It's Been Quite a Week

Friday at last. And I didn't even go in to work today. I shall recap.

After Monday's extravaganza of retirement letters, the rest of the week really was consumed, for me, by becoming the world's foremost authority on how to retire from teaching in the state of New Jersey. I pored over all the instructions, managed to get through on the phone once or twice, worked my way through the website a couple of times and got caught in website traffic for hours a couple of times, too. Bottom line: I submitted my application to the pension system online Thursday morning, so I'm all done for now. I explained how to apply online to two others, and I took two more through the basic steps and gave them paper applications to fill out over the weekend, which I'll fax in for them Monday morning.

Whew.

Thank god I had some nice classes to teach on Wednesday -- juniors, I love juniors -- to break it all up. I really wanted to work up a book order this week, but I never got to it, and brought my journals home to get it done over the weekend. I have a real sense of time running out, and wanting to get certain projects done before it does. In school, I hope this includes training my replacement, but I don't really know what's going on with that. Out of school, it means trying to fit in doctors' appointments before my health insurance changes July 1 (but I don't expect to have the new cards and stuff until August.) I can't even count how many of these are coming up, but they include a colonoscopy, a six-month ultrasound at the mammogram place, the dentist, and meeting my new internist.

Today I met the endocrinologist. I'm not looking for a lifetime relationship with him -- although it may turn out that way -- but he seemed all right. My biggest fear was that he was going to send me to the hospital to get my thyroid biopsied, but Oh No! he did it himself right there in his office. Well, I'm good with nearly every medical procedure unless it involves putting a needle into my body and leaving it there, and on my neck? Oy. But it's over, and it looks like I've been bitten by a gap-toothed vampire. (That was actually the doctor's description, so I guess he's okay.) I can expect to be bruised by tomorrow, so Sunday at my in-laws for the FIL's birthday (82) should go something like this:

FIL: (slowly) What happened to your neck?

Me: Oh, nothing, I had to have some tests at the doctor's.

FIL: (clearing his throat, looking at me, pausing, and then slowly) What?

MIL: (shouting) Tom, for god's sake, she had some tests at the doctor's!

Question: Who among us is losing the most patience with the ever-slowing-down and losing-more-hearing-every-day FIL? I guess that would be the one who lives with him, which makes perfect sense. (He's not so much losing his faculties as he is his hearing and his speed. He was always laid back. Now he just talks and moves at a snail's pace.)

I did some shopping pre-doctor today, and got a nice outfit I can wear to the school end of the year dinner and to a wedding the Hubs and I are going to in June. WITH A SKIRT! And I went to Old Navy to return some stuff, and I bought ... ANOTHER SKIRT! But I'm not wearing them yet, because .... if TMI is problem for you, stop here.

I've decided that I don't want to shave my legs anymore. There's not much left anyway, but I just can't shave it smooth. So I am going next week to have my legs waxed, which I have never done. And with any luck, will have done once more, just before the wedding, and then, never worry about it again.

The good news is, I seem to have gotten my body hair gene from my mother's side and not my father's. (Lots of electrolysis for his sisters, I was once told on the q.t.) The story from my mother's side, which I have told before but not in a long time, is this:

When I was about 12, my grandparents were living in Florida, and Grandma flew up for a visit. I had gotten a sleeveless dress, although I never liked to wear sleeveless, and had been permitted to shave under my arms for the first time for the occasion. (Of the dress, not the Grandma.) On the way home from the airport, I was in the back seat with her, and suddenly she grabbed my arm and pulled it up and looked curiously at my armpit.

"Did you shave there?" she whispered.

I nodded and grinned, proud to be a grown up at last.

She whispered back to me with a shake of her head, "I shaved there once. And it never grew back!"

Uh ... good? Well, it seems that she and her sisters and others of their immigrant generation did not so much do that. Grandma and her sisters were blonde, so it must not have mattered much to them, I don't know about anyone else. But Grandma had never shaved under her arms ever, until there was a family event -- a bar mitzvah, I think -- in the early sixties, and Grandma bought a sleeveless dress, and my mother flat-out refused to pick her up and take her unless she shaved under her arms. Grandma would have been near 70 then, so combine that with the no-hair gene, and the blonde, and yes, it never grew back. I could never understand why that was a problem for her, but okay. It should only happen to me.

Bottom line, no skirt until my legs are waxed, since I'm forbidden to shave them for several weeks before hand. Now you know my shame.

Done and Done

This has been the longest week evah. And it's only Tuesday.

I did indeed put in my letter, as we say, yesterday, and my retirement was approved by the Board of Education at last night's meeting. The Other Chai will be retiring along with me -- more on that in the future -- as will be the world's oldest industrial arts teacher, whom I mentioned recently. And a few others. And the deadline to put in one's letter is still Friday, so I expect another one or two by then.

In the meantime, I am completely immersed in all things retirement. As you might imagine, since I'm retiring from working at a governmental institution, the papers you have to complete and the hoops you have to jump through are ridiculous. Among my colleagues, there are several who feel that the letter of retirement they're handing in this week is the only paperwork they're actually capable of, so it's kind of fallen to me to download, print, and copy everything for everyone, and somehow attempt to lead everyone through filling everything out. Well, it suits OCD me, anyway, but I've asked our "association" -- euphemism for union -- to see if they can provide us with an actual guide for the process. The state and the state association both offer help, but given the nonsense going on in New Jersey, there are no retirement appointments available until September, which is way kind too late.

