed the quote is something we feel is reasonable.
Other than that 'commitment' tomorrow afternoon and a haircut Tuesday afternoon, I'm pretty much 'clear schedule' for the rest of the week - time to keep doing stuff around the homestead in preparation for listing and selling the house.
There have been SO MANY fireflies darting about this weekend - it brings tears to my eyes to see so many because I know it's my Mom and Dad and someone else flitting about. They get my attention by hanging out by the study window and then as soon as I see them, they dart off. Always makes me smile (even with some tears) and feel joy - because I truly think they are here with me. I always feel that but especially when fireflies show up.
I'm making a loaf pan angel food cake for no other reason than that the mix was in the pantry and I want to use it up. :-) The kids appreciate the treats. (I do, too).
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Missing J.
The study is super quiet. H. is upstairs watching movies or playing games or sleeping. We tried to order Door Dash from his favorite Mexican food place but they weren't accepting orders so we went there. The place was packed and I guess the last thing they needed was computer orders coming in as the fed a full house plus people like us getting takeout.
Chloe is on her best behavior - no whining at all - she waited until 3PM for her dinner (she starts fretting loudly around 2PM when J. is here) and she waited patiently for her small 'seconds' until after 5. Then did her shot (she is amazing at the shot part - really - we are so lucky she is so good about it) and her small diabetic dog treats (which now come in a super mini size so it's way less treat than it used to be but she doesn't notice - and J. doesn't have to use a meat cleaver and mallet to break the treats up for her like he used to) and her 'cranberry' bladder treat - and now she's konked out in her bed.
She peed a river between when J. and B. headed out the door this morning and me returning from Hayward - so I need to Bona mop the floor in the study.
I took the stove apart and put all the pieces in the dishwasher and ran it. Tomorrow, H. and I will work on the pantry -
It's just after 6:30PM and I feel sleepy. But I'll try to get a couple quick things done - the floor, putting the stove back together and then reloading the dishwasher - small things.
When we cleaned the pantry, we found all kinds of 'treats' so H. and I cooked up a storm Thursday. We made Jell-o - mixed berry - and must have not used quite enough water because the Jell-o is very firm. I actually like it that way - it sort of 'peels' off the pan and you can eat it like a gummy, almost. It's delicious! We also made flan - but the caramel that was included in the kit was a bit 'aged' - so for some of the ramekins, we used honey instead - and I really like the honey flan even more than the caramel version!
I miss J. . Things always feel overwhelming when he's not here. I walk around thinking "I can do all this. I can do it". But I wish he were home 'cuz it's too quiet and feels lonely.
I'll get a great night's sleep - that is something I've really noticed - I am sleeping so much better. Wake up once for the bathroom but NO RUMINATING. No work thoughts intruding on rest and it's WONDERFUL! Get up early tomorrow because Chloe can't wait - and enjoy the quiet of a new day dawning. I love mornings and while I enjoy sleeping in a bit now and then, I would miss it if I didn't have the quiet morning time I'm used to.
I'll keep busy tomorrow, get a lot done around the house and miss J. and B. all day - but will enjoy time with H. . He's a tremendous help these days - which is much appreciated!
Chloe is on her best behavior - no whining at all - she waited until 3PM for her dinner (she starts fretting loudly around 2PM when J. is here) and she waited patiently for her small 'seconds' until after 5. Then did her shot (she is amazing at the shot part - really - we are so lucky she is so good about it) and her small diabetic dog treats (which now come in a super mini size so it's way less treat than it used to be but she doesn't notice - and J. doesn't have to use a meat cleaver and mallet to break the treats up for her like he used to) and her 'cranberry' bladder treat - and now she's konked out in her bed.
She peed a river between when J. and B. headed out the door this morning and me returning from Hayward - so I need to Bona mop the floor in the study.
I took the stove apart and put all the pieces in the dishwasher and ran it. Tomorrow, H. and I will work on the pantry -
It's just after 6:30PM and I feel sleepy. But I'll try to get a couple quick things done - the floor, putting the stove back together and then reloading the dishwasher - small things.
