Life After Retirement - A Time of Reconnection

A New Year is coming and with it -- A New Challenge

2011-12-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

I love being on Twitter. I love sending the messages and, even more, I love the serendipitous bits I trip over as I skim along. Today there was a wonderful comment that led me to the Bookjourney Blog and a reading challenge for 2012.

An unusual challenge about where books are set. Each month the goal is to add a review of a book you have read and mark the location of the book on a Google map that blog readers can access. I think it will be fun to find stories set in different states and read themacross the year ahead.

I am looking forward to your joining me on this journey. I hope you will comment here if you have read the book or, perhaps, add books that have taken place in the same setting. In the meantime Happy 2012 to all!!

A Time of Disappointment in our Country....

2011-09-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have written about my heritage in other sessions but for a quick reminder. My father and his family came from Romania about 20 and my mother's parents came from another part of Romania in the early 1900s, my mom was born here. I know many have ancestors who came much earlier.

I love America and have been grateful for the good life my family has enjoyed but.... I know they say disregard what comes before the 'but' --- please don't in this case as what I have written there is true. My disappointment is coming from the fact that this country seems to be becoming too similar in too many ways to the countries our families left... left with the hope of an opportunity to build a better life. The came for many different reasons; some to find freedom of religious expression, some to avoid persecution in their homeland, some to find better jobs and a better life for their families. It did seem as though this country had created an environment where this could take place. I am not so sure that is nearly as true today as it was at that time!!

For me religious freedom means the right to practice my religion of choice without being told by other religions how wrong I, and my family, are. It means my responsibility to respect and allow others their right to their beliefs. Yet we seem to be judged, and told to live by, the beliefs of the faiths of others and, frankly, I resent that. I am more than willing to allow all faiths their freedom (except if its creed is the destruction and death of people who do not agree with them). I am perfectly willing to have schools closed, businesses closed on the holidays of some larger groups as a sign of respect for those celebrations even if mine are not celebrated in the same way. But I believe we have gone far beyond this shared respect. I am becoming uncomfortable with others telling me what I SHOULD believe and HOW I should behave in person matters in my life. I know that the pro-life call folks who believe as I do 'pro-abortion'. What nonsense!! I do not believe anyone in pro-abortion. I believe that I, and many others, are pro-choice. I do not believe I should make rules for your behaviors and I do believe others should make rules, in this area, for mine. The right to choice, in many areasm does not cause danger to others as laws are meant to do and in this case does take away the rights of many individuals.

Many of our ancestors came for the opportunity to earn a living and raise a family. They did not wish to live as a serf; to have their children subjected to laboring for hours and not have an opportunity to be educated while slaving away for a business owner. We had finally done pretty well in that area; we had gone beyond the age of the Robber Barons of the late 1900s. But we seem to have move right back in that direction. The greed and grab for power of some of those of our time is a disgrace to this United States. That politician, who are supposed to represent all appear to have forgotten that concept. The fact that those who want more and more are assisted by our government in sending American jobs overseas is beyond my ken. I have just learned that tax breaks for sending equipment, used here for our jobs, overseas to be used in factories (where more tax breaks are given to assist in the building of these factories) where child labor is used, were adults are poorly paid, where shoddy goods have been sent here and accepted is heartbreaking to me. Why do corporations feel that there is no limit to salaries at the upper end and no reason for those who are 'workers' to live a good life as well? I am so disappointed to see us moving to become like the places our families left.

And we still persecute those who are not 'like' us. No one gave man the right to approve slavery; why did he take so long for civil rights to take hold in this country... although today it appears some southern states still wants poverty and/ color to be a reason to find a way stop someone who does not think in the 'popular' to be deprived of the right to vote. Why are there some who think we must be alike in all our behaviors to be acceptable to society? From my point of view I think it is certainly worse to be a perons who has no sense of social justice or social responsibility; no sense of responsibility to care for the ill, to make sure that all Americans are educated; to make sure seniors retain their rights to care they have worked AND paid for then it is to be a person who has a different sexual preference.

What has happened here! When did greed, money, power become the most important thing in America? When did decide it was OK to call a corporation a person if it gave more power to the wealthy? When did it become OK for states to outspend themselves, not meet their financial responsibilities and then, I know it sounds impossible but it is not, tell those they have cheated to pay for their errors!! That is what is happening in states across the US. Teachers and school districts, for many years, have met all their obligations to State Pension funds and also managed to invest these monies in a responsible way; yet the states wants to take away and control money that is not theirs!!

We have come to a sad place in our history. I wonder if there will ever be a return to a sense of humanity again in this country. I watch our Representatives in Congress try to hold a hammer over the heads of those who know it is necessary to those US citizens who have suffered so much damage as nature, not man, attacked their cities and homes. When did the definition of humanity among men leave the vocabulary of these people?

Well, the rant is over. Thanks for letting me have my say. I know there are many who do not agree. I can only wish they could respect the rights and needs of all Americans... I wish I could feel respect not disappointment in the ways these folks have chosen to treat our country.

Sometimes The Thinking is the Best Part of the Doing...

2011-08-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

My brain has been in a whirl since the first interview last Thursday and, here I am, the afternoon before the final Life Stories Program interview. I think I have relived most of my life in the last week. There are two big things I can identify about this thinking process. One. I have lived through, and can remember, many significant events of the 20th and 21st Century. I know I will have to blog my whole list and the memories each event evoked. Wow! A LOT has happened in the past 80 years. Two. Revisionist or Selective History is alive and well. My children, their children and others to come are the audience for this interview. I have chosen to omit the most painful, the most hurtful past and current events that crossed through my memory this week. It is not because I do not think they are important. It is not because I do not think they have been elemental in shaping who I am today. It is because it would serve no purpose; it would change nothing and would surely hurt some of the readers.

