Oops, somehow 2 weeks went by since the last time I wrote. I don't know how that happens-- time just keeps speeding up. My days all seem so short sometimes. I love my mornings and wake up early to enjoy them but by mid afternoon I'm usually spent and get little done after 4pm. Not everything on my list of things to do got done, but close. I'm not spending as much time as I'd like working out but a lot of what I need to do is quite physical, so that counts. Replacing all the carpet downstairs with vinyl was how I spent most of week 2. Jim had a workshop in Detroit and a conference in the Twin Cities, so we've gotten some travel in. I did not stay for the full week of his university conference in Minneapolis because I just had too much else I wanted to do. I can see just in my first 3 weeks of retirement that I could spend a lot of my time just catering to Jim's schedule. He's a lot busier than I am. I am hoping once he retires that will subside.
The most exciting thing to happen in the past 2 weeks was the art department retirement party. The team put together a grand dinner for me at Joe's. The weather was amazing and they went all out, created custom t-shirts and an artist poster to add to the walls of VPM, which was quite moving for me. I felt so lucky to have worked with my colleagues as long as I have. The 4 teachers who gathered to celebrate me (Geof, Grace, Joe & Josh) I count as my closest of friends and hope to continue to partner with in my future.
