It's the Little Things

Nothing extraordinary happened today. We just went about doing routine things, but it was filled with little things that made me happy. Here are a few. 

Ward and I were in Walmart, picking up some things in case the snow, followed by sleet, arrives as predicted over the next few days. We worked through our list efficiently and didn't have to wait too long in the checkout line. That was all good, but what was a real pleasure was the cart we were using. It was the smoothest rolling grocery cart (buggy) I have ever had. No wobbly wheels, no stuck wheels, no wheels going bump, bump, bump. It was a real pleasure pushing it. 

Before our outing to Walmart, I joined Ward in a line dancing class he has been attending on Tuesday mornings. Now that my schedule is my own, I have been with him twice. The class is led by a fun instructor from Scotland, who receives a fair amount of teasing about her accent when she is giving instructions. Today, I got more steps than last week, and I turned the right way most of the time. This is not a small feat for someone who can't tell right from left. (Line dancing, by the way, involves a lot of turning.) Seeing improvement is indeed a joy for me. 

Tonight, we had leftovers (chili, rice, and salad) for dinner. Having good food that heats up quickly is always a win. 

I did a bit of housekeeping today, and we now have a clean kitchen, a clean bathroom, and clean sheets. I appreciate all of those things, but I love going to bed in clean sheets. That's something I am looking forward to in a couple of hours.

But before then, we are going to watch the movie The Music Man while Ward works on a puzzle, and I pretend to help him. Ward is much faster at working a puzzle than I am, but that doesn't matter. Just being together doing something simple makes me happy.

No big things happened today, but it was the little things...

Until next time...

Note: Okay, I guess this post sounds a little sappy. I have been accused before of being too positive. My life is not always roses. Just be glad that I didn't write a post yesterday that was filled with insurance and computer problems. 

Purposeful

Bless at  My Two Cents said she is picking Thrive for her word of the year. I don't usually pick a word for the year, but I think this year I will. I am choosing Purposeful. Since I am entering a new phase of my life with retirement, I want to be purposeful with how I choose my priorities and spend my time. Do you choose a word of the year?

Below are a few more odds and ends from retirement news.

You may remember that I recently talked about a green dinosaur from the library that was donated over 30 years ago. Recently, it found its way back home, and now, a new generation is playing with it. 

These were roses I got at the end of the last storytime.

A silly parting gift I gave to my co-workers. They are all moving to other libraries for the next two years while our library is renovated.

I am about done sorting and putting away everything I brought home from work.  I saved a few stuffed animals I used in storytime, but these are no longer needed.

Another parting gift from a storytime family.
We shed a few tears and hugs as we said goodbye.

And in non-retirement news, on the way home after a visit with my FIL, Ward, Wally, and I took a walk in a park where Wally used to work in the summers. He was interested to see the improvements they had made.

Ward was interested in the equipment they were using in the park,
especially since his day at the Big Metal Playground.

Until next time...

A Good Start

 Good morning, everyone.

This is my third day of retirement, and everyone asks me how it feels. I tell them it's great because that's what they want to hear. Truth is, it's too soon to know how it feels because it hasn't really sunk in yet. Major changes require time to adjust. At least, that is how it works for me.

My retirement gift to myself. A Frog and Toad t-shirt
 from my favorite Frog and Toad story.

But it really has been a good three days of retirement. It's 10:30 am, and I just realized that all I've really accomplished this morning involves food. One of my goals is to visit with friends more often, so this morning, I sent an email asking if we should reschedule tomorrow's lunch because of an impending ice storm. Next, I confirmed a breakfast with a friend for next week. Tonight, we're going to a bar for line dancing, and I studied the menu to see what I might want to get from there. Then Theo, who we haven't seen in a few weeks, called, so we're going to lunch with him today. Which meant, of course, that I had to study the menu at that restaurant. I also sent another email about a lunch I'm having here in a couple of weeks for some work friends.

I didn't expect you to follow the above paragraph, but I think you got the idea that food and friends are on my mind. That's a lot of eating out, but that's what I'm splurging on for now. 

In addition, I've been to a line dancing class, a strength and balance class, and a ballroom dance class. Throw in a new book and a high score on Cookie Jam, and I am living the life!

Until next time...

Difficult times

I started this post yesterday when I was feeling upset about the recent plane crash. This morning, I heard about another one in Philidelphia. I generally try to be positive here, but chatting about the roses I got when I was preoccupied with fires and crashes didn't seem right. So bear with me as I ramble on about a difficult subject.

An unfortunate fact of life is that tragedies happen somewhere to somebody every day. Some of them only affect a few people at a time, and some happen in a big way to many people at once. These are the ones that occupy the news. Recently, that has been the plane and helicopter crash in Washington, D.C.

This crash really has nothing to do with me, but because I am familiar with its surroundings, it is hitting harder than some other disasters.

I can't imagine the pain that the families are going through as bodies are being recovered, but it has unsettled me all the same. I have a few tangential connections that have given me pause. To begin with, I have flown many times in and out of Reagan National Airport and drive by there at least once a month. 

The airport is not on the city's outskirts like it once was because the expanding population has grown around it. Ward grew up 12 miles from there and said he remembers loud planes going over his house and they would have to pause their conversation because of the noise. After many complaints from homes, the airport changed the flight patterns to go down the Potomac River and over fewer neighborhoods. They have been doing this for decades, but it can make the approaches to the airport more difficult.

The army helicopter was stationed at the base where my father-in-law worked for years and lived for a time as a youth. I have visited the base a few times with Ward's grandmother, and my father-in-law still lives nearby.

Speaking of helicopters, my niece is a Coast Guard helicopter pilot. Her current assignment is to patrol the airspace over Washington, D.C. If someone ventures into the airspace, usually innocently, she warns them that they need to move. If they don't comply, the Air Force comes in. I haven't had a chance to talk to her to see if this recent crash has changed her job.

Also, we have a friend who works for the NTSB and travels worldwide evaluating plane crashes. I don't know if he is involved with this one, but he has told some interesting stories over the years.

Humans are not made to handle constant stress. We can't internalize every tragedy we see, but with continuous news sources, we see a constant stream of them. I once heard that our brains are still wired to receive news at the speed of thousands of years ago when a runner spread the news from one village to another. Sometimes, days or weeks could go by without hearing anything significant.

I'm not sure what to do with these overwhelming tragedies except to contribute money and time when I can and try to be pleasant and helpful in little ways to all I meet. You never know what personal problems someone is dealing with, and a little kindness can sometimes go a long way.

I'm Impressed

 I was chatting with a woman at the library yesterday who was lamenting that that library would be closed for two years for renovation. This is a common conversation these days because the doors will close next week for this work. As we discussed alternatives, she revealed that she read 342 books last year!! She does this mostly by listening to audiobooks as she works as a house cleaner. She often plays them at 2x the speed unless she really likes the narrator, then she does normal speed. And for some authors, she likes to read the words in paper book form. No matter how she does it, I was impressed! I'm not sure I have the attention span to devour that many books in that amount of time. And something tells me she may not spend as much time playing computer games as I do. 😀

When the library doors close next week, that will be my final day before I retire. I've shed a few tears when I think about leaving, but that's a good thing--to be leaving a job I like enough that I am sad about leaving. 

But as I said in my high school graduation speech, "All old things must end, so new things can begin." (Which, BTW, my mother was heavily involved in helping me write. One of her many talents.)

Until next time...