When we cleaned the pantry, we found all kinds of 'treats' so H. and I cooked up a storm Thursday. We made Jell-o - mixed berry - and must have not used quite enough water because the Jell-o is very firm. I actually like it that way - it sort of 'peels' off the pan and you can eat it like a gummy, almost. It's delicious! We also made flan - but the caramel that was included in the kit was a bit 'aged' - so for some of the ramekins, we used honey instead - and I really like the honey flan even more than the caramel version!
I miss J. . Things always feel overwhelming when he's not here. I walk around thinking "I can do all this. I can do it". But I wish he were home 'cuz it's too quiet and feels lonely.
I'll get a great night's sleep - that is something I've really noticed - I am sleeping so much better. Wake up once for the bathroom but NO RUMINATING. No work thoughts intruding on rest and it's WONDERFUL! Get up early tomorrow because Chloe can't wait - and enjoy the quiet of a new day dawning. I love mornings and while I enjoy sleeping in a bit now and then, I would miss it if I didn't have the quiet morning time I'm used to.
I'll keep busy tomorrow, get a lot done around the house and miss J. and B. all day - but will enjoy time with H. . He's a tremendous help these days - which is much appreciated!
Friday, June 21, 2019
Two Days In
End of my second full day of retirement and I'm feeling pretty good. I've wedged in plenty of 'me' time; slept in this morning until 6:40 (and thank you to J. who got up early with the dog).
H. and I tackled the pantry yesterday - his long arms make reaching back to get stuff more forward so I can go through it so much easier. We threw out TONS of stuff and tomorrow, we plan to do more of the same for the lower pantry.
I am going to Hayward tomorrow to see my counselor K. - and then I'll head back to Tracy. J. and B. are heading up to Reno/Carson City tomorrow for two nights. They are playing golf on the course we will be living on - nine holes on Sunday morning. J. was a little disappointed that the front nine aren't available - just the back - so they won't be playing near our new house. But it will still be fun.
Our neighbor (and realtor in Nevada) sent us a pic of the pad - the lot is officially graded and the pad has been created. J. had a text conversation with our builder S. who said he thinks the foundation crew will be on the lot shortly.
I'm heading up there this coming Friday for a few days of R&R - I'm really looking forward to the time away - it's sort of a nice 'celebration' of work being over with.
There's still LOTS of work to do - no mistake about that - and I have felt a bit overwhelmed in the two days that I've had off. But we're trying to tackle things little by little. We have a mover giving us an estimate on taking a massive load of stuff up to the storage unit and J. is making calls to get additional estimates on one truck load of stuff up as well as hourly help to load PODs when the time comes to do that.
Late yesterday, I saw a work email (my phone is still connected to the mail server at our County Office but it won't be for long) - and I read it. MAJOR issue that could affect one of the documents we were required to have approved by the Board and submit to our COE. My stomach clenched....sort of by habit? And then I realized 'Majah, you don't have anything to do with that anymore. It's not your responsibility and you don't have to worry about it'. And the huge weight lifted while my stomach relaxed.
The days of fretting about work on 'days off' are over. EVERY DAY is a day off!! Woot woot!
H. and I tackled the pantry yesterday - his long arms make reaching back to get stuff more forward so I can go through it so much easier. We threw out TONS of stuff and tomorrow, we plan to do more of the same for the lower pantry.
I am going to Hayward tomorrow to see my counselor K. - and then I'll head back to Tracy. J. and B. are heading up to Reno/Carson City tomorrow for two nights. They are playing golf on the course we will be living on - nine holes on Sunday morning. J. was a little disappointed that the front nine aren't available - just the back - so they won't be playing near our new house. But it will still be fun.
Our neighbor (and realtor in Nevada) sent us a pic of the pad - the lot is officially graded and the pad has been created. J. had a text conversation with our builder S. who said he thinks the foundation crew will be on the lot shortly.
I'm heading up there this coming Friday for a few days of R&R - I'm really looking forward to the time away - it's sort of a nice 'celebration' of work being over with.
There's still LOTS of work to do - no mistake about that - and I have felt a bit overwhelmed in the two days that I've had off. But we're trying to tackle things little by little. We have a mover giving us an estimate on taking a massive load of stuff up to the storage unit and J. is making calls to get additional estimates on one truck load of stuff up as well as hourly help to load PODs when the time comes to do that.
