Quiet New Year’s Eve

Hello, Leroy is working on stamps and I am writing this letter. We will go to bed at our usual time. Things can happen without our attendance. I would still like to walk 1600 more steps so I can get to 10,000. Maybe later I will watch something on TV and step away. It is somewhat rainy or I might have gone outside once more. I have a book called American Sirens which is the story of the first modern ambulance service. All of the first guys on this service were Black and they did an incredible job. We spent some time this afternoon trying to decide which pictures to have printed for our family picture frame which holds eight 5x7s and one 8x10. The frame will be holding the fourth new picture set. It is hard to select the best picture when there are so many to chose from as well as the fact that some people look better in one shot and some look better in another. Sarah has been a great help since she has a great deal from a photo printing company. We just have to get it done in time before the deal expires. We are also working on our desk calendar to get it ready for the new year. I still like to have a paper calendar for what I consider easy access. That means I do not have open some electronic device to see it. We actually have three calendars for the coming year, and places to put them. Are we rich or what? Happy New Year. May you be blessed and experience joy, laughter, contentment, and peace. Paula

Last Paid Day

Hello, Yesterday was my last paid day. I was going to say the last work day, but that is not really true. We as a society so seldom count unpaid work as important. Many of us put in a lot of hours doing unpaid work. How did we come to the conclusion that pay makes work more important? The unpaid can be doing service of great value to the earth or society. It was a bit of a sad day to realize that it would be the last time for many tasks, especially those I enjoy doing. Only one person came to yoga. I was disappointed, but I knew others were occupied elsewhere. I did have a nice chat with the one. I managed to keep busy the entire time I was there. When I left the day before, I thought I would be able to get the last pile of books catalogued. That did not happen. I only snuck in three that were on hold for patrons. The rest of the time I was at the front desk. There were tasks to tend to there as well as a number of people to visit with. Some had come just because they knew it was my last day. Is visiting work or work visiting? I realized I should have thought it might happen and looked at the schedule for getting things done differently. There is to be some type of gathering to recognize my service for the years. Goodness, I have been there more than ten years. My boss is on vacation now. So, it will be later in January for a gathering. I am looking forward to that. I will have to go to the library as I have two books to return and Leroy has one DVD to return. Otherwise, I made sure we had returned almost everything. It will be a learning experience for me to use the library closest to me. Where will I find what I want to read? It was nice to have things go in front of me and realize that I might like to read it. An era of my life is over; a new page is open. Paula

The Day After Christmas

Hello, Leroy and I still have a quiet day because we both work for the next three days. There was new snow so we shoveled. Leroy did most of the area by the garage and I helped with the sidewalks in front. It was over an inch, but I have no real idea how much. Because of the dry quality of it, shoveling was easy and rather enjoyable. The wind was down so it was nice to be outside. After that, we called the woman at our church who does meals for many of the homeless shelters. She was coming to church to get the lunch fixings for the homeless overflow shelter. She is there almost every day no matter what the weather, even when the church might be closed. I had some frosting, milk, and butter that she can use for future needs. I also give her my large yogurt containers as she can use those. I had a scarf that I had not been wearing. I do not like to keep things around if we do not wear them and they are good for cold weather. We also wanted to pick up a devotion booklet for the next three months. I had thought we could mail our Christmas letters today, but learned that the post office is closed. Tomorrow will be the day. Perhaps Leroy can take them there after work as he goes close to the post office. We will go to tai chi tomorrow morning. Leroy will drive his own car since I stay for work. He has been doing tai chi on zoom because he has to be at work and driving two cars did not seem appropriate. Today will be the last in person session for three months so he wanted to see people once more. I have been reading the Henna Artist for a book club and enjoying it. Paula

Shopping on a Nice Day?