Many years ago I first heard the expression, "You can forgive but you do not forget." In a recent email from a newly found cousin he included his understanding of that phrase. He wrote, "In order for a person to forgive he has to understand that forgiving doesn't mean that they are wrong and the other person is right but it means that the relationship with the other person is more important that their ego.." Reason enough to along with skipping the hurts and nasties of the past.

Thinking Back and A Voice for the Future

2011-08-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Next week I am going to be creating a CD of memories for my children and their children, at the very least. I used to talk with the kids about making a DVD and we all agreed it was a great idea but there is that old problem - time, time, time. A few weeks ago I heard that our North Shore Senior Center had a new solution for creating my story.... The Life Stories Program. For a minimal fee trained volunteers would meet with me, bring some ideas about questions and get acquainted. They would come back a week later and tape an hour discussion. I would be provided with two CDs and could purchase more copies or,I hope,make my own additional copies.

On Thursday of this week Debbie came over for our first interview. She was an interesting woman and our conversation made me think of much I would like to share with my children, grandchildren and future great-grandchildren. I had also asked my kids to send me questions about things they would like to know and several did do that -- and they had very interesting questions for me to consider. So for a day or so I have been thinking about what I should share. You know, it is not as easy as I thought it would be. How does one wrap a life into one hour? What are the pieces that will be of interest? What to include and, as I looked over The Life Stories Program list of questions, what do I want to leave out?

The suggested question are sorted in a semi-chronological order; growing up,love and relationships, raising a family, about your work life and, lastly, the present day and future. Today I think I might use those headings and think of what I would most like to include.... and then, I betcha', it will be cut, cut, cut to get it down to one hour.

Right now, the best part of the process is thinking back to times I have paid little attention to in recent years. How different grammar school and high-school in the 30s and 40s in the South Shore community in Chicago was than the school days of my children and grandchildren. It was be difficult for them picture the rooms with six rows of eight desks each bolted in place. Some rooms you lifted the desk top to put the books and papers and in others they slid in an open shelf. Will they be able to picture the wine bottle shaped containers that were used to pour ink into the small containers in the upper right corner of the desks? After all, no lefties allowed, the pen was dipped into the right side ink holder. No changing room in those days. The music and art teachers came to our classrooms. We did go to gym though and another teaher in the gym. Oh, how they would howl if the could see pictures of us in our white 'sailory' tops with a black tie slid through a loop in front... and, oh, those awful bloomer looking back pants that ended mid-thigh. What lovelies we were!! In those days we had crossing guards at the corners... they were eight grade students who had achieved the honor of being patrol-boys. Perhaps there were girls as well but I don't remember any. How different it was! But, as now, I remember some special teachers.. both good and bad... as my own family does. I will have to leave out the name for courtesies sake, but I will never forget how much Mrs. XXX, my first grade teacher, looked like the picture of George Washington just above where she stood in the middle of the front of the room.

No lunchrooms for us! Everyone walked home for lunch and was back before the 1:00 bell. For me, it was about a 1.5 block walk and I was always in hurry to get home in time for Ma Perkins on the radio. The radio stories were important of life during my school years. And then there was the sandbox, the freezing so we could ice skate in the winter, the two warming houses, and Pete's cart at the Clyde exit at 3:00 most days. Pete had the most wonderful penny candies one could want; long red licorice sticks, wax bottles of liquid, snaps, and so much more.

The school is still there. Still being used.

But fifth graders today do not dress we did in 1942.

So, dear reader, you can see my problem can't you? It will take more than a week to relive it; how much longer to pick the bits to share and how will it ever be enough for them to understand that we had a wonderful time... without any of the technology they so take for granted as necessity and love to use as much as I do. This is not an easy task. I have hunch I will sharing more of it here.. perhaps with a picture of two as well.

Triggers for thinking back.....

2011-05-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

The two days at the Arizona Book Festival has impacted my thinking for a much longer time than those two days! Somehow I found my self thinking of books of long ago... the books that began the trip to the reader I am today. I am pretty sure it all began with a wonderful series that can occasionally be found today, the My Book House set. I guess many of those in my age group have the same wonderful memories of those books. Then came the series age including the Honey Bunch, Nancy Drew and Patty books. But then it was time to read a different kind of book.

I recall my first experience with "grown up" books that even now I know was an incredible happening. I lived in South Shore on the south side of Chicago. A local card shop, Blackman's,had a mezzanine level rental library. I often went there with my mother. I think I must have been in my early teens when I first met Taylor Caldwell. I don't remember how it happened but I went home with Eagles Gather. I didn't know then that it was her first novel. It was the first of what became a three book series about the Bouchard's who were in the munitions business for generations. By the time I became a fan all three books had been published. In fact the three books, Eagles Gather, Dynasty of Death and The Final Hour were her fictionalized version of the Dupont famiy. These were the years of WWII. Her descriptions and the story had me hooked into the word of historical fiction -- still a favorite all these years later.

The other book that popped up in my musings was a book by Madeleine L'Engle called A Wrinkle in Time. My first reading was as a young teacher. It was the best! I loved the word 'tesseral'. I had no idea of it was a real word or not but I loved the sound and her definition of it being a 'wrinkle in time'. Some years later I read two of her adult books. They were both personal and meaningful. I recommend them without reservation. Each is a memoir of sorts. A Circle of Quiet(1972) is, as the fly leaf says, is her way of exploring and defining the meaning of her own life. The second, Two-Part Invention(1988) is the story of her marriage. If you are/were a follower of the soaps, L'Engle was married to Hugh Franklin. Franklin was Dr. Tyler in All My Children for many years. Franklin died in 1986 and the book was published after his death. It was nice to have this moment of recall. I guess it is time to read these last two again.

