Watching the World Go By

Posted on November 13, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

After my first week of full retirement, I am feeling very relaxed.

The hardest part has been adjusting to the fact that on most days, I really don’t need to be anywhere at any particular time.  I keep finding myself thinking that I must finish these chores today ’cause I gotta get ready for work tomorrow – and then I remember  I don’t have to work tomorrrow – or the day after or the day after that.  I must admit that after working for 50 or more years, it hasn’t been the easiest adjustment to make.

For many of my 50+ work years, my greatest dream was to merely get a day or two of peace.  Like most employees, I would sometimes call off “sick” simply to have a day to do whatever I wished or to lie around doing absolutely nothing.

Well, I have that now.  This is probably the quietest neighborhood I’ve ever lived in.

(We won’t discuss the gun fight a couple of years back.  That was an isolated incident during a drunken party at a rental house around the corner, and no one was injured.  There have been no such incidents either before or after that one.)

Seldom do I see anything much when I look out my front windows.  Puppy Cody lets me know whenever there’s an Amazon, UPS or Fedex truck anywhere on the street, or if any of the neighbors have a plumber, electrician or other contractor in their driveways.  She does tend to disturb the neighborhood peacefulness whenever she sees someone she doesn’t think belongs here.

However, for some reason, Cody never barks when  the local daycare staff walks their tiny charges down the street every weekday morning.  I can hear them coming, I don’t know why Cody doesn’t.  Or maybe beause they’re such little strangers, she doesn’t feel threatened.  I never know what the silly dog is thinking.

Anyway.

If I get bored, I can always look out the back window:

Sometimes there are rabbits, birds and/or squirrels running around back there.  Once, I even found a tortoise.  It’s not a huge yard, but it’s mine, and I always enjoy looking out at it.

Mostly, I’ve been sleeping late, watching videos, and crocheting.  A lot of crocheting – I promised a local women’s shelter a dozen hat/scarf sets to help keep the residents warm, and with the colder weather arriving soon, I’ve been pushing to get those finished.  It doesn’t help me supplement Social Security, but at least it makes me feel like I’m still contributing something to society.  Maybe someday after I’m dead, someone will find a hat, scarf or afghan with the Legacy Needlework/Teddy Rosalie label and remember me with fondness.

Or not.  But at least those ladies won’t have their ears freezing off this winter.

Hugs, all.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in That's Life | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

And … Done!

Posted on November 1, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

And so, as they say, today is the first day of the rest of my life. My retired life, that is.

My last day at work (yesterday) was, as one can expect, bittersweet.  There were hugs all around, and carrying those personal effects to my car at the end of the day definitely felt weird.

But it was time.  And not a day too soon.

I’ve said all along that I planned to leave “before the weather changes” so I would no longer have to make that long commute in wintertime.  As luck would have it, yesterday brought the first snowfall.  Not a lot of snow, it barely covered the ground.  But it was icy, there were traffic accidents overnight because of the weather, and I am sooo very happy to be at home with no real need to go anywhere today.

Now it’s me and Puppy Cody, all day, every day.  She’s especially happy about that!

Poor Cody has had some health issues recently.  As her vet said, “It’s rare for a 10-year-old dog to become infested with three different kinds of parasites.”  Ugh.  She’s always been on a monthly medication  for heartworms, which also supposedly controls hookworms and other parasites, but the vet thinks she keeps reinfecting herself.  How?, you ask.

Well, the silly dog just loves to forage the back yard for all those little “gifts” the bunnies and squirrels leave.  In the process, she’s probably also picking up bits of parasite-infected soil.  Double-ugh.

So, now she’s just finished two courses of antibiotics and deworming – and, because she’s a bad dog who just won’t listen when we tell her to get away from that!, whenever we take her out back, she must wear a mesh muzzle which prevents her from even getting her tongue out.  Don’t worry, she can still breathe, bark, and chase those squirrels and bunnies, but she can’t eat or lick anything she’s not supposed to eat or lick.  (As a plus, should she actually catch one of those critters, like she did a few weeks back, she won’t be able to bite it.)

BTW, I just realized that if one dog year equals seven human years, then Puppy Cody is now the same age I am!  I’m 71.  She’s 10 in dog years – which, for those of you who can’t do the math, would be 70 in human years.  No wonder we’re both becoming somewhat decrepit!

Hope all is well with all of you and yours.  Should you ever be in the Western New York area and want to meet Cordelia’s Mom, send me a quick email (cordalismom2012@yahoo.com).   I can’t afford much on only Social Security, but I’m sure I can manage an inexpensive lunch and the gas to get there.

