New Lesson

I’ve been retired for 2 weeks and of course it is wonderful.  The but is that I’ve not had enough time for myself at home.  I’ve had too many things going on each day.  I also realized I need to stay away from my former work place.  I went back for a baby shower and it was nice to see people, but being there made me feel sad.  I just don’t belong there anymore and need time to process it.  I ran into J at the grocery and he talked about when he retired he went on a trip to decompress.  I had thought about that but since Alan is still working I decided to wait until he’s also retired.  J agreed I should stay away from my old workplace and take time to process my feelings.  I really valued having another retiree to talk with about this.  It was a surprise the feelings I experienced when I was at my former workplace. 

So, the next couple of weeks, I will be careful to keep my days more open.  I am really enjoying my volunteer work with my local board.  I really like the staff and other board members so it is enjoyable while also fulfilling my need to contribute to the community. 

Magnum is growing bigger everyday.  His legs are longer and he looks gangly.  He struggles with coordination at times trying to run too fast or stop too suddenly.  I spent several days weeding my flower garden, which had turned into a jungle of weeds.  I kept putting off weeding and said I would do it when I retired.  So, while I worked weeding, Magnum would grab a weed I pulled and would run with it in his mouth, racing through the jungle and around the yard.  He would do this until he was ready to drop. He was so funny to watch.  Magnum and I have 3 classes a week and he is doing so well in each.  We train for very short periods several times a day.  It is just fun. I’m trying to remember to take lots of pictures.  He seems bigger each day.

So, retirement is good and has taught me some new lessons.  

First Day of Retirement

The first day of retirement was unexpected.  I started out in the hot tub, which I hadn’t done on a weekday since I got Magnum because he needed my time.  Then went for a bike ride.  I was ready for yoga and a meeting with E and let Shadow and Magnum out in the garage while I went to get laundry to hang-up outside.  When I came out there was a yellow dog, young intact male.  He looked about 9 months to a year, very friendly, but what was he doing in my yard?  I immediately put Magnum in his crate – worried about disease and other things.  The dog kept going up to Shadow and she growled and gave him an ugly bark when he got in her face.  He seemed to know something was different with her and kept putting his face next to hers.  So I grabbed Shadow and put her in the house.  In the fight or fright department, Shadow is a fighter.  With her blindness, she is unable to tell what is a real threat.  I didn't need to have my girl in a fight.

Kinsey is the mellow girl and thought, hey a new friend to visit.  I hung out the clothes with my new buddy – yellow dog.  I had to leave Shadow in the house when I left, but thought that was the best thing to do.  When I got back, 4 hours later, yellow dog was still there.  I then attempted to chase him away, plead with him, but all to no avail. He hung out in the garage and under the tree with fresh water.

I called my pet sitter D to find out what she would suggest.  From my daily bike rides, I know all the dogs in my area and yellow dog did not belong to any of my neighbors.  On my bike ride I had noticed two dog dishes  in an aisle in a field about a mile from my house.  I think someone dumped yellow dog there.  I decided to call the Clark County Humane Society because they keep dogs longer than some of the other shelters.  They said they probably wouldn’t be out until the next day.  When Alan got home, I told him I planned to feed the dog because he was very thin and starving.  Alan agreed and also thought he was a nice dog.  If it wasn’t for Shadow and Magnum, we might have considered keeping him.  Alan said he looked like he had some pit bull in him, but he was very sweet.

Alan’s perspective was good – he said he didn’t know what would happen to the dog, but we had given him companionship, food and kindness.  The Humane Society came on Tuesday morning almost exactly 24 hours after yellow dog had arrived.  We had given yellow dog 4 meals and lots of dog biscuits while he was with us.  The man was gentle with him and I feed yellow dog biscuits.  The man said the census was low at the shelter, so they would probably be able to find him a home.  Whether it is true or not, I need to believe yellow dog will find a good home.

I am retired!

I am retired and it feels good.  It will be awhile before I really know how it feels.  I am coming off the high of a wonderful cookout with staff and a lovely reception planned and carried out by the staff.  They really out did themselves and made my celebration a very memorable event.  I really appreciate all their work, thoughtfulness, and caring.  It means a lot to me. 

Friday, I wasn’t feeling well.  Something was going on with my stomach and my back hurt.  I haven’t been doing my back exercises because I’ve been too busy, so I did all the exercises, then went into town and sat on the bike path in the shade and used my computer. I don’t get good reception at home.  Also downloaded a book onto my new Kindle given to me by the staff.  Quite a wonderful gift! This made me feel like I was retired.  Several folks I know went by and there I was acting like a bum with time on my hands. 

Shadow, Magnum and I went tracking with M in the afternoon, once again in 90-degree weather.  But the dogs were amazing.  M laid a track for Shadow weaving around a line of trees.  As we started, Magnum was in the back of the car barking and I told him to watch Shadow and learn.  Shadow was great.  M said it was neat to stand back and watch her.  It really makes sense to do curved tracks because who really walks a straight line?  But AKC tracks are straight lines.  It was something different and not long.  Hank, the beagle, was great as usual.  He has some really cute ways.  At a turn, I noticed that he looks quickly in the correct direction, and then goes in the opposite direction.  So M just has to stand her ground and he will come back to the correct direction.

When it was Magnum’s turn, he was great.  His track was short and straight, but he was putting his nose down to the ground and joyfully going.  So maybe the old dog can teach the young dog a few things.  This week's plans – yoga 3 times, hopefully swimming in YS pool during adult swim, early morning (6:00 am) bike ride most days, early morning (8) walk, several meetings, and a lunch.  Sounds fun.  And tonight I can stay up and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm!!  

