At Last! Retiring for GOOD!

6 more days with kids (the last two days, I have no students, which should make it easier to organize, clean, and complete all of the end of the year stuff). Right now, I'm exhausted. The up side is the faculty meeting was canceled, so I'm able to leave in about 10 minutes - which, I plan to. I usually stay late, but not tonight. Wednesday, 5/17/17 - I did stay later, to finish some activities, but, still left earlier than usual. I have almost all of my students in 1st Block either taking the Final, or exempting. Only 1 non-senior, who will be taking the Final next week. So, I'll plan on off-loading him in another class on Thursday, to take advantage of that time to get some organizing and inventory done. Later - 1:20 - I'm waiting for my students to arrive. Really, the Physics students have generally been delightful this year, although a little passive and low-key. They seldom get over-the-top excited about anything. To be honest, almost all of my students ar...

It's official. I submitted my retirement letter today. Already heard back from Benefits. I do feel relieved. Actually making a decision is less stressful than avoiding making one. I'm going to spend the rest of this week catching up on grades, making notes about what to take and what to pitch, and planning for the transition.

...and, I'm nearly there! I just completed the paperwork (oh, I do hope I did it right!) for transferring my NC Teacher's pension to SC. I'm crossing my fingers, but - in the back of my mind - won't be totally surprised if I have to re-do all, or part, of it. D-Day is Thursday - that's Decision Day - I have to either sign my contract, or I'm automatically NOT renewed for the next year. I'm about 80% sure that I won't sign. I don't need to babysit DJ (pity, I was kind of looking forward to it), but my dear SIL is apparently facing another bout with cancer, and my daughter may need me, at least occasionally, in the fall. I have PLANS! Writing is # 1 - I have been chomping at the bit to get started. I've upped my blogging regularity, and have been keeping a journal, as well. I figure that it will take me a week or two to get fully in the swing of daily production, but - watch out, World! Cleaning and Organizing - both a good cleaning of ...

Today would have been my father's 95th birthday. Instead, he died just before his 76th. Dad was born in New Martinsville, WV, May 7, 1922. His father, Emzley Martin Ruble (spelling of that first name varies considerably in official documents), died in 1929, when my Dad was 7. Within a few short years, my grandmother Delphia Delia had lost the money the insurance had provided, due to bad investments, and was forced to place my Dad with relatives, along with all but the youngest two children. Later, when the eldest two were grown and married, he lived with them. His stories about his time on his grandfather Edgell's farm were few - he merely said that he did NOT like the farmer's life. One time, he mentioned that his grandfather was quite stern, even harsh, in his treatment of him and his grandmother. But, he mentioned it only that once. His other grandfather, Taylor Ruble, was a very kindly man, and he had good memories of him. Grandma Ruble was a very quiet and sweet ...

This post sparked mine today. I've been writing (slowly, one anecdote at a time) my memories of my youth, and the stories that I remember being passed down from parents, grandparents, and other long-lived people. I was fortunate - in my mother's family, old age was the default - my grandparents were born in the 19th century, and passed on stories of their youth. My father's family was equally long-lived, but not as talkative (WV vs. Irish-descent). Still, I have an aunt by marriage whose passion is genealogy, and who had compiled a bookshelf of clippings, copies of newspaper stories, and charts of the family, back to pre-Colonial times. If you aren't on Ancestry.com (and, I don't blame you - the price has risen shockingly!), you might want to use a word processing program or app - Google Docs is easy to use, and can be shared with others easily - to write down your memories - personal, or what has been told to you. If you'd rather, set up a videocam, and...

It's tough. Senior hair, consisting of mostly grey hairs, is usually quite fragile. Unless you take great care to condition, treat it, and handle it gently, you may have straw-like hair that breaks easily, and is hard to style. So, totally unsolicited or compensated, here are my Rules for Caring for Senior Hair. At a maximum, only ONE process - coloring, straightening/curling - you have to make a choice, or your hair's health will suffer. Grey hair is more fragile than hair with more pigment. Two or more processes will stress it more than it can take. If you are more than 50% grey, stop coloring your hair. It's less aging to go natural than to have the hair not match the face's age. We need to re-claim our natural hair's beauty.   Here are some tips for the transition.  For more advice, and some photos to inspire you, go here.  FWIW, Helen Mirren is my hero - I have hair very like hers - fine and moderately wavy, but relatively thin. I usually take a pictur...

Now, another possible twist that affects my decision. The mother of my youngest grandson may be returning full-time to finish her bachelor's degree, and MAY need some child care. Oh, darn! How inconvenient! I may just have to think about that! NOT! I'd LOVE to spend extended time with him, and, also, with his older sister (whom I don't know that well, but would like to - she seems to be both intelligent and lovable). I should find out what the updated situation in Cleveland is by sometime next, leaving me with a last-minute decision to make. Den is leaving it up to me.