The Cost of Gasoline

2011-04-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

With the ups and downs I am reminded of playing with a yo-yo as a kid. I am really ready for $1.29/gal. gas... but, wait, I am not sure I even remember how long ago that was. I am trying, even, to remember how far back it was that someone else came up to pump the gas and clean the windows. NOW that I REALLY miss! I remember as a kid going with my younger brother and my dad to fill up the car. Wow, sometimes he even let us help fill up the tank. We didn't know at the time that we were preparing for our current life style. As you can see Mike and I started practicing at a very early age.

There are other things, I realize, that were also preparing us for today. Remember green stamps from S&H? Way ahead of their times, eh? Now we just collect points on our credit cards and, if lucky, find a goody to enjoy as a reward. I just keep searching to see is I can find Amazon Gift Cards to buy more great books for my Kindle. I do love that handy gadget that makes traveling with books such a pleasure.
Remember being taught about responsibility. If you borrow it is important to pay back. Never hurt anyone. Give to those in need. Remember the cans where you could put in a penny or two for a charity because you could help others; you gave more if you had more.

Well, I guess in today's strange environment on can only hope for more points, lower gas prices, and a government that recognizes the needs of the many and that those who have more are able to give more.

Book Lovers, Mark Your Calendars for March 10 -11, 2012

2011-03-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

I am still smiling as I think of my two amazing, wonderful, interesting days at the 2011 Tucson Festival of Books (http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/). In 2010 I visited Green Valley, Arizona just in time to read about this event that would take place in Tucson on the University of Arizona campus the day after I left. I decided then and there I would not miss it in 2011. What a good decision that was!!

This is the third Festival that is held during the University's Spring Break. It is held on a Saturday and Sunday. Thousands attended it this year on two perfect spring day. In addition to the usual publishers' tents, special children's events, lots of food there were about 20 different author events, each an hour long, held from 10 AM through a 4 PM presentation. There were non-fiction and fiction authors, romance authors, mystery writers, authors who wrote for adults, authors who write for children, and special topics of interest to anyone who might attend.

My first session on the first morning was a high - 3 authors whose work and I had read and enjoyed - talking together and separately, answering audience questions and doing so a in a casual, friendly and well-informed way. In this case they were the authors of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Still Alice and The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. After each session, just outside the area where the presentation was held the authors were available to talk and to sign books. Could it get any better than this? I asked myself as the session came to a close.

Well, if not better there was no session that as a disappointment!! I attended sessions discussed their own writing processes, issues of content research, dealing with problems that hit in the middle of writing a book, how they felt about options or selling of books for film or TV, and issues dealing with digital publications.

I was particularly interested in the session that discussed how to write family histories using journals and letters. The two authors spoke of so many issues that one would never have thought of when using and searching for these materials. In this session there were more than a few persons who had been left family materials and wanted advice/suggestions on how to approach personal and surprising information contained in the materials and, when the writing is completed, what to do to protect these original materials.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the consistently well-prepared moderators in each session. Each had clearly read the work of each of the authors in the session. The questions they asked were designed to go across the topics so each author could comment in terms of their own work. It was also set up so the answers frequently led to comments between the authors as a result of the question being asked.

I will read the works of the author I heard through new eyes. I will see their faces, hear their voices and remember enjoying their excellent comments and, often, the great sense of humor that was often displayed.

The only disappointment was that several authors I really would have enjoyed cancelled at the last minute. At the session of one of these authors it appeared there was a sudden and valid reason for the cancellation. In the other case, a VERY well-know author, no one seemed to know why he suddenly cancelled and he had been scheduled for about 3 different sessions.

I can hardly wait until next year. I hope to see you all there as well.

Creating the past for future generations

2011-02-02T09:21:00.000-08:00

I love my digital scrapping. I am learning to love genealogy. How do the two come together? Besides learning how to find family and put the findings in a form that will be useful to future generations there is also the family of now and a not-to-far-past then. I am hoping that making digital stories to be included in the future book of our family that I hope to create.

I probably will include more of these along the way. You never know what unfound, as yet, cousin might see it and say Hello!!

A great read that makes you think.....

2011-01-26T14:39:00.000-08:00

I am sure there are many books that fall under this heading. But I have just finished one that hit an area I hadn't thought about before. I have been reading Naomi Ragen's books for a long while. They are always well written and have descriptions and stories about Jewish life that was new to me. While I was raised in a Conservative home I did not know much about the very orthodox way of life.... here or abroad.

This is the cover of her newest book. The image is from her website.

This book, The Tenth Song, is different from her earlier work. Her website describes it "as book about what happens to people when their lives suddenly fall apart without warning. It's about the challenges and lessons, and yes, the unexpected way we can start all over." The family in the book have lived an observant life in New York. While there are many life changing events that take place for several members of the family that require thoughtful changes on the part of the characters it was not these events that made this book so special for me.

It was the "happenings" between this family and their spiritual leader. What happens when the person you have looked to for spiritual and moral support truly disappoints you when you most need the support of the person in that role? It was almost painful to watch the Samuels family realize the path their Rabbi has chosen to follow. l hope Ms. Ragen will follow this man in her next book. I kept wondering, if this had been real life, how this religious leader would have dealt with the path he chose to follow as the book concluded.