Unless, of course, it’s snowing.  Then I ain’t goin’ nowhere.

Hugs, all.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

 

Posted in Pets, That's Life | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

All Better

Posted on September 21, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

Fall is coming, and I’m feeling much better after my recent health issue.

The swelling in my face has reeceded and the headache is gone.  Thanks to all those who expressed their concern after reading last week’s post.

Today’s routine dental appointment showed no cavities and no gum disease!

I may be getting old[er] but at least I’m not totally falling apart yet.

While recovering last week, I comforted myself by wrapping up in my own, newly made afghan:

The yarn was purchased more than two years ago, but I was too busy creating masterpieces for everyone else to make a blanket just for me.  I’m glad I finally got around to that.

On an even happier note, I have officially given notice of my full retirement from the job force.   I can hardly wait for that final day (October 31), and I’m sooo looking forward to not having that long commute this winter.

Hugs, all.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Health, Photography, That's Life | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Seeing a Little More Light at the End of the Tunnel

Posted on September 12, 2023 by cordeliasmom2012

Sometimes fate (or God, if you’re religious) makes decisions for you.

I’ve been struggling with when I will finally fully retire.  My bosses know I’m on the way out.  Originally, I promised to  stay until the end of the year.  But I’m tired, the commute is long, and both hubby and I have been experiencing some age-related health issues.

Hell, I’m 71!  How long do I need (or want) to keep doing this?

So I’ve been going back and forth between an October 30th end date or a November 30th end date.  If I stay til the end of November, I can get paid for Thanksgiving and the day after.  But by then there could be snow (NOT doing any more winter driving!) and it’s one more month of stress which I most definitely don’t need.

I feel an obligation to my bosses, who have been wonderful to me over the years, but since the full-time staff employee left in April and hasn’t been replaced, it’s become just too much for me.  The bosses did bring in a temp to help out during the recruitment process, but I haven’t seen them intervew a single permanent employee.  I don’t know how long I can wait.

Already, I’ve become a somewhat undependable employee, due to my own health issues and hubby’s, and I’m feeling a little guilty about that.  When I can’t make it in, there’s no one to do my work.  It’s not fair to the others to have to cover for me so often, but they’ve been very patient.  And it’s been especially hard on me because I then have to catch up when I’m able to return, and since at most I work 3 days a week it can be difficult to get everything done.

So – Maybe it was stress.  Maybe it was  a bug or spider bite.  Maybe it was some kind of food allergy. Maybe some stranger sneezed on me.

In any event, on Thursday, my first day off last week, I developed swelling and pain on the right side of my head under the ear, which then moved to the left side of my neck under the ear.  By Saturday it had moved up to my left cheekbone and left temple, with a small strip across my forehead (even my husband noticed!).  Then it went back to the right side under the ear and the forehead rash had grown.  Topical hydrocortisone wasn’t working.  On Sunday I tried Benadryl, which also didn’t work.  I briefly considered going to urgent care but since I wasn’t having any breathing or cardiac problems, decided to wait until Monday when my primary doctor would be in his office, assuming the whole issue hadn’t resolved by then.

At any rate, fate (or God) seems to have stepped in.  I woke up yesterday looking like this:

And it’s not even Halloween!  I scare little kids with my normal face, but this?

I did go to work since I couldn’t immediately get through to my primary physician, but I only managed an hour there (during which time I accomplished absolutely nothing) before reaching my doctor, who advised me to go to urgent care or the emergency room. I opted for the ER because urgent care probably would have sent me there anyway.  6 hours later I was released on antibiotics and steroids.  No definitive cause was determined for all that swelling, other than it was probably some kind of viral infection that I couldn’t throw off due to my being immune suppressed from my Remicade treatments.

So today, I’m off work again, not looking much better.  But at least the headache and neck pain are gone.

And I’m a little closer to making my decision.

I think I’ve had enough.  I can probably make it through the rest of September, but I’ll never manage the end of November.  Considering the above photo, perhaps it’s appropiate that I plan my last day to be October 31.

Now I just need to drop that bomb on the bosses.  I feel bad that I may be leaving them in the lurch, but they’ve had plenty of time already to get fully staffed, and they’ll have more than a month’s notice to do what they should have already done.

Harsh?  Probably.  But my health and my family’s health is more important.

I’m exhausted.  I’m overly stressed.

I’m DONE.

Time to think of myself for a change.

Feel free to comment with your own thoughts, below or by email to cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com.

Hugs, all.

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Health, That's Life | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments