There is some news

Look what I got this summer. And I intend to make good use of it.

Now that I am back at work again, I'm working really hard this year. I have a bigger assignment that I have ever had at this job. I am handling it. About 3 months ago various supervisors at work were thanking me up one side and down the other for agreeing to rescue them from a situation by agreeing to work as hard as I am working. They're not thanking me any more because I think they have forgotten about the situation that I did rescue them from. They have moved on to new problems and issues.

But before too much longer people will realize that they may have an even bigger problem because I have made a huge decision. I'm going to retire after the end of the school year in 2016. That's like a year and 3/4 now. I only have one more July, August, September and October to work now.


I won't be the only one. There are several of my peers who are critical to the success of our programs who will be leaving this year, next year or the year after. By 5 years, for sure, we will all be gone. We've got plenty of talented younger people already working with us who can pick up some of the load but not all of it. I really hope there are even younger people who are interested in becoming teachers. There had better be, but I'm not seeing them. But other than trying to recruit people into the profession, it's really not my problem.

I have quite a few good friends who have recently retired. Every single one of them is very, very happy and says it was totally one of the best things they have ever done. We are all still in good health, and all have sufficient money to retire and maintain our usual lifestyles. I can't wait to join them.

Every time I think about continuing to work longer than I have to, I think about things like others controlling my schedule, and I say, "Nah. I've done enough of that, thanks anyway. Time for me to control my life." Sure, I would make a bit more money, but it's a bit more money, not a huge amount. And I would have to give up a lot of time to get that bit more money.  I can continue to contribute to society via volunteer work that I control. Time is the more precious commodity, I think. The money I will have will be enough.

I've been telling all kinds of people including my supervisor. I went to an HR seminar about health insurance in retirement (incredibly complicated! How to people navigate all this?)

Meanwhile back to what I'm doing this year......it seems so far that it is mostly work. I have been skipping taiko class a lot. One of the reasons is that I am pretty sure that I will be able to do almost no performances this whole year because part of my assignment this year is to work 12 hours on Saturdays. Nearly all our performances are on Saturdays.

Some autumn colors at Red Butte

I missed a lot of sessions at Red Butte Garden because of things scheduled at work, but I did get enough to qualify for another free annual pass.

I'm not taking classes like Tai Chi because I'm just too over scheduled. I'm not knitting very much. I get these panicky feelings weekly in which I think "milk! I need milk! I don't have time to go get milk." You can also substitute "laundry" for milk or maybe "wine" to the same effect. And I'm not writing my blog. Or reading other people's blogs. Or reading much of anything. I find myself lying on the sofa a lot after supper and before bed just listening either to podcasts or to the radio. If I had TV here, it would probably be that.

See, this year I have more money but less time. I'm not liking it very much at all. Time to quit. I've put in my time. When I leave, I will have been working in health care for 40 years. I think that's a good enough contribution to the betterment of society.

I do not have any specific plans for what my life will be like once I do retire. I'll figure out something. But I AM going to retire. June 2016. Let the countdown begin.