Late yesterday, I saw a work email (my phone is still connected to the mail server at our County Office but it won't be for long) - and I read it. MAJOR issue that could affect one of the documents we were required to have approved by the Board and submit to our COE. My stomach clenched....sort of by habit? And then I realized 'Majah, you don't have anything to do with that anymore. It's not your responsibility and you don't have to worry about it'. And the huge weight lifted while my stomach relaxed.
The days of fretting about work on 'days off' are over. EVERY DAY is a day off!! Woot woot!
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Officially Retired!!
What a busy week it's been.
I woke up early Monday and my first thought was 'this is the LAST time you have to set an alarm on a Monday unless you're taking transportation to somewhere. Ship, plane, train - I'll set alarm. Day to day? Never -
Around 2PM on Monday, I looked up from what I was working on to see people coming up the ramp to our building door. They entered and a person in a black t-shirt and black slacks walked by my window - followed by J. . So I thought the 1st person was H. - but NO! It was B.! Surprised AGAIN by the sneaky guy - and he'd even surprised J. . The plan HAD been for him to get here Wednesday (I was expecting him Saturday morning) but then he surprised J. by arriving on Monday - got a friend to pick him up. H. was in on it - (he was there for the surprise, too) and the two of them were super pleased with themselves that they'd pulled it off. B. had just phoned us on Sunday and said 'so I have on more week of work'. Liar. LOL.
So he's here - and surprise number two is that it sounds like he's not going to Florida for the 4th of July - he'll be here with us for close to three full weeks. It will be fun -
Tuesday absolutely flew by - which I really wasn't expecting because it was a 12+ hour day. I had a lot of reviews to give so there were appointments throughout the day to get those done - and the next thing I knew, it was time to head to the Board meeting.
A text from my boss shortly before the meeting invited me to join the Board in closed session to give me time to say a few words to all of them. He followed the text with stopping by my office - and noticed FIRST THING that my hair had some purple streaks in it. We've had a running joke since his first month as our Superintendent - I said 'you'll know I'm retiring because I will have purple hair'. And he said 'CBO's can't have purple hair'. Game on, dude. My assistant has daughters and she brought me a 'hair crayon' - I was able to add streaks of purple and it really worked well.
It was a lovely time - they are an amazing board who focus on kids and I wanted them to know how much easier all the jobs we do in the district are because we follow their lead - focus on the students and what's best for them and you can't go wrong.
My boss did a public acknowledgement during his Superintendent's Report as well which was lovely. My 'last meeting'. When the budget was approved, they thanked me - and I said 'I am so excited to have my LAST budget done that I could literally turn a cartwheel! I won't - because I might hurt myself - but I sure want to!.
Home a bit before 8 and couldn't unwind. Headed to shower (didn't want to go to bed with the purple streaks - might rub off on my pillows and it made my hair feel 'stiff') and went to bed around 10 - SUPER late for me.
Today flew by!! I had a huge list of things to do post board meeting - the new CBO was at a conference today and tomorrow and I'd offered to do the things required for getting the budget docs to our County Office as well as a host of other tasks that needed doing - including another review to give that had me meeting someone at Starbucks. My team and I did a final lunch together - Jasmine Thai here in Tracy which is FANTASTIC Thai food - and before I knew it, it was 2PM - an hour past my goal (to leave at 1PM) but not bad. My team helped me gather up the last of my stuff and walked me to my car. As I pulled out of the parking lot and they were heading into our back door (to our building) I honked the horn repeatedly as I left.
I tried to feel choked up - but I wasn't. I will miss my friends - truly, I will. But they are friends and by definition, I think we will be in touch. But I'm more than ready for the next chapter.
I'm planning to enjoy 4 low key days - being productive around the homestead but adding in some pool time, down time, computer time and just resting a bit. Letting my mind de-stress and training myself to let go of the myriad of 'work' thoughts that creep into my mind on a regular basis.
It's been a lovely career, JSD - I'm grateful - so blessed. But I'm also ready to let work go - so very ready!
I woke up early Monday and my first thought was 'this is the LAST time you have to set an alarm on a Monday unless you're taking transportation to somewhere. Ship, plane, train - I'll set alarm. Day to day? Never -
Around 2PM on Monday, I looked up from what I was working on to see people coming up the ramp to our building door. They entered and a person in a black t-shirt and black slacks walked by my window - followed by J. . So I thought the 1st person was H. - but NO! It was B.! Surprised AGAIN by the sneaky guy - and he'd even surprised J. . The plan HAD been for him to get here Wednesday (I was expecting him Saturday morning) but then he surprised J. by arriving on Monday - got a friend to pick him up. H. was in on it - (he was there for the surprise, too) and the two of them were super pleased with themselves that they'd pulled it off. B. had just phoned us on Sunday and said 'so I have on more week of work'. Liar. LOL.
So he's here - and surprise number two is that it sounds like he's not going to Florida for the 4th of July - he'll be here with us for close to three full weeks. It will be fun -
Tuesday absolutely flew by - which I really wasn't expecting because it was a 12+ hour day. I had a lot of reviews to give so there were appointments throughout the day to get those done - and the next thing I knew, it was time to head to the Board meeting.
A text from my boss shortly before the meeting invited me to join the Board in closed session to give me time to say a few words to all of them. He followed the text with stopping by my office - and noticed FIRST THING that my hair had some purple streaks in it. We've had a running joke since his first month as our Superintendent - I said 'you'll know I'm retiring because I will have purple hair'. And he said 'CBO's can't have purple hair'. Game on, dude. My assistant has daughters and she brought me a 'hair crayon' - I was able to add streaks of purple and it really worked well.
It was a lovely time - they are an amazing board who focus on kids and I wanted them to know how much easier all the jobs we do in the district are because we follow their lead - focus on the students and what's best for them and you can't go wrong.
My boss did a public acknowledgement during his Superintendent's Report as well which was lovely. My 'last meeting'. When the budget was approved, they thanked me - and I said 'I am so excited to have my LAST budget done that I could literally turn a cartwheel! I won't - because I might hurt myself - but I sure want to!.
Home a bit before 8 and couldn't unwind. Headed to shower (didn't want to go to bed with the purple streaks - might rub off on my pillows and it made my hair feel 'stiff') and went to bed around 10 - SUPER late for me.
Today flew by!! I had a huge list of things to do post board meeting - the new CBO was at a conference today and tomorrow and I'd offered to do the things required for getting the budget docs to our County Office as well as a host of other tasks that needed doing - including another review to give that had me meeting someone at Starbucks. My team and I did a final lunch together - Jasmine Thai here in Tracy which is FANTASTIC Thai food - and before I knew it, it was 2PM - an hour past my goal (to leave at 1PM) but not bad. My team helped me gather up the last of my stuff and walked me to my car. As I pulled out of the parking lot and they were heading into our back door (to our building) I honked the horn repeatedly as I left.
I tried to feel choked up - but I wasn't. I will miss my friends - truly, I will. But they are friends and by definition, I think we will be in touch. But I'm more than ready for the next chapter.
I'm planning to enjoy 4 low key days - being productive around the homestead but adding in some pool time, down time, computer time and just resting a bit. Letting my mind de-stress and training myself to let go of the myriad of 'work' thoughts that creep into my mind on a regular basis.
It's been a lovely career, JSD - I'm grateful - so blessed. But I'm also ready to let work go - so very ready!
Sad Sundays
Sundays are usually sad, right? 'cuz you know the work week approaches and there's nothing you can do. The sun is starting it's descent and you know it will soon be time to get yourself up to bed and get ready for the week - try to start it off with a good night's sleep.
My cousin S. reminded me that TODAY is the last depressing Sunday I will ever have! Tomorrow is the LAST Monday I will work - ever! Or at least for a while and possibly (most likely) forever.
Monday, Tuesday and a short day Wednesday will be it for me. Tuesday will be super long (Board meeting day) but I'm going to go to Stockton in the early morning to get the District Office staff a batch of Krispy Kreme donuts for a treat - so I'll get to the office a bit late.
I've still got a few things to do - my personal stuff is mostly packed but there's a few things left. Bottle of Excedrin, some Arbonne Fizz sticks - things that I need to get me through the last few days.
My best friend C. is in Wisconsin so we said our goodbyes last Thursday - first time I cried. Exchanged some small reminders to each other and promised to do dinner soon and then stay in touch when we're in Nevada. It's about equal distance for us to get to Sacramento area - and/or Jackson. We'll try to meet up on occasion and hopefully, she'll come stay and visit.