Hello, The temperature was at zero or a degree above. The wind did not seem so fierce, or at least it was quitter. I did not wear my stocking cap, but did take it with me. Also, I was not wearing my warmest gloves. It felt like a very cold day as I walked from the car to the stores and back to the car. What a difference all of my warmest gear makes for comfort. We went to the post office for stamps only to learn that we were too early. The closest store seemed like a good move where we bought envelops, some hair stuff for me, and a clearance shirt for Leroy. The last two items were unplanned purchases. Back to the now open post office for a variety of stamps. Leroy likes to get some of the commemoratives and that is fun, but the staff had to do a little searching to find them. The first grocery store was a leisurely stop as nothing in the car could be frozen. When leaving that store, I walked off with Leroy’s gloves which he had left in the cart. Consequently, his hands got quite cold before he caught up to me. When putting the cart back, I became quite cold as it was a longer windy walk. My hands were also cold. Leroy suggested I sit on them and let the heated seat warm them. It worked wonderfully well. We have used and appreciated those seats this year even though we have owned them for two or three years. At the last store, also a grocery, we did a quick in and out. It was also a quick transfer at home from the garage to the house. We are so grateful to be able to come into a warm house. Paula

More Wind

Hello, Leroy packed his lunch, bundled up, and climbed in the car with no thought of riding the bike at -8 F. with a wind chill in the -30 range. At work he soon learned he was the only one there. He had not looked at his work email since usually he is called about a closure. The plants are now watered and he printed off our Christmas letter. So, it was not a wasted trip. He is fortunate that he can park in the garage at work. He and I both shoveled a little more in the alley behind the garage. The wind was definitely the winner in the struggle. We like to have the entire width of the alley cleared, but it is not, more like three fourths done. Later in the afternoon, we went back out to work on the front sidewalk once more. He wore the heated gloves that Brian had gotten him. He now knows he needs to have them set at the highest level for this low cold. We had cleared the sidewalk yesterday. The wind put some of the snow back and packed it down. We did manage to get all of that removed once more. Hopefully it is done. Much of the snow has packed down under the force of the wind so it is not blowing as much. I should be doing something useful, but instead I am just spending most of my time reading. We do not have enough envelops or stamps for the letters mailing will wait another day. Tomorrow, we have several stops to make, weather permiting. Paula

Snow Day

Hello, I was supposed to work today, but the library is closed due to the snow, cold, and strong wind. I am happy to stay home rather than make the 12-mile drive. Leroy’s museum was closed before mine. It would have been much easier for him to make the drive in town with only three miles to go. He is concerned because today is plant watering day. That is true for me as well, but I figure those plants can manage until Tuesday when I will be at work. I only have three more work days before retirement. Amazing that it is so close. Right now, I have quite a few books piled on the desk area that need to be catalogued. The plan was to get much of that finished today, but it will wait. After I am gone someone else will have to do that. Much of that work is now being done by the book ordering service, but they still need to be checked for accuracy. They are not replacing me as cataloguer and my boss who also has her library degree will take over that part of my job. I also call for overdue items, but someone else has been trained to do that. My book club duty will also go to another staff person. No one has come forward to do the yoga/stretch class. My coworkers also tell me they should make a list of my “swear” words. I tend to say “Oh for cat’s sake, fiddlesticks, fuddy-duddy”, and a few other things I cannot think of right now. Who knew? My vocabulary would be missed. With this storm a reminder, I am glad to be able to avoid this drive during the winter. It is a nice time to retire. Some people feel that I will wonder what to do with my time and others tell me I will be too busy. I am not going to book myself with too many volunteer jobs right away as I try to figure out what I really want to do. Paula

Long Flight Home

Hello, One of the other couples was on the shorter flight with us, but seated quite a distance from us so we did not visit. When we landed in London, we reconnected and worked our way through that airport. To our surprise we once again had to go through security. The time between flights had seemed long, but after much walking it was getting shorter. We did not have issues going through security, but they did. One of their bags was thoroughly checked. That takes a bit of time. We were getting nervous about making the flight, but they finally completed that ordeal. As we went on, we found the direction we needed to go. Finally, they suggested we hurry on because we could move faster and to let the crew know they were coming. At the gate we told them our friends were coming. The person replied, “They will be here in plenty of time.” How they knew such I do not know. It was a while before we took off and they did make it with time to spare. It was great fun because we were seated across the isle from each other. This flight was not so full and that allowed both of us to spread out a bit more. This flight also did not have any turbulence. I was grateful for that. It was hard to know that we were moving. I managed to read every magazine I had with me. When we landed in Chicago, we could still spend some time with our friends as we both had a few hours to wait for the last leg of the journey. Planes more us through space fast, but not so fast in the airports sometimes. All the airport time adds a lot to the journey. Paula