It didn't have to be a rabbi. It could have been any religious leader of any faith of any given family. There are so many pieces of any person that would be affected is a situation like this one. I can only hope many book clubs select this book. I would like to a fly in the wall during the discussions that would follow.

By the way, if this is a new author for you, I strongly suggest you also read the Ghost of Hannah Mendes. Maybe I will write about it the next time.

Solving Life's Little Problems

2011-01-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

Went on my usual AM email check this AM and Hummie's World Newsletter Issue #12 link caught my eye. She had a link to a blog/project I had not heard of before and so off went for a visit to Project New 52 . I related to the coffee-making topic right away and also realized I had found a way to get my blogging time focused - once a week. Yeah! a way to get organized.

As Peppermint Granberg had, I also had a desire to solve a coffee problem in my house. I am a decaf person and my other half only likes caffeine. We were throwing out a lot of real coffee and I was drinking instant. Not a happy time. A moment of wonder came when I first saw the Keurig single cup coffee maker. We could each have the coffee we wanted!! Fresh each time!! Life would be great. Coffee happiness has become a reality in our house.

They have so many choices.. They even have my favorite Orange flavored tea. Morning coffee making is much more pleasant in our house these days.

Why does it take sooooo long?

2010-08-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here I am... shamefaced again. I always mean to post when something is on my mind but somehow the blog is not as high on the list as it should be. How about a September 1st resolution.. just as good as January first, right? At least once a week from now on. I suppose I should remember that not having time means the problems of retirement are no longer the same as they were at the beginning.

I have been so busy trying to shape this new life that I suddenly realize that the time has come to, once again, pick new priorities. l still miss my colleagues but better understand that they, and I, are walking a different paths now. It is still fun to get together, personal friendships remain, shared interests beyond the profession are more important now. New friends have been developed. Old interests have reappeared and re-connections with old friends have occurred. Some of the new things I tried have not continue to hold my interest or, at least, did not meet my expectations of what I wanted and needed.

So where am I now? Accepting there are things that are not as easy to do. No days have 28 hours. Choices have to be made. Family responsibilities are different than they were before. New loves of time use have grown and must be acknowledged. Family, traveling, reading, and scrapping are really of the greatest importance now.

Through the lesson I have completed at Hummie's World (http://www.hummiesworld.com) I feel great growth and a willingness to explore new ways of creating scrapbook pages. If you haven't visited her site and seen all that she has to offer you are really missing a great bet!! I have the feeling (although she has not shared the secret) she really does know where to find 36 hour days. I have no idea how she manages to keep her video tutorials up to date.

I am enjoying being in a book club which I was unable to do before. I am doing some teaching at the Senior Center near here but only a limited amount. As a real mac person I do not like teaching in a PC lab as much.

In the four years since I retired a most amazing change has occurred among my grandchildren. They are all too grown up for me. I want my little ones back but I am not counting on it. The oldest grandson is now married and starting a doctoral program at the University of Iowa. The next two in line have each completed college (Madison and Northwestern) and trying to find their place in the world at this difficult time. Grandson #4 is entering junior year at Indiana. Oldest grandaughter is now a sophmore at Madison. The next 4 boys are in high school and youngest grandaughter is in 7th. The most difficult is the youngest boy... He was 4 when I retired and had lots of time for grandma. Now he is 8, in third grade, and while he still likes to go places he really is building his own world now as well. It blows me away that there are now 8 drivers, one with a learning permit, and only two that have not hit the road.... SCARRY!

I think I am one of the lucky ones as I look back over the past 4 years. I still am pretty healthy as is my husband. Most of our children and grandchildren are healthy. But there is sadness on the health front of several so we take that a day at a time.

I guess life-long learning will always be on the forefront. Have had great trips to Ecuador, Spain, the Baltics and Canadian Rockies. Have read some really good books as well as just fun books. Chick Lit is OK with me as well as more thoughtful ones as well.

Getting more serious of digging deeper into some software packages that can help as I work with photos... also with learning more about getting the most out of my camera. I have decided that if I were going to move to SLR it should have been done a few years ago... at the least. So I will improve how use the one I have.

And, oh yes, a knewie but goodie, has come into our home world. We have decided to do away with grass!! Well, not all of it but a lot of it by creating frames of perennial plants in our long (not too wide) and leveled back yard. that will be a muti-multi-multi year project from what I can tell at this point. But it is fun and has had us visiting many botanic gardens and enjoying them.

So to all you new retirees, hang in there. Even if you can't tell now, the fun is yet to come.

I can't imagine a life without the pleasure of reading.

2010-01-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

I should start by saying I don't believe reading isn't only with the eyes. I have loved listening to Books on Tape longer than I care to admit. I also don't believe it has to be books in traditional format. I love good magazines, newspapers, ebooks and now I own a Kindle. Don't you think most of us that love reading have been that way all our lives? I kinda' do think that.

Even though I was a children's librarian at one point in my checkered career I must say that I love chicklit, mystery/detective books, current best sellers, any good book on digital scrapping, using technology tools and great web sites and blogs. I do however give myself permission to read at this time in my life following what my mom said in her later years. She always said, " I am old enough that I do not have to read the 'should of read' books". Soo I freely admit to never having read the Russian authors and many of the classics. I read my first Jane Austen book two years ago.

