Catching up

This guy and I plan to travel

Okay - it's been a while since I blogged. Blame writer's block. I had no words, no story. Just reporting on our activities seemed shallow. Paul and I had some health issues - the reality of "our 60's" bites. Don't worry - we're not on death's doorstep. Still - the new reality of the passing of our youth sucks. The good news is - it beats the alternative! Dirt nap.

So what's happening now? Retired Paul has been busy working fulltime in a contract job with the City of West Des Moines. He's a forester - trimming trees, spraying weeds, mulching and using software to track the city's trees. It's just what he needed - a job with very little stress. He's paid hourly and can take off whenever he needs to and will take a few month break over hunting season/winter.

Photo from Dubuque - work meeting there this week

I'm in my "senior" year of work. Last semester even! I plan to retire from my present job at the end of the year. I told my supervisor a couple weeks ago. Like Paul, I'll do something part-time in the future because we want to be able to travel and we'd like our funds to last.

We've been talking about our life change (both retirements) a lot! It reminds me of graduating from college - exciting and scary. What will we do? Where will we go? The world is our oyster - how will we crack it open?

Everyone tells me how great retirement will be. Still, it is a bit scary to me. I need structure in my life. I love reading, walking, biking. I plan to go to workouts at my gym - especially aqua. But I need more than that. So pursuing some type of flexible part-time employment will be good for me for the next few years. Flexible so we can travel more!

Wish me luck as I wind down my DNR career. The good news is that my supervisor at DNR (and the program I work with) has encouraged (and required) that I compile procedures for the major things I do. That will help the transition as the state can't hire anyone new until I'm gone. Stay tuned for more on this as I travel this road. It's my dream to do a Dive Bar blog as we travel.

Cleaning

Raise your mouse (or laptop touchpad) if you enjoy cleaning. Some people find great satisfaction in it. Not me! Sure I can do a little bit - the straightening, picking up part. I need a tidy area to help me relax. But deeper cleaning usually makes me mad. Why? It leads me to see things like - the floorboard needs to be painted or argh! There are dead flies behind the shutters and I didn't plan to clean there today. One thing leads to another...black hole.

I was with three friends last weekend when I had a Seinfeld moment. We were at an ISU game watch when the subject turned to cleaning. Paul was out of town that weekend - on a trip to New Orleans with Jud. They do an annual guy-trip to a pro football game for their teams. This year it was Cowboys vs. Saints. When Paul is gone I tend to do deep cleaning projects. I was bragging about how I'd cleaned out the frig that day. (I didn't even get mad). 

My friends started talking about cleaning. It turns out they all have the same magical cleaning lady. We'll call her Jean.  One friend said Jean even wipes out the microwave when she's at her house. The next person said, "Jean wipes down my shutters." "She watches my dogs when I'm gone," said Person 3. Egads! Who is this Jean and how can I be her friend? Alas, she's booked...of course, she is. Jean may hire an associate - but that person will never be "Jean".