Summer has come and gone

I always have trouble keeping up with things during the Summer. I think it usually has something to do with the long days and being away from the computer. This Summer was no exception as it has slipped completely away without as much as a peep from me!

The month of June was lost to making the final arrangements of my retirement from working at a job! I have planned the retirement for over a year, but there were many details to be worked out before the end of June. My replacement had been named and was ready to start learning the ropes. In addition, we were opening a second high school that was behind construction, but destined to open on time this Fall. I have agreed to work part time a few days per week training my replacement as well as seeing to the final details of the new school. In late October, I’ll be working a full week when one of our technicians is off to get married and the Department is moving to new facilities!

Part of this Summer was lost to travel. During the first two weeks of July, I traveled to the Amazon in Peru. This is a trip that I had taken back in the 1990s, so I was long overdue. It was also my first trip out of the country post September 11th. I really enjoy traveling to natural areas and did so every year until I landed at Central Office. With that job being year round and most of the opportunities to get things done happens when school is not is session, so it was next to impossible to get much travel in while working. The much higher pay (than being a classroom teacher) was well worth the last five years of nearly constant work. My pension is now nearly what I made as a classroom teacher without any of the work that went with it!

Of course the one thing that has kept me most busy has been the construction of my retirement cabin. Work has progressed slowly with my brother and I getting two or three days per week doing the electrical, insulating, hanging drywall, installing floor tile, tongue and groove ceilings, and working to get it occupied before this winter. I have always thought I’d enjoy working like this but I’ve really not had the opportunities to do so. I’ll update the cabin saga in a separate posting.

Lastly, my oldest brother took a turn for the worse after battling his disability (myasthenia gravis) for the past five years. To complicate his condition, he had a major cardiac issue, pneumonia, and respiratory failure. He spent over two weeks in ICU, followed by over a week as a general patient, and is now doing two or three weeks in physical therapy. As his patient advocate and him being 100 miles away, lots of time was spent driving back and forth. Luckily, he appears to be recovering as well as can be expected.

So that has been my Summer. Now that things have settled down a little, I’ll strive to be more regular in my posting. The cabin will occupy much of my life for another few months, but then I should be back to some kind of normal!