But I have found one new reading joy that must be shared with the world - at least the world of women who love reading. Minnesota Women's Press, Inc. publishes a 7" X 8.5" 26 or 27 page publication six times a year. It is called bookWOMEN: A Readers' community for those who love women's words. Reviews of many books by women from the women who have read them. Two women, Glenda Martin and Mollie Hoben, are the reader-writers behind this treasure. All who join are encouraged to write about their reading, their reading groups and the meaning of books in their lives. Glenda and Mollie lead many book groups over the year. Having participated in one of their Readers' Retreats in Green Valley, Arizona I can tell you it was probably the most exciting book related experience I have every had. More on that at another time.

At the end of the retreat or book year each group selects their own best books of the year. Mollie and Glenda create a publication called THE GREAT BOOKS because women say so! Each book is briefly reviewed and it is a great resource as you search for new authors and books. I hope you will go to http://tinyurl.com/bookwomen and learn more about Bookwomen. I think it is the greatest gift I can share with you.

In the December 2009-January 2010 issue one of set of reviews was written by Carol St. John, a BookWomen subscriber and an author. In closing her article she wrote a few sentences that really provide a wonderful image of what reading is all about. I hope she will approve my quoting her words.

"When I read a lot, I become a better reader. I know what works for me and what I want to eliminate. There is not enough time to read nonsense. The world of books wants us to know more about life and subjects we can't even fathom. I am so grateful for those writers who are willing to take us there". From Books met on the road by Carol St. John. bookWOMEN, vol. 14, No. 2, p.5

Loving Serendipity

2010-01-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

When I was teaching, kids of adults, I loved to note the things I call 'happy accidents'. It's been awhile so it was wonderful to find one the other day. While looking a blog on scrapping I starting clicking on the next button --- first time ever!! Try it sometime, I learned a lot about the blogs out there and what you can learn from them. An suddenly my happy accident was on the screen. I ran into http://laniepainie.blogspot.com/ and her 12/30/09 comments called End of ought-nine. Wow!! I hope she doesn't mind my borrowing her idea.

She had a quote from Ellen Goodman that really made me stop and think. Hope you like it as well.

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

Lainie then made a list of 10 things she was happy to have experienced in the last year. But I think I may include a few of those but look more for the things I would like to build in the coming year.

Thoughts about 2009:

1. I am glad I went to my 60th high school reunion. It really was good to touch base with old friends. I liked getting grammar school room pictures from a few people and being able to put them on Flickr for more to enjoy.

2. Joined a book club and a Torah study group this year. First ongoing groups since retirement. I am lucky they are both great groups.

3. It was a special experience to see our first grandchild and first grandson (the same person ;-)) marry his love. Kasia and Alex are wonderful together and we enjoy being with them.

4. We had a wonderful week trip through Ohio visiting art museums and botanic gardens. Even in retirement there is so much to do it was good to have this kind of alone time. I LOVED making a basket at the Longaberger factory.

5. I continue to be grateful that we both have pretty good health and can enjoy the things we love to do.

And in 2010......

1. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise. Learn to find 20 minutes a day for some form of excercise.

2. Finish all the digital scrapbooks that are 'in-progress'. A promise to myself to start no new ones till current projects are finished.

3. Make sure to plan 'us' time as well as 'me' time. We like Rollo May's thoughts on the need for both.

4. Look for new and casual ways to bring family together.

5. Develop new plans to work with seniors and technology competencies.

6. Spend more time reading Better Investing so I can be a better informed participant in my stock club.

7. Try not to get into political arguments!! This is not an easy one, will take a lot of work and tape over the mouth.

Try this one. I found it was really nice to think about the good things of last year and look forward to making this a good one, as much as possible.

Not quite making the break... but do I have to break with it all?

2010-01-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

Last June I went to the National Educational Computing Conference in DC. It was wonderful to see old colleagues and talk about what they were doing. Loved walking around and seeing vendors who had become friends over the years. Going to the meeting of the Special Interest Group that had long been an important part of my professional life was a wake-up call. I was welcomed, included and loved being there with everyone.

But as I sat there and listened to the conversations and issues raised as the group worked on future plans I suddenly knew what I had been denying. This really wasn't my world anymore. I knew this would be my last NECC and wondered how I would find ways to connect with these friends of many years. And so I left DC saddened in some ways but with a new sense of moving forward in this whole, very long accomodation to what it means to be retired.

It is now about about six months or so later. I have thrown out more of the teaching materials that still sat in folders in file cabinets and on my computer. More professional books went to the 1/2 Price Books store and other places. This past week I have unsubscribed to some of the online technology groups whose mailings I have rereceived for more years than I care to admit.

But under it all the TechUser and TechEducator in me can't quite let go. In today's email the new of issue of Digital Learning Environment News arrived in my mailbox. I opened it to scroll down and unsubscribe. And it happened ---- I was hooked on several different sections. I love my Diigo group mailings that come each week. I eagerly open my ADE list mailings that come to see what these amazing folks are doing and get new ideas on best ways to use my Apple applications. So I guess it just all a part of moving forward but keeping the parts that still work in this new (well, not so new any more) world of retirement.

So here's my end thought for the day. Out with the old that just doesn't work anymore, Hold on to the old that still gives pleasure, memories and new ideas for what I am doing now and In with new - whatever it might be and whenever it arrives.

Time to blow off steam

2010-01-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

At the end of the day I think about what I should have put up here but some how time disappears. Wonder if this happens to many bloggers? Lots of political kind of thinking theses days. Things that are happening that really disturb me... so I think I will get a few of them down here. Maybe I will feel better and someone out there might even agree on some of these.

1. How can they use 'Not made in America' glass in the new building on the WTC site. Read this am the glass for windows will come from China.