Saying Good By

One week left and I learned at last week’s staff meeting what will be the challenge for me – saying good by to the staff.  I presented a ten-year anniversary pin to M whose anniversary is in September, but I wanted to do it before I left.  I hired her and have always been impressed with her work, promoted her, and just like her.  Toward the end of the presentation I noticed a feeling in my chest and thought, I just may cry.  I held it together and didn’t think anyone noticed.  Then at the end of the meeting I started to thank everyone for their work and tell them how much I appreciated them and I started tearing up and couldn’t finish.  I’ve done all the planning of what I will do, saving money, financial preparation for when I retire, but how do you plan to say good by? 

My analogy for knowing my co-workers is they all represent different books that I have started reading.  They are all interesting and I an enjoying the read.  Now, the books will be taken away before I have finished.  I won’t know how each story finishes.  There will be some folks that I will see, but for the most part many I probably won’t see again.  Our paths may not cross again except for a random encounter.  This is how it works in our society and maybe in most. 

This last week will be hard.  I have a cookout at lunch one day and a reception my last day.  It will help having friends there that I will see again.  It will be hard to say farewell to co-workers and folks from agencies with whom I have worked.  I still have work to do and have been thinking about how to get it accomplished.  Really, that’s the easy part of finishing up 22 years at an agency – it’s saying good by to people that is hard.

I added the picture above for a bright spot.  11 weeks and Magnum says "I own this tunnel!"

Countdown Less than 2 weeks

Less than two weeks to go before I am retired.  I feel like I am in warp speed.  I have so much to do to have everything done and so little time.  But, I feel that the next ED and staff are fully capable and can pick-up where I leave off.  It is hard to believe the day is almost here and it is wonderful.  I am certain that I will miss so many of the staff members.  We hear each other’s stories each day and are in many ways a part of each other’s lives.  I want to know how those lives go about being lived.  Leaving my co-workers is the hard part.

Magnum is now 15 pounds – 1/3 of his expected adult weight.  He’s gained about 5 or so pounds since his arrival.  He is going on 12 weeks old.  He is really enjoying his puppy agility foundation class.  He particularly likes getting to play with classmates before class.  The older puppies are for the most part very good with him.

Shadow really wants me to spend some time training her.  She follows Magnum and me and does the things I ask him like sit, down and come.  I plan to spend time just with her and maybe even tie Magnum to a tree or something to watch us do obedience work together.  He can learn a lot.  Both Shadow and Kinsey remain very good with him.  It is so fun to watch him and to play with him.  I want to enjoy these days of his being a puppy.  

Magnum and Retirement

The last few weeks have been really busy.  A new puppy is in some ways for a few days like having a new baby.  There is the getting up at night to take the puppy out to potty and the need to constantly watch what he is doing.  I have to say we are really enjoying Magnum and he is a great puppy for us.  He is now 10 weeks.  He’s been to the Veterinarian and he started his first class last week.  He is the youngest puppy in the class, but doing better than many.  I try to work at training him several times a day for about five minutes.  He has been trained to run through the tunnel, respond to his name, come, drop stuff in his mouth, sit, down, and touch my hand.  Kinsey and Shadow are doing very well with him and are quite tolerant.  He is a well-behaved puppy around older dogs.  Someone in our class said Magnum was much more mellow than other Springers he’d seen.  This is one of the reasons why we wanted him. Here he is running through the tunnel at 9 weeks.  He loves it.

Retirement is almost here and I am for the most part ready.  Mentally I am very ready and would like to be home with Magnum. I still have some stuff to do at work.  I see myself stepping back from work and involvement with staff.  It is the natural withdrawing.  I have been slowly removing stuff from my office. My replacement is hired, the Assistant Director, and her replacement is hired.  I hope the transition will be smooth.  It will be good when the transition is completed.

Meeting Magnum

I’m at the Minneapolis Airport killing time waiting for Patty and Magnum.  I’ve never just had to wait around at an airport with nowhere to go.  It’s not a quiet place to be.  I had a great breakfast at a French Café – Meadow - and then went looking for the quiet place.  An older woman working at the information desk directed me to a space on the upper floor.  It should be quieter, but it is open to the lower floor, so all kinds of sounds are floating around along with announcements.  There’s only so much time that I can spend on the computer reading stuff.  I already knew that George Clooney would be dumping his latest girlfriend when I heard she had mentioned marriage. 

I was a little sad when I left Shadow this morning knowing that her world would be changing and there was nothing she could do about it.  I will just have to make sure she knows how much I love her each day.  Dogs are in the moment, so she needs the love every time I am around. 

Patty arrived and we went to a park to wear out Magnum and his sister Pippa (Josie) who will be flying to Florida later in the afternoon.  Magnum is just as I remembered him.  He was a little shocked to leave Pippa and Patty.  We had 4 gate changes before we got our flight, which was then 45 minutes late.  I was worn out from running from gate to gate with a 15-pound bag and a 12 or so pound animal carrier with Magnum.  He was so good on the flight and drive home.

He met Shadow and she seems to like him and is quite tolerant.  Kinsey growled and barked at him, so he got on his belly and scooted out of the room and ran to another room.  Look at this picture of Magnum and Shadow and tell what you think. They are so cute together.  Friday he was still on his good behavior, but Saturday he tried biting her ears as she walked.  I stopped him every time and let him know that rule number 2 is no biting Shadow.  He is learning quickly.  Rule number 1 is no whining/crying in his bedtime crate.  First night he woke us up every two hours.  Alan and I took turns getting up and taking him out to potty.  In fact, I only woke up one time – Alan went out with him the other times.  Last night he slept until 4:00 and Alan took him out. 

Everyone is adjusting, better than we hoped.  It is fun having a young dog.