Last day at work tomorrow

I'm writing this now as I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow.  Upset probably, oh I don't know.......I might even surprise myself by joyously skipping out of the building (we all know that's not likely - I can't bloody well walk properly never mind skip).

I have little home made gifts for everyone because we couldn't possibly hold the traditional collection for a present, and all signing of the massive card.  You see, five of us are going - it would be impossible!  I've been saving my jars and cans for a while to decorate up into small flower vases, tea light holders, pen pots or make up brush pots.  I missed the opportunity to give them to the charity intended so I'm wrapping them as little parting gifts for the fabulous people that are my 'work family'.  Each and every one are special to me in different ways, for their humour, empathy, patience, kindness.  I will miss the camaraderie and banter, but as I mentioned in a post a few months ago, we group together with ex-staff and form The Happy Old Bags.  Can you imagine the lunches and the laughter????  There may be even more get-togethers than we have now.  I do hope so - I love a filthy innuendo and there's only The Happy Old Bags to appreciate that; we are as bad as each other.  Someone only has to mention Hugh Jackman or David Gandy's name and then it all begins!

There's a bit of resemblance between them.  Looks like we all enjoy the same type :-)

However, we've all agreed that it's going to be strange being at home all the time.  The others are a lot younger than me and will find other work, but our leaving tomorrow coincides with the end of the summer term and we'd all be off for 8 weeks anyhow.  Perhaps it will eventually feel like we're still on summer break, and just haven't gone back.  I think that's how it will be for me.  The others, I'm not so sure.  Some are angry at the circumstance that has brought about this redundancy situation, others are fairly philosophical, and I'm the one who doesn't give a shit.

Looks like I'm in a good place then!

My last week at work

Since I made the decision just a few short weeks ago, the time has come round so quickly.  This is now my last week at work and it's really messing with my head.  You see, I think of retirees as, well - old.  That's not fair of course, as many retirees have done it early, and have gone on to forge new skills and interests, and made a life radically different from the one they had before, taking it easy and doing things their own way.

In a way, I'm taking early retirement - by just a year.  And I don't feel old in my head.  My body argues with me most of the time, insisting that I'm decrepit and doddery, then my head argues back and the two of them start a fight!!  How I love being caught up in the middle - it gives me licence to swear and curse like a fishwife.  It's all directed at my stiffening joints, my unco-operative foot and my argumentative hip.  I turn into Agnes Brown (you know Mrs Brown's Boys?) calling everything a "fecking bastard!"  Not that I'm anything like that Irish Mammy.  Well, not a lot.  Maybe a bit. Oh go on then....I admit it, I am.

So, my plans for the summer?  Well, first of all I have to get my foot injected with cortisone next week.   If they manage to hit the correct joint (please God they do!) then I will be pain free and my walking should even out.  This will also be the measure of  success that will guide them to doing the operation to fuse that affected joint (it's the tiniest little thing deep inside my foot).  Once I can walk better on that foot, then my hip will be less sore because of the stress its currently under.  Perhaps this could be the beginning of the end of my waddling days.  Hey, look well if I can wear normal shoes again......I'll be going shopping for some fantabulous, sexy and delicious shoegasm heels!

Fellow blogger Dorne Whale blogged yesterday asking Are You Young at Heart?  .  She read in The Observer (they have posh papers over at Whale Towers) about how scientists are of the opinion that our creativity and subsequent achievements are not hindered by the onset of old age.  Well, too bloody right! She went on to say that Clint Eastwood has just directed his first musical, The Jersey Boys at the age of 84. That's a great move on two counts as far as I'm concerned....

a) the guy's still got it - in every way (ahem!)
b) I grew up with The Four Seasons music and still enjoy it to this day



Do pop over and see Dorne and read her whole post.  For those of us who are of a 'certain age' everything will ring true.  She'll also make you laugh, make you think (she inspired the format for my post today) and bless her she's a fellow foul mouth so that's an endearing quality if ever there was one.