We're both wired so much the same that turning our friendship from a work friendship to a 'let's visit' friendship will challenge us both - but we're also wired to truly want to be in touch - and I feel like we will. We'll realize that seeing each other in the morning with bed-head is a survivable event in a true friendship.
I enjoyed my final weekend of recovering from work and we managed to get a few things done. Did some work in the garage and outside.
B. arrives this coming Saturday and I have an appointment in Hayward Saturday morning and will go to Oakland Airport to get him after my appointment. He and J. are heading to Reno that afternoon - B. wanted to go and Saturday through Monday worked best for him with other things he's got planned during his visit home.
My cousin S. reminded me that TODAY is the last depressing Sunday I will ever have! Tomorrow is the LAST Monday I will work - ever! Or at least for a while and possibly (most likely) forever.
Monday, Tuesday and a short day Wednesday will be it for me. Tuesday will be super long (Board meeting day) but I'm going to go to Stockton in the early morning to get the District Office staff a batch of Krispy Kreme donuts for a treat - so I'll get to the office a bit late.
I've still got a few things to do - my personal stuff is mostly packed but there's a few things left. Bottle of Excedrin, some Arbonne Fizz sticks - things that I need to get me through the last few days.
My best friend C. is in Wisconsin so we said our goodbyes last Thursday - first time I cried. Exchanged some small reminders to each other and promised to do dinner soon and then stay in touch when we're in Nevada. It's about equal distance for us to get to Sacramento area - and/or Jackson. We'll try to meet up on occasion and hopefully, she'll come stay and visit.
We're both wired so much the same that turning our friendship from a work friendship to a 'let's visit' friendship will challenge us both - but we're also wired to truly want to be in touch - and I feel like we will. We'll realize that seeing each other in the morning with bed-head is a survivable event in a true friendship.
I enjoyed my final weekend of recovering from work and we managed to get a few things done. Did some work in the garage and outside.
B. arrives this coming Saturday and I have an appointment in Hayward Saturday morning and will go to Oakland Airport to get him after my appointment. He and J. are heading to Reno that afternoon - B. wanted to go and Saturday through Monday worked best for him with other things he's got planned during his visit home.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Hanging by a Mom
We did make it to Reno the weekend after the last post - heck or high water, we went. J. had a concert on Saturday evening so he was planning to go up for one night - and that enabled H. to decide to join us - he wasn't sure if he would be working on Sunday but if J. was coming home on Saturday, he had options. So we trekked up - J. made a quick trip to Livermore to drop off Chloe at her 'puppy spa' for a few days - and on Friday morning, we loaded up the cars and headed up.
We made good time - somehow J. got behind me a bit - so I ended up at Atlantis before him. I waited in the car because it was loaded with stuff and even though it was mid-day, I didn't want to risk a break in.
I have Sirius radio in my car - a 'treat' when they offered a deeply reduced monthly charge to add it. I've always sort of shrugged my shoulders about satellite radio - J. had it when he was commuting because that passed the time and gave him a very broad variety - but now, mostly around town, it seems silly to pay. I do, however, have to admit that I'm enjoying it. I listen to a few stations and love them - especially when I hear songs from my younger days - isn't amazing how songs can take your right back?
I was sitting in my car and Lifehouse's 'Hanging by a Moment' came on - only the title was truncated on the display to 'Hanging by a Mom'. Lifehouse is a group the boys and I both loved in their younger years. And right then, J. and H. pulled in - and I was rocking out to the song in my car, knowing this would be a life memory. "I'm falling even more in love with YOU!" (pointing to J. and then adding 'and you, too, H.'), and said to H. 'and it says "Hanging by a Mom" which seems oddly right somehow, you know'? All smiles and laughs and giggles. I headed to the casino host office, checked in and got our keys and then we headed straight for Carson City.
When you're heading south from Reno, it always seems like it should be already 'in Carson City' long before it is - it's about 25 minutes or so. I'd been telling J. 'and when we go to storage, I'm going to head back to Atlantis and you and H. can go see the house'. (H. had said to me earlier in the day that he'd really like to come to the casino with me instead of the house - but I said 'we'll see'). It's just that I want to GET to Atlantis and my happy place ASAP.
I don't know why, but as we were approaching the last curve in the road and the next exit was our house's exit, I called J. and said 'let's go to the house NOW - do the house before and then head to storage'. He agreed.
