Cordelia's Mom, Still

Ain’t Doin’ Nuthin’

Posted on November 26, 2017 by cordeliasmom2012

It was the best, most relaxing Thanksgiving ever!

Just Hubby, Puppy Cody and me, sharing a dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and squash. And I didn’t even have to cook because Hubby took that upon himself, along with the cleanup after.

Although I did bake an apple pie, and it was (if I do say so myself), the best pie with the flakiest crust ever made, with the perfect blend of cinnamon and sugar, and apples that cooked just right – a bit of tang, a little texture with no mushiness, but soft enough for even me to eat. After all, you really can’t have any kind of Thanksgiving without an apple pie!

The daughters all have husbands and/or boyfriends they prefer to spend time with, so we not only did not need to leave the house on Thanksgiving Day – we also did not have to do extra house cleaning in anticipation of possible guests.

No way is my house ready for guests just yet. The new bathtub is in, but the walls and floor are not. The new downstairs windows have been installed, but the rooms still need painting and pictures and curtains need to be hung.

All in all, it was nice to be able to relax this year.

Having ended my second full week of “retirement”, I must say I could definitely get used to it. It’s nice being able to do all my housework when no one else is home during the week, and it’s wonderful being able to do my shopping (what little there is now) during the weekday when others are at their jobs and the stores are fairly empty. I can then spend the weekend doing absolutely nothing if I wish.

Even taking care of the dog has proved easier than I anticipated. The morning and evening walks have become so routine that Puppy Cody goes out willingly and walks beautifully on leash, provided we don’t deviate from our usual path. At this point, I’m almost sorry I contracted for the fence and paid that half down. I could certainly use that extra cash right now.

On the other hand, I must say I was very pleased when the fence contractor called last week and said we are on the schedule for the end of this upcoming week! Provided it doesn’t rain, or get so cold that the ground freezes. I’m assuming we’re probably the last job the guy plans to do this year – and despite what I just said about the easy walks, I really want that fence in now. Cody needs to chase bunnies and squirrels and burn off all that excess energy – which energy sometimes brings out that nasty streak in her long ’bout 8 pm or so. She’s a good dog, but she does get cranky when she hasn’t had enough opportunity to just run.

Me, I could sit around doing nothing 24/7 and never get cranky, but then I’m not an active canine. Maybe I need to teach Cody how to play videogames like I do …

Tomorrow is Cyber Monday, and guess what I’m doing? That’s right – nothing! Shopping this year is going to be very simple since there’s no money coming in at the moment. I’m OK with that.

It will be interesting to see how the holidays work out this year. Most of the family understands our reduced financial situation, but I’m not sure they all do. There is also the question of who’s going to whose house for Christmas, and whether or not my house will be suitable for entertaining by then. I’ll keep you all posted – ’cause I know following my life is the highlight of yours. (Well, that works on Twitter for the 20-somethings; it should work here, right?)

Happy Sunday, Everyone.

May your weekend end on a positive note.

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

__________

Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in Holidays, Relationships, That's Life | Tagged entertaining, family, retirement, Thanksgiving | 21 Comments

The First Day of the First Week

Posted on November 13, 2017 by cordeliasmom2012

Technically, my first day of retirement was Friday, but that doesn’t count because I spent the day still feeling totally shell-shocked. It seemed more like a long weekend than the beginning of a new life.

Today, however, is the first day of the first full week of retirement, and I know you’re all wondering how I spent it. Even if you’re not, I’m going to tell you.

Imagine my surprise when my husband informed me early in the morning that he was taking half a day off as he hadn’t slept the night before. Say what? My first full day of freedom, and I have to share it?

Well, so be it. Freedom just had to start a few hours later.

It was just as well. Going online, I discovered that the nearest local library doesn’t open until 1:00 pm on Mondays, and top on my list for my new life was getting a library card. No longer can I afford to buy paperback books every week. I am fortunate that we have a number of public libraries within easy driving distance.

So, first task today – get a new library card.