2. I won't rejoin the DNC till they promise no money to BlueDog's re-election campaigns. Happy to support individual candidates.

3. What nonsense! Our security folks can't figure out how to get an 8 year old boy off the no-fly list?

4. As a former teacher I really think kids would be better off on some holidays... Columbus Day, Pres B-days, MLK B-day... if they were in school and learning about the reasons honoring these people is important. Lots of free time to wander does NOT help understanding why they are not in school.

5. Wish they would require that business laying off workers would have to prove they are not outsourcing the jobs. Bet that would cut down on laying off American workers.

6. Love this quote. “The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones" from John Maynard Keynes. It makes me think of all the folks who hate change and try nothing new. We are in the world of technology. Time to learn to use it in the best way that works for you... even if you have to learn to keyboard.

Whew!! I feel better already

The Beginnings

2009-12-31T10:33:00.000-08:00

December 20, 2008

For four years I have been 'starting' this blog, at least in my head. I guess there has to be something to get you started. In this case it is an online class** for Telling Your Story. Any one, scrapper or not, should take this class. It helps you get an overview or where you have been and where you might be going. So far we have been putting together a process to "Examine the unexamined Life", hmmmm, think we have heard that somewhere before. The first written assignment asks participants to select a moment/experience, examine it, write about it and share it.

So here I am today, looking back, instead of doing what I thought I would do which was to start at the moment of retirement. But I am beginning. I hope you will join me in this journey which appears will have to live in its own time warp.

**You can find about this class for yourself at http://www.jessacasprague.com and check out Stories-in-Hand.

Keeping the Brain -- And the Spirit -- Alive

2009-02-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

February 6, 2009

Last Saturday I went to the NICE (Northern Illinois Computing Educators) Mini-Conference. I had not gone for the last several years. Somehow the date never worked just right. This year I made sure that it would work. What a good decision that was! It was so good to see colleagues and friends I had not seen for some time. Exciting to hear what they are doing and technology tool integration in classrooms is moving forward in such exiting ways. There was time to hear from former students and what they are doing in their schools and their impact in their own school cultures.
There were several new tools I wanted to see demonstrated and hear explained. Have I mentioned I am a visual and auditory learner? ;-) For about a year I have been struggling with the goal of learning Google Earth. My friend, colleague and fellow ADE, Jerome Burg, has done such wonderful work with his GoogleLit Trips that I am encouraged to keep trying! So off I went and had a chance to learn and play a bit more with this incredible tool in a semi-structured way. Then to learn about Moodle , a free tool for creating online courses. Among other things this was a session that made me think about how far we have come since the early versions of Blackboard, let alone WebCT . In those days online learning was a very narrowly viewed opportunity, following up on correspondence courses. Now online learning comes in so many flavors and at so many levels.
Driving home I thought how lucky I have been.... being there at the almost beginning, at least in education, of being able to watch the uses and tools grow. I have seen the focus step being on "the computer" but on how it can be a tool for almost all members of society, how our communication with each other has changed, how our ability to work together using the collaboration tools that now exist and were unheard of in the mid-80s. I smiled thinking of how many of today's leaders who work to improve the use of technology tools in teaching and learning have never heard of, let alone seen, the Commodore PET80. the first computer in my school. It used a 4K mini-cassette for programming. What a long way we have come!! What a wonderful day!!! Thanks, NICE, you did a great job. AND I even won a raffle prize.

Remembering the Beginning Days of Reinvention

2009-01-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2009

In June of 2004 my colleagues held a Reinvention Party in my honor. The title of the party came from all my negative comments about the concepts of retirement. I had been reading Women Confronting Retirement by Alice Radosh and Nan Bauer-Maglin. I recommend it to all women thinking about retirement. In their preface the comment that 'battleships are retired, not people." That really struck a chord with me and so my colleagues who all new my feelings on the concept adopted by feelings for the party. I really thought I was prepared for the life ahead, the life that would begin with my second reinvention. The first began when I took official retirement from a K-8 district and started anew at a private teacher-education institution. That move began the most exciting, amazing, satisfying 15 years of my professional life.

As this was a second career and I was well beyond 65 I realized I had better make some decisions about what I wanted from my remaining years and I knew traveling was one of the things I wanted to do. "Better get to it" I said to myself. I decided to leave the university and arranged to work a 50% load during that final year. Well, I thought, aren't you smart. This will really prepare you for the time you will have next year. I cannot believe, to this day, how wrong I was and how ill-prepared I was for what the next year would bring.

It is still painful to remember the loneliness of that first year. For the past 15 years I had been part of an active, exciting, professionally involved community. And there I was, one September morning, no longer a part of that or any other community. My friends who had retired earlier or who had not worked all had busy lives of their own that filled their days. My community of learners and colleagues had their own lives. My children were happy to visit and have me have special days with their kids but that was not how I wanted to spend my time. What had I been thinking!! You can't travel all the time!! You travel for two weeks or so at a time. Even with planning included what was I going to do with me in the years to come.

I remembered someone once saying... " You remember Joan. She used to be.......(whatever she did before)". Is that what I would become. A Marianne who used to be.....

The Impact of One Small Appendix

2009-01-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

In my last entry I wrote about the time for new traditions. And I thought about how small happenings can have an impact for many years ahead. In the summer of 2008 my grandson, Adam, told me that he had just finished his first solo flight and was working on getting his pilot's license. Shortly after that his dad, my oldest son, reminded me that he had started on his many years back and, now, he would be completing his work to get his 'ticket' as some flyers say. I smiled as thought back to this had all begun in 1942 in a most unexpected way. And here is that story.

