Five White Shirts A Week

This blog is mostly about my life as I transition into retirement. Now, that I am home full-time and Jim is back to work, I am washing five white shirts a week. I offered to do Jim's laundry last week since he is working and so tired on the weekends. I have never done his laundry except when he has been ill. When I married him, I was thrilled to find a man who did his own laundry! There was a time after he became principal of SHS when he took his shirts to laundry owned by the parents of one of his students once a week to be laundered. Jim hates starch in his shirts, but his shirts kept coming back starched. He asked the owner to not starch the shirts, and he kept getting light starch in the collars and shirts anyway. Again, Jim requested "no starch." The owner, a wonderful Chinese man, replied to Jim's request with, "No. You the principal. Must look good. You get starch."

Now, I am the one who is taking care of Jim's shirts. He isn't getting starch, but I am thinking I really should touch them up with an iron. Goodness, is this what retirement means???

Yesterday, Jim forgot his phone, so I had to take Jim's phone and a thumb drive to him at work. It was my first visit to Pitts since he took the reins over the Ponies. I walked into the lunchroom since his secretary had informed me he was on lunch duty. It was filled with eighth graders eating lunch. It had been a while since I had seen that many eighth graders in one place. I was pleased to see that it seemed to all be going well and was quite orderly. Then a fight broke out. I saw it first and told Jim. I'm not losing my touch! When he returned to my side after getting things taken care of with the two fighters, I said, "I need chocolate. This place makes me want to eat chocolate." Funny, the reaction I had. I have had two weeks of not eating any sweets of any kind, and the middle school lunch made me mad for sugar. We left and went to his office before I could give in to my cravings.

I don't mind being home and taking care of things here while Jim is away. I am cooking three meals a day most days so that we eat a bit more healthy. I am learning to cook again. That is ok too. In fact, yesterday, when Jim got home for dinner at 5:00 I had a pork loin roast ready. (A breeze to cook in my new slow cooker!) It was served with wild rice, spinach, and apple/raisin/celery salad. After dinner I finally gave in and ate two pieces of dark chocolate. Chocolate is a MUFA, so I gave in and ate some. Jim was able to nap before going to the SHS alumni meeting at 7:00. I worked on professional development courses that I will teach and prepared for the Romano presentation scheduled for the 30th until he came home. So, I put in 2 1/2 hours at the computer working in the evening. It's all good.

Still Learning

Well, I thought the blog post from Cool Cat Teacher would post with just some comments from me. I am still learning. Go to her website at http//coolcatteacher.blogspot.com to read about Web 2.0.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Basics for Beginners: What is Web 2.0?

I am learning so much about using the computer with teaching that I wanted to share this to my blog.  I have been on facebook since October.  I find this to be an excellent way to keep up with people.  Now I am using twitter mostly as a way to keep up with those I work with in professional development and to learn new things from other teachers.  It has been an unbeliveable journey into a territory I had never visited before.

I will have to dig out my photo of my grandfather who was a telegrapher because I think about him so often when I see all the new ways that we are communicating.  He would be amazed and very interested and involved.

I just signed up for an RSS Reader and am learning to use that.  I am just learning about "Web 2.0" and all of the vocabulary about it and how to use it.  I found this article because of twitter.  I wanted to share it on my blog. 

Last Wednesday, I wrote the following in my notes page of my planner, "Thought for today:  If I don't learn something new everyday, why did I bother to get up?"  That thought was really driven home when I met for breakfast with my retired teachers monthly breakfast meeting.  Most of us taught in the English department together.  It was pointed out, as it always is, that I am the oldest!  We also talked about why it is hard to step back into the classroom especially at the University level.   Some said, "I haven't kept up with the new stuff on the computer.  I don't even know what the students are talking about."  So it is...For some reason, I am trying to keep up.  I am trying to learn how to do all of this new stuff.  I am learning.  

Now, if I could only figure out where I put the hot pack that we use for our sore backs that I lost last week!  There are only two of us living in this house.  Where DID one of us put it???