I last had a card many years ago when my children were small, and the local library has changed a bit. So many computer kiosks! And they now have self-checkout just like the grocery store! No more watching the librarian scan my books and wondering if she’s judging me by the types of reading material I choose!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Second task – stock up on wine to hold me over during the next couple of months. Fortunately, my favorite wine shop is having a huge sale on the kind of wine I buy anyway – and the manufacturer is offering rebates. For a small initial outlay (about $40), I’ll get $14 in rebates – and I have enough wine to last quite awhile if I use a slightly smaller glass. I suppose some people would say I’m borderline alcoholic for having used a small portion of my last paycheck to stock up on wine – but hey, we all have priorities.

Third task – car wash. I still have the monthly unlimited tag, so there was no outlay for that. I did, however, skip the drying lane afterwards and saved myself the $2 tip. (Woo-hoo, right?)

Throughout today’s travels, however, the one thing that kept bugging me was that I still felt like I was playing hooky from work and constantly expected someone to blow me into The Boss. (“You know, she wasn’t really sick – I saw her coming out of the liquor store.”) I had to keep reminding myself that I have a right to go wherever I want, whenever I want, and don’t have to answer to anyone anymore. That’s pretty cool.

Tomorrow I intend to catch up on some of those household chores that are so hard to do while working full-time. That’s my intention. We’ll see how that goes.

__________

I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

__________

Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in That's Life | Tagged library, retirement, unemployment, working | 15 Comments

The Important Room

Posted on November 12, 2017 by cordeliasmom2012

Enough for now of my pity party diary posts! Time for something lighter. While I search for the next household item to feature, please enjoy this oldie but goodie. And be sure to click through to the Cotton Balls post if you haven’t already read it. You’ll be glad you did.

Cordelia's Mom, Still

Everyone seemed to enjoy my post about cotton balls, which was written in a moment of desperation when I had run out of ideas.

Again searching for ideas, I took another look around my house for likely items to write about. While spending time in the most important room of the house (hereinafter, “The Important Room”), I noticed the toilet paper roll.

No, this will not be a debate on which way the roll should be hung – that’s been done to a crisp already. Nor will I stoop low enough to write about the item’s normally intended use – I’m pretty sure every single one of my readers is familiar with that. Except, of course, for any readers who don’t have indoor plumbing – they’re probably still using newspapers and catalogs, and, of course, it’s unlikely those particular readers would be technically savvy enough to have found this…

View original post 713 more words

Posted in Household Items, Humor, Re-Blogs, That's Life | Tagged blogging, ideas, toilet paper, TP | 5 Comments

A Door Closes

Posted on November 10, 2017 by cordeliasmom2012

Today was supposed to be my last day of full-time work. Instead, I am home writing this post.

By mid-afternoon yesterday, all my files had been reassigned to my replacement, and The Boss told me if I wanted to I could leave at the end of the day. Today is a short day for many businesses, as Veteran’s Day is tomorrow – and the weatherman was predicting our first overnight snow with slippery conditions in the morning. And let’s not forget that I really didn’t want to be there anyway, especially if I had nothing to do all day. I would be paid for the day whether I was there or not. It was an easy decision.

So, today is officially my first day of unemployment/retirement.

Am I happy to be looking out the window watching the first occasional snowflakes and knowing I don’t need to go anywhere if I don’t want to? Absolutely.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Am I relieved to know I no longer have to deal with a single one of the problem files? Need I even answer that?

But I still had a somewhat sleepless night. Periodically, I would get a panicky feeling that I had forgotten to do something at work, that I had forgotten to call a client, that I had failed to relay some vital piece of information to the new hire. I constantly had to remind myself that those issues were no longer my problem.

Such is life in the business world. Yes, I’m happy to be away from that, even if only for a few months.

The game plan, as I mentioned before, is to take a few months off while the household renovations are completed, and while I find a way to resolve the latent anxiety. Then I intend to file for Social Security and supplement that with a part-time job of some kind – but definitely not the same type of job I just left!

It’s scary.

And it’s going to be a rough ride. I’ll be living on what little savings I have, which means cutting back on the few pleasures I have. No new books, no wine purchases, no new videogames.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I have hundreds of videogames already downloaded, so that’s not an issue. I can get a library card and take out books whenever I need them – for free, so that’s not an issue.

But wine? That’s going to be a tough sacrifice. On the other hand, without the stress of The Job From Hell, I can forego that glass of wine at night. It will make my occasional sips that much more pleasurable.