When I was 11 years old I was famous in the family for crying wolf when it came to being just a bit ill. So the day that I came home from school and complained about a really bad pain in my stomach I was not taken very seriously. My mom wasn’t home and Golda (you will hear more about her later) just wouldn’t believe me. Finally I was in so much pain that Golda called Grandpa Irv at work and he said send her by cab to a particular address. That address was Dr. McNeil’s office and when I arrived he took a look and a poke and we were on our way to the hospital for my appendix to be quickly removed!! So what is the point of this medical history? It is to help you learn the real meaning of serendipity. Although I didn’t feel so well it was, indeed, a happy accident for my dad.
My dad, despite being involved in workman’s compensation and spending many hours involved with doctors, really, really didn’t like hospitals. So he spent much of his time talking to Dr. McNeil’s resident who just happened to be very excited about the flying lessons he was currently taking. Ahh, I can almost see the expressions on your faces. You just figured it out. Yep, that is how Grandpa Irv first started taking flying lessons and all the trips you have heard about that he and Grandma Sally took. But before he got to the Big Trip stage there were many small trips you never heard about.

Dad’s first plane was a Stinson, single propeller 4-seater plane. He really loved it. He would take anyone flying that was willing to go and even some that weren’t so willing. He got the Stinson in 1948 and I started college in the fall of 1949 at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Wow! Just the right length to go for a nice flight. My first flight to Champaign with him was to go back after a fall weekend at home. Picture this if you will. As you may have figured out already this was not a pressurized plane so we really didn’t fly at a very high attitude. As a matter of fact you could see the roads and railroad tracks very easily and that was a good thing. We used a regular road map to route our course. As navigator it was my job to make sure to follow the right roads to get us to our destination. We used the same map to go for Sunday morning breakfast flights to Vernotken’s Junction, a restaurant in Peoria, I think.

An unusual experience of note was another return trip to Champaign. This time my younger cousin Irene who was very excited about the flight and my closest friend then as now, Aunt Rosanne joined us. We were on our way on following the map carefully. As we got closer to Champaign it was clear the weather was beginning to change. Dad decided we had better not try it and go any further so we turned back to return to the home air field. The gas tanks held more than enough for us to get to school and even a bit more but, as it turned out, barely enough to get back to the field. During the landing process the plane is at different angles and very close to the field we began to hear a few sputters from that poor little over-worked single engine. Rosanne and I were in the back seat trying to keep each other calm and poor Irene had to deal with dad in the front. I remember still a few bits from the comments Rosanne and I were making to each other…. we still laugh about that day every once in awhile. ‘Oh, God,” one of us said, “ I don’t want to die without ever having a fur coat.” Another comment was about not wanting to die ‘without knowing what it is like’. I will leave it for you readers to figure out what the ‘it’ we were discussing referred to. There was a happy ending as dad set the plane down in a field not far from the airstrip, no one was hurt and the plane had no damage either. We were all a little shook up but what a wonderful story it was for a looooong time.
Eventually Mike, Rich and I all took flying lessons. The boys did get their licenses and enjoyed flying until other issues ended their flying careers. I never even soloed although I probably had enough hours of lessons for a commercial pilot’s license but I was either too scared or had peripheral vision problems (I like that excuse) but I used to get more landings per takeoff, bumping my way down the runway, then any other pilot ever did.
Over the years dad got an instrument rating, had several twin-engine planes, and the folks took many grand vacations. As dad got older mom did solo. She said she just wanted to know she had one landing in her. Their last plane previously belonged to a cartography company and dad just covered the window in the floor with a piece of carpet so we could look out. That was really fun with wonderful views. Their wonderful trips are a part of our family history. But for now, just remember, you never know the impact one little appendix can have on a family for a long, long time.

Time to Start New Traditions

2008-12-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

Years go by, children grow, have children of their own and -- even lives of their own. Change seems to creep into the best of plans. Thanksgiving used to be an easily arranged family event. The arrival of children-in-law, and then amazing grandchildren, also brought many other new families into our lives. And, can you believe this, these new families even want to see their children at Thanksgiving? How odd! Every other year one family to visit and the next year the other. Does that really work? Sure it does in many ways. But the pattern never really seems to work to keep all the kids together the same year. Oh, what to do, what to do?

In 2007 we invited all of our children to a Sunday-before-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving brunch. We served a non-traditional buffet meal with yummy deserts. Everyone brought something to the party. It was the first time in several years that all of our eleven grandchildren were at the same party. Everyone loved it!! It was a wonderful, warm, casual, fun-filled afternoon that was enjoyed by all.

When 'real' Thanksgiving arrived each of our kids went to spend time at whatever other plans they had made for that traditional Thursday celebration. We, my husband and I, had already left for a vacation for two. As art museum lovers we planned a short driving to trip to museums in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Des Moines, Iowa. We relaxed, saw the lighting of the Christmas decorations in Kansas City before driving on to Des Moines. An unexpected treat happened there. We visited with our grandson, Alex, and his, then, girlfriend and were invited to Kasia's parents home for coffee and dessert. We knew how wonderful her parents had been during Alex' many visits to their home so looked forward to meeting them -- we did not know till some weeks later that we were meeting Alex' future in-laws. It was a wonderful evening AND a really short trip. So went our first year of new traditions.

Enter November, 2008. Yep, we did it again. Didn't have everyone but almost. Still fun. Still good time. And, yes, we took another short trip as the kids went on doing their own thing as well. More on that second trip another time. But our new Thanksgiving tradition is here to stay.

Times do change, don't they?