Again, I somehow arrived to the approaching street a wee bit sooner than J. and was blocked by a huge truck offloading trusses and lumber. I did a 3-point turn and turned around - calling J. to say that we couldn't get through to the house. He was coming towards me - and he got to the same truck - and by then, I was now past him, looking back at our lot - and THERE WAS A BULLDOZER! ON OUR LOT! I yelled into the phone 'J., there's a bulldozer and it's on our lot and it's MOVING!!'.
The truck guys came over and told J. 'it's OK - just drive on the sidewalk to get around us' - so he told me that and we did. And there it was! Actual work being done on our site. It was so exciting! And I think the excavation crew got a big kick out of how excited we were - I was so glad we stopped because if we'd gone to storage first, we'd have missed them for sure. It was sprinkling and they wouldn't work much longer - so we got there just in the nick of time. Super excited!!
Next to storage, two more car loads full of stuff and we even brought a big shelf unit that we'd broken down from the garage. J. (bless his heart) stayed to put it together and H. and I headed to the casino.
It was a lovely weekend. H. didn't need to work on Sunday but he decided to head home with J. on Saturday morning - and while I missed them both, I was sort of glad for the time alone. I had a lovely weekend - no big wins but played a long time on not too much money - brought quite a bit home so I live to play another day.
As you can see, we are officially approaching mid-June. Lots to report. Condensed version.
Open house party was loads of fun. It's strange and un-nerving to hear the sweet, kind things people say about you. I told my friend C. 'it's like your eulogy, only you're in the room and very much alive'. It was a lovely afternoon and the gifts were amazing. A beautiful 'throw' that has my name and years of service on it - beach themed. A $500 Disney gift card and some beautiful framed Disney 'patent' drawings - what Disney submitted to the patent office for various rides and features in the park. And a really pretty Pooh painting - personalized. (I need to note that the very expensive, incredibly generous gifts came from two friends who work for an architect firm - I've known and worked with them a long time and they spoiled me rotten). It was lovely.
Cabinet hosted a breakfast in my honor - lots of amazing food and treats and it sure made the morning go by quickly - it was lovely.
My team surprised me with a lunch and card, beautiful flowers. Another lovely day.
And just this past Friday, the entire Admin team surprised me with dinner - J. was in on the surprise and it was lovely. And their incredibly generous gift was Atlantis Gift Cards and a box of super nice golf balls for J. - I'm going to have a spa day (or two or three) and J. will play golf! So nice of them - truly kind -
I have seven days remaining and am seriously considering taking a couple days off - Friday and Monday. We have two Board meetings for budget - this Thursday and then next Tuesday. And my last work day will be next Wednesday. The days go by a bit more slowly at the moment and while there's still plenty to do, it is a slower pace and I'm more than ready to be done. I've got a list of things I need to get to - and if I get them all squared away, I think I will use some time to be off for a long weekend.
Budget got done - even with the weekend in Reno AND another lost weekend when our finance system was down completely due to electrical repairs that had to be made at the County office. It still got done and it's going to be fine.
I'm ready to let it go - all of it.
I think we're leaning towards listing the house in mid-July - which means we have 4 weeks to get a massive amount of stuff done.
(My eye is twitching as I type the sentence above). I'm tired. It's been a long day -
More soon -
We made good time - somehow J. got behind me a bit - so I ended up at Atlantis before him. I waited in the car because it was loaded with stuff and even though it was mid-day, I didn't want to risk a break in.
I have Sirius radio in my car - a 'treat' when they offered a deeply reduced monthly charge to add it. I've always sort of shrugged my shoulders about satellite radio - J. had it when he was commuting because that passed the time and gave him a very broad variety - but now, mostly around town, it seems silly to pay. I do, however, have to admit that I'm enjoying it. I listen to a few stations and love them - especially when I hear songs from my younger days - isn't amazing how songs can take your right back?
I was sitting in my car and Lifehouse's 'Hanging by a Moment' came on - only the title was truncated on the display to 'Hanging by a Mom'. Lifehouse is a group the boys and I both loved in their younger years. And right then, J. and H. pulled in - and I was rocking out to the song in my car, knowing this would be a life memory. "I'm falling even more in love with YOU!" (pointing to J. and then adding 'and you, too, H.'), and said to H. 'and it says "Hanging by a Mom" which seems oddly right somehow, you know'? All smiles and laughs and giggles. I headed to the casino host office, checked in and got our keys and then we headed straight for Carson City.
