Thursday, August 28, 2014

It finally happened...Retired

Well I have been counting down the months, weeks and days for quite some time. Envisioning the day it would happen and today it finally did....I'm now among those who call themselves retired. Actually the countdown clock says a few more hours but they told me today at work I didn't have to come back tomorrow(my official last day). I usually work a half a day on Fridays but I turned in my work laptop keys and cleaned out my desk so there really wasn't a reason for me to come back tomorrow. As I was sitting at my desk watching the clock click off the last remaining minutes and seconds I had to take a selfie. I felt the need to document the look on my face as I was getting ready to walk out the door where I have worked at for the last 14 years.


Now I realize that 14 years is not that long to work for a company but putting those years together with the years as a teenager, the Navy and my private practice in Chiropractic that's an additional 34 years bringing us to the present. That's 48 years of working. Now that sounds more impressive and as my friend Rick from "It's about time" would say. It's our time. (Glenda and I) This Sunday we leave for South Dakota to get our drivers licenses and establish our residency, after a short day of sightseeing, we return, pack up and leave for Indiana. We have reservations at the KOA in Granger and then on to the RV-Dreams Rally. It's pretty surreal right now. I'm ready to move down the road and begin the adventure we call retirement. Also looking forward to no snow, polar vortexs or sub zero temps. It was bittersweet saying "see you later" to my co-workers(refused to say goodbye). Some tears and hugs were in order. We were like a family and I appreciate Gina and Suzanne so much. They made the job much more fun. My team manager, Lisa, was so supportive of my second career and it was a pleasure working for her and having her lead our team. Thank you, Lisa.

Well if the rain will stop, I have plans to go canoeing with my brother tomorrow morning on the Mackinaw River. Let's hope we can get that done. Well that's about all I have right now. Ready for the future but our time starts NOW.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

August birthday celebration

We have 4 August birthdays in our family and the last 2-3 years our daughter in Indiana has had a combined celebration. My birthday is Aug 13, granddaughter, Ryleigh, is August 15, step grandson, Mason, is on August 20 and grandson, Caden, is on August 27. Our daughter, Sommer, invites
our family and her husbands family for the event. We arrived on Friday evening and due to the number of people expected, we stayed in a hotel nearby. Todd's mother, Barb, arrived Friday evening also with her sister, Elly. Todd's son, Mason, and his cousin, Tristen, was there too. We took Brooklyne with us to the hotel on Friday night. Of course, we enjoyed the hotel breakfast in the morning. Once we got ourselves dressed and fed, we went back to Sommer's. Everyone started to arrive Saturday after noon. Our daughter, Heather, and her husband, Paul, arrived with our newest grandson, Aiden. Aiden has really grown and is constantly on the move.

 
 
Todd's father arrived with his sister, Tracy, brother in law, Jimmy and their 3 children. Everyone was having a great time with lots of food. We got out the Corn hole game and everyone started to pair up for a tournament. I played with my son in law, Paul, and we made it through 2 rounds before losing. Todd's cousin, Jeff, was on fire all day and he and Todd pretty much took it all. Ryleigh and Caden being the two youngest of the birthdays had some nice presents to open. The kids played and everyone enjoyed great conversation and catching up. Most had too much to eat and some had a little too much to drink. But it was all good. As the sun went down e started a nice fire in the fire pit that Todd and I built a few weeks ago in one of our last visits. It was getting late so we took Brooklyne and Ryleigh with us to the hotel. Everyone went right to sleep, it was a big day. I made sure to get some photos of the family before everyone started to leave. Here is the family.
 
Todd, Sommer, Ryleigh, Caden, Brooklyne, Mason and Jasmyne
 

Paul, Aiden and Heather
 
It's always great to get together with family. Over the last few years we've had much more of an opportunity to spend time with Sommer and Heather and their families. So this winter we are making Arizona our winter stop. Our son, Chris, lives in Mesa so we have reservations in Gold Canyon for 4 months. It will be nice to spend some quality time with our son and do some sightseeing and enjoy the desert. One week left of work, drive to South Dakota for the drivers license and then the RV-Dreams Rally. Ready to hit  the road and it won't be long.