2008-11-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Jeans, jeans, jeans.... It was the spring of 1973. Ron and I had been living with our blended family of six children for two and a half years. The kids now ranged from 11 to 17 years old and the laundry included many, many pairs of jeans. Some of our children were far ahead of their times... they believed jeans were for life, no matter there condition; they were in to holes, rips, threadbare well ahead of the rest of the world. Their mother did not share there enthusiasm for the condition of these well-loved pants. Looking back I guess a part of my unhappiness was, that as a parent and a teacher, I could not stand their looking so unkempt at school. And so this memorable day began and later ended with great unhappiness on the part of Cooky (17) and David (14), my two extreme ahead-of-their-time teenagers. Cooky's were ragged and torn. David's had already been to the shoemaker multiple times for repair, the only source of an open-arm sewing machine.

How were they to know as I walked from room to room that those two pair of pants were in front of my eyes in each of their rooms and they were not!! Quickly grabbing these items of disagreement I ran to hide them, knowing there would soon be an explosion. It was not long in coming. "Where are my jeans?" came screaming from one male and one female voice. "Gone" yelled the mother's voice, right back at the question. "You can't do that!" "You have no right to my jeans!" were two of the most easily remembered, and repeatable, statements that came forth.

The search began. Two teenagers looking anywhere and everywhere and, amazingly, not finding their jeans. Grumpiness, rudeness and shock were the order of that Sunday. The other four kids knew to stay out of the way. Bedtime came and went but the jeans were never found. Two unhappy kids finally went to sleep. One mom, who was sorry they were so sad but glad those unwearable jeans were gone, also went to bed.

The next day was Monday and all went off to school before I left for work. Before leaving for work I removed the two pair of jeans from between the box spring and mattress of my bed, took them with me, and into the school trash bin they went!! Time smoothed things over and life went on. But not without comments on how terrible that experience was for them and that they still didn't think I had the right to remove their torn, wear-ravaged jeans. Here we are in 2008 and the comments still back everyonce in awhile. I should also finish this tale by telling you that the same comments are coming from the next generation. My soon-to-be 18 year old grand-daughter cannot understand how this grandma could have done such a terrible thing to Carly's mom. It is fun to wonder the value of those jeans in today's market where torn, ragged, ripped jeans sell for more than $150.00! Times do change, don't they?

Roots - When I joined the family

2008-11-16T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess for the readers of this life story the particular happening described is really important. After all without that momentous occasion there wouldn't be a you at all -- at least for one side of this Brady Bunch family.
It all starts when Sally and Irving Greenfield were awaiting the birth of their first child in early July of 1931. Well, I have always been a stubborn person with a desire to do things my way and, apparently, that trait was determined to show itself early. On May 18, 1931 Irv and Sally found themselves arriving at Chicago's Lying In Hospital. It was an old building, the new Lying In ground breaking had taken place in 1929 and it was not yet completed. So here we all were (although I didn't know it) meeting Dr. Henry Buxbaum, Sally's doctor, to find out what was going on. Well, there were a few problems. If you don't know what the placenta is you will have to ask your mom but my placenta was wanting to rush into the world before I did -- which was not the right order of things. Even the great obstetrician, Dr. Joseph DeLee was not too optimistic. He told my mom that she was very young and, if this didn't work out, she could have other babies. Not a very helpful fellow, eh?
I must admit that I have always loved the story of how Dr. Buxbaum stayed with my mom, wouldn't leave her alone to worry, and, low and behold, look what happened. Here I am!! There is more to the story however. Many of the Lying In facilities were being closed as the building would not be open much longer. Because I was so premature.. after all it is a long time between May 19th and early July... I had to be moved to Michael Reese Hospital because they had what was called a Preemie Station, a place where premature babies could be taken care of until they were large enough to go home. I was a little under 4 pounds when I was born. So mom, dad and I were separated for awhile. I in my small world at Michael Reese and my parents at home in their small apartment in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood.
Although the hospital provided formula for all the new babies many believed then as they do now that milk from one's mother was better for the baby. In those days they had, as they do but today they are much better, breast pumps so the mother could provide milk for the baby even if she was not right there. The important idea was that it was from the baby's mother. So every day before my father went to work, he would stop at Michael Reese hospital to bring my special milk from my mom just for me. After about a week of this my dad made an amazing discovery. All the milk brought in by all of the dads was put into a very large pot and shared among all the babies!! It is my understanding.. I don't remember it from that time... that that was the end of the milk deliveries. But things did get better. Still according to rumor (my memory got much better later) that was the end of special delivery time.
I believe I came home late in June and continued to grow and develop. But you should know some of the other interesting things that came out of this unusual birthday. One wonderful thing was that Michael Reese Hospital had a study on premature babies. So once a year, until I was 18, I had to go to the hospital to get weighed, measured and answer some questions. I don't know how the tradition started but I know I went every year with my grandfather, my mom's dad, and it has left me with wonderful memories of our special day. The second lucky thing that happened is that I was born in 1931. In 1932 a group of doctors decided that babies in incubators might not be getting enough oxygen so they made the incubators more air-tight. Fairly quickly they noticed that babies in these new incubators were losing their vision. The blindness was caused by too much oxygen and changes were made so that that problem would not continue. The third thing that resulted from our great affection and thanks to Dr. Buxbaum is that brought my brothers, Michael and Richard into the world --- at Michael Reese Hospital, of course. And years later he brought my three natural children, Caren, David and Matthew Rosenbloom into the world as well. While I don't remember the occasion I certainly heard the story many times over the years. I have always felt I was a pretty lucky person, right from the start.