The prime comment for me in Dorne's post was the question about how many of us are becoming increasingly aware of the clock ticking away at the side of us.  It seems like one minute I was still at school, the next thing I remember was having two babies and an absent husband, a sick mum and an old wreck of a car.  At some point after that I had a flying career, now suddenly I'm plunging headlong into retirement. What's wrong with time?  Did it feck off down a black hole?  Has yours done that?  Bloody hell, I need to make haste if I'm to achieve all the stuff I promised myself.  I want an adventure or two, such as a holiday on a Turkish Gulet, or Greek island hopping for a start.  Finishing the office at home would be good too - I can see some of my redundancy getting spent on that.  It shouldn't be much, but factoring in a contingency would hike it up a bit.

Yes, time has a nasty habit of running away at an alarming rate of knots, and I'll lay bets you know that too, don't you?

I'm still here, honestly!

As it's been over a week since I last posted I thought I'd best check in and let you know I'm still around.

So much has happened since I last put fingers to keyboard and my time has been swallowed up.  I'm normally good at making opportunities to blog, but this time was different.

So, from the top starting May 23rd.....

• The wedding.  Lovely but chaotic.  I was busy from 10am through to 9pm.  Photos in the hairdressers, getting the hair, make up and nails done.  The girls got back to the house just before me and were in their dresses before I'd got out of the car!  I missed the opportunity to photograph the dress hanging up, but did manage to extricate the bride from the chaos for all of 5 minutes to capture her alone for her best pictures.  On to the stables immediately after to collect her horse so she could ride it to the church.  Lots of traffic was held up as she made her way and she arrived like Lady Godiva.  It was a sight to behold I have to say and she looked wonderful.  I lost the plot for a few minutes and needed to lock myself in a lavatory (see, I knew that would happen!) but I regained my composure quickly and started again.  The relatives pissed me off as they wouldn't move back to give me room to take pictures properly outside the church.  Then someone decided to do their own personal photo shoot - right in front of me.  I have an image of a blurred Fascinator and a floral clad bum. There's so much more I could write on this, but I'll probably not post it, leaving it just a reflective note for my own eyes.

Here's one of my early edited photo's - 

• Exhaustion the day after.  I hurt everywhere and had to get up around 3am to take painkillers.  I stayed in bed until mid morning then slowly melted into my day.  It was early evening before I felt sociable.

• The editing began and is STILL on going!  I'm on intimate terms with with every crease and wrinkle of the bride, together with her sister, mum and mum in law.  I'm very conversant with blurring wrinkles in Photoshop now!

• Half term, so I was off work, doing stuff at home and going places (including nearby Calke Abbey ).  This was not one of Grumpy Trousers best days as he argued with Joanna the Sat Nav.  So called because it has Joanna Lumley's voice.  Now, here's the thing; he absolutely ADORES Ms Lumley, but it was entirely my fault because Joanna chose to chuck us off the M1 at Junction 27 instead of 23a. (Might do another post about that).

• Visiting elder daughter for the weekend in her beautiful town of Malvern, Worcestershire.  We had fabulous hugs and declarations of "oooh you smell nice!"  I took pictures of her doing yoga and some portraits for her new website.  I've not even looked at them yet, so I hope she's in focus.

• Trying to make the best of any fine weather by tidying the garden at home.  Oh, the weeds...the bloody weeds!  Anyway, most are dug up and gone now to make way for some lovely geraniums and begonias.

• Laundering everything in sight while the sun is out....curtains, duvets, cushions.  But I've STILL not washed my hard floors, so cat fur and dust lurks in all the corners.  

• I'm still editing wedding pictures

• I'm back at work

Coming back to work has been a revelation, let me tell you.  I'm now facing redundancy!  My official job title is Learning Centre Assistant, and this involves some library duties too but it's all going to change.  I absolutely love my job, I work with a really nice team of people and the majority of us are friends out of work too.  I enjoy the interaction with the teaching staff and get a lot of pleasure (and bit of grief!) in my dealings with the students.

Now we are facing a restructure and our jobs are changing radically.  Despite my age I really don't mind change, in fact I've often instigated it in the past but I don't see this working for the better.  I can't go into details, but think of future generations with even less social skills than now and you'll get the idea.  If I stay, I'll end up being a teacher on the cheap. I'll be taking on a role that I'm barely equipped for (yes, they'll train me but I have only one year before retirement, so realistically is it going to happen?) and they'll only pay me what I get now.  As a result not just a cheap teacher, but an EXTREMELY cheap teacher!  I don't want the hassle or the grief as I've had my fill of working.  I'd say taking redundancy is a no-brainer, wouldn't you?