A Year Ago Today.......

............ I walked in and later out of the office for the last time.  I can't believe a year has gone by already.  And I've completed very few tasks, I planned on doing immediately after retirement.  That's the worst part.

 But, I've had a lot of fun and have lots of good memories of this last year. I guess after working almost all the time since 1960 I guess a few good times are in order.

Some interesting things happened in the months after I retired.  One of my co-workers, Susan, had to resign so she could continue her Lymphoma treatment without having to worry if she'd be well enough to get to work the day after treatment.  She's had a rough time since then but she's hanging in there and we've been able to have some visits and even go to lunch during the past 12 months.  Her treatments will start again soon, so she's still not able to work.  And the other Linda we worked with, was told during the summer that the job was going to be out-sourced and she would be loosing her job sometime during the fall.  She was actually able to work until December 6th.  So if I hadn't retired...I wouldn't have a job anyway.  So it was a good decision on my part. 

Yes the money is tight at times but you know what?  I haven't been sick or stressed out like I was while I was working.  I feel like a new person, really.  I sleep so well at night, I actually dream.  I hadn't dreamed in years.  What does that tell you?  I can stay up late and sleep late if I want to.  No more getting up at 4:30am to get ready for a stressful day at work.  It's truly wonderful.

On February 9th we're heading out for another road trip.  Bob wants to ski at Northstar out of Truckee, CA.  Then we'll go to Carson City, NV to the home of his aunt & cousins. The boys (his 90 year old aunt calls her sons & Bob the boys~they are all in their 60's) will ski at Heavenly out of Carson City.  Then we'll meander down and across to southern California to Pasadena.  Bobs son in law is turning 50 on February 22nd and there's a big (80 people have RSVP 'd so far) party for him at a restaurant on Saturday night the 23rd.  We will also be visiting relatives  and friends in San Diego and of course our 4 night cruise leaves from L.A. on March 3rd.  After a few more days in Pasadena, we'll head north....taking our time (depending on the weather of course). 

 Now how could I do all that and work too? Impossible !!   So there are some good points to being retired. 

What about Gabi?  Well, last night I spoke to my grand daughter and Gabi is going to go stay with her.  They have a cat (Madeline) but I'll take the baby gate and Meghanne can keep Gabi in her end of the house until the cats make friends.  I'll be happy to know Gabi is somewhere where she'll be with people 24 hours a day.  Last year, when my son was just stopping by to feed her,  I came home to a really messed up cat.  She was just frantic, being here by herself all day and night.    I will miss her terribly but knowing she's with the grand kids will help. Meghanne says she's going to take lots of pictures and videos of her while she's there to put on her MySpace site.

Interstate 90 is still closed...the snow continues to come down.  There has been over 80 inches of snow up there the last 6 days. The Department of Transportation is up there planting dynamite trying to induce avalanches to clear the hillsides of this very deep snow.  In one area there was a 300 foot slide of snow and it came down over the four lane highway and is 6-8 feet deep.  Of course that all has to be cleared before it can be open to traffic.  It doesn't look like the pass will be open anytime soon. Down here at sea level at noon, it's just barely over 40 degrees and alternating between rain and sun.

We will be traveling over the Siskiyous in northern California in just a little over a week. It can be treacherous this time of the year too.  We will stay north of there and go over that pass in during the daylight hours.  From there we'll turn east on head for Donner Pass over the Sierra Nevada's.  My cousin doesn't live too far from there, so I may call her and see if we can spend the night with her, so we can go over that pass during the day too.  Once we reach Truckee, CA...we'll head for Northstar Ski Resort so Bob can get in a few days of skiing.

But now I'm going out to do some shopping.  I especially have to load up on Gabi's cat food and litter so they have enough for her while I'm away.

Well that's all for now...I'm off to brave the weather, do some shopping and then off to Curves.   Linda

P.S. the picture is the only one in existence of me at my last & I hope final job. Should I ever have to go to work part time, I can guarantee I will never again have a job that includes wearing a headset !! And that's the truth.......