When you're heading south from Reno, it always seems like it should be already 'in Carson City' long before it is - it's about 25 minutes or so. I'd been telling J. 'and when we go to storage, I'm going to head back to Atlantis and you and H. can go see the house'. (H. had said to me earlier in the day that he'd really like to come to the casino with me instead of the house - but I said 'we'll see'). It's just that I want to GET to Atlantis and my happy place ASAP.
I don't know why, but as we were approaching the last curve in the road and the next exit was our house's exit, I called J. and said 'let's go to the house NOW - do the house before and then head to storage'. He agreed.
Again, I somehow arrived to the approaching street a wee bit sooner than J. and was blocked by a huge truck offloading trusses and lumber. I did a 3-point turn and turned around - calling J. to say that we couldn't get through to the house. He was coming towards me - and he got to the same truck - and by then, I was now past him, looking back at our lot - and THERE WAS A BULLDOZER! ON OUR LOT! I yelled into the phone 'J., there's a bulldozer and it's on our lot and it's MOVING!!'.
The truck guys came over and told J. 'it's OK - just drive on the sidewalk to get around us' - so he told me that and we did. And there it was! Actual work being done on our site. It was so exciting! And I think the excavation crew got a big kick out of how excited we were - I was so glad we stopped because if we'd gone to storage first, we'd have missed them for sure. It was sprinkling and they wouldn't work much longer - so we got there just in the nick of time. Super excited!!
Next to storage, two more car loads full of stuff and we even brought a big shelf unit that we'd broken down from the garage. J. (bless his heart) stayed to put it together and H. and I headed to the casino.
It was a lovely weekend. H. didn't need to work on Sunday but he decided to head home with J. on Saturday morning - and while I missed them both, I was sort of glad for the time alone. I had a lovely weekend - no big wins but played a long time on not too much money - brought quite a bit home so I live to play another day.
As you can see, we are officially approaching mid-June. Lots to report. Condensed version.
Open house party was loads of fun. It's strange and un-nerving to hear the sweet, kind things people say about you. I told my friend C. 'it's like your eulogy, only you're in the room and very much alive'. It was a lovely afternoon and the gifts were amazing. A beautiful 'throw' that has my name and years of service on it - beach themed. A $500 Disney gift card and some beautiful framed Disney 'patent' drawings - what Disney submitted to the patent office for various rides and features in the park. And a really pretty Pooh painting - personalized. (I need to note that the very expensive, incredibly generous gifts came from two friends who work for an architect firm - I've known and worked with them a long time and they spoiled me rotten). It was lovely.
Cabinet hosted a breakfast in my honor - lots of amazing food and treats and it sure made the morning go by quickly - it was lovely.
My team surprised me with a lunch and card, beautiful flowers. Another lovely day.
And just this past Friday, the entire Admin team surprised me with dinner - J. was in on the surprise and it was lovely. And their incredibly generous gift was Atlantis Gift Cards and a box of super nice golf balls for J. - I'm going to have a spa day (or two or three) and J. will play golf! So nice of them - truly kind -
I have seven days remaining and am seriously considering taking a couple days off - Friday and Monday. We have two Board meetings for budget - this Thursday and then next Tuesday. And my last work day will be next Wednesday. The days go by a bit more slowly at the moment and while there's still plenty to do, it is a slower pace and I'm more than ready to be done. I've got a list of things I need to get to - and if I get them all squared away, I think I will use some time to be off for a long weekend.
Budget got done - even with the weekend in Reno AND another lost weekend when our finance system was down completely due to electrical repairs that had to be made at the County office. It still got done and it's going to be fine.
I'm ready to let it go - all of it.
I think we're leaning towards listing the house in mid-July - which means we have 4 weeks to get a massive amount of stuff done.
(My eye is twitching as I type the sentence above). I'm tired. It's been a long day -
More soon -
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Tales of Helpers
Our cleaning lady D. is here today - she wears earbuds and chats on the phone while she works. She is the third cleaning 'person(s)'...