I can't say that I have anything else going on, except that I can't sleep for shit for the last few nights. If I manage three or four hours, it's a lot, but it's not enough. Otherwise, I'm just wide awake. I can't really imagine what I would do that I'm not already doing that would help me fall asleep, except, of course, the medical marijuana that I haven't thought of much lately, since the pain's gotten better, but it would help me sleep. Should be ready in NJ by the end of the year, but no word on exactly when, or if I still qualify under the terms of the law that was finally passed. No word on what it's going to cost, either. I do know that NJ doesn't allow for growing your own, which is a shame, since the Hubs is very green-thumby.

Ah well.

Preview

I did absolutely nothing today and yet I was busy every minute.

This is an encouraging preview of retirement.


-- Post From My iPhone

Laryngitis

Still. The one thing I've been careful not to do today is whisper, since that's the worst thing you can do when you have laryngitis, but tomorrow I shall do my best to remain completely silent. Of course, this is when I'd like to call several people to let them now about my impending retirement, but I've had to email all of them, except OldFriend, who does not have a computer or even use the one where she works. I'll catch her in a few days.

My feelings are still churning, although churning more gently, about this whole thing. Let me share with you a political cartoon that K found someplace and sent me the link for:


(It's from here.)

So that says a lot of it, but the bottom line is that I am okay with all of it, and I will continue to be. If it turns out that I have retired and the governor does not push through his proposed changes, well then, I will have made the best decision I could have at the time, and I will be content with that. If the changes do go through, I will be terribly sad for all my colleagues who took the gamble and stayed, and lost. They will have to work five or more years just to get back to the same conditions (pension-wise) that currently exist, and many of them are already over 60, and have been teaching for 40 years, or nearly that. They're gambling that things won't change and their pensions will keep going up, but if things do change, next year's pension will be less than this year's. That's why I'm going now.

Otherwise, a very quiet day. R and the SnL are out visiting in Colorado, and K is cat-sitting at their place. I spent a little time with my sister this afternoon, but otherwise, I'm just here, tidying here and there, stuff like that. My only plans for tomorrow consist of laundry and not talking. I did my little bit of grocery shopping this morning, and that should cover me for now. I've started watching Fringe on DVD, so I'll probably do more of that tonight. Rain tomorrow, they say.

Tested

So I had the endoscopy, piece'a cake, and I'm home resting out the aftermath of the anesthesia. I woke up this morning with total laryngitis -- allergies -- but I can croak out words at this point. It's been a funny day.

I went to the monthly dinner with the retirees last night, but neither The Other Chai nor I told them that we may soon be more than honorary attendees. Even so, their advice was that anyone who is eligible to get out should do so

And so I shall. Unless the governor swears a blood oath that nothing will change, I'll be turning in my letter of retirement by next Friday. I'm not ready to go yet, but I'm okay with it. It is what it is. Que sera, sera.




-- Post From My iPhone

It's a Surreal Day in the Neighborhood

I think we're going to be having some mostly surreal days at school from here on in. On the one hand, it is good to know that it is very, very not just me. One thing this is doing, I guess, is that it's bringing a lot of us old hands together, because we're seeking each other out and asking What do you know, What are you going to do? I'm also finding that if I let myself go, I can get very emotional about what I won't be doing or seeing anymore, and I know that the same thing is happening to the others.

By the way, our school budget passed yesterday, so WOO HOO. What does that mean for me? Not a damn thing, since all my issues come from the governor's office. It means that we will lose 30 teachers district-wide next year, and no more. I don't know what the contingency plan was going to be if the budget failed. I suppose it does mean something for me, though, since they're hoping to take as many of those 30 lost jobs as they can from retirements, so theoretically, if I retire, it could save one of the new English teachers, or maybe the new math teacher who actually used to be in my Scout troop years ago. See, I would like that.

Okay, almost getting misty. Deep breath.

So that's been going on all day. Then, about 10:30, I looked up and saw an elderly man coming into the library, and you know, elderly is not so common in the land of teenagers. He had come to see if I wanted his complete, pristine set of National Geographic, and the sad truth, which I've had to tell people for years, is that no one does. That aside, it turned out that he is something of a local historian, as am I, and was a student at the high school when it opened, so he shared some great stories with me and he was delightful and charming. But surreal.

When he left, I started working on a proposal to change the procedures for a task I do every end-of-school-year, just in case I'm not here next year to do it, and while I was typing that up, the most senior member of our staff came by to ask me how one would actually go about retiring. If I didn't cry then, well, I guess I'll be okay. He never wanted to retire, and he still doesn't, but he sees that he has to. This guy is just a lovely gentleman, one of the last industrial arts teachers in the world, I think, and he has THE BEST reputation in school as the teacher kids never mess with, because everyone knows he was a Green Beret in Vietnam, which is not a lie, and students have seen his many feats of amazing strength from the time he came back to school after his service and up until this very day.  I believe this is his ... 46th year here, which includes his two years in service, because when a teacher takes time off to serve in the military, it counts as two years of teaching towards seniority and pension, as it should. I wonder why the governor hasn't closed that little loophole yet.

Anyway. Everywhere I look, I see a task that must be finished by June 30, or a procedure that must be written down so someone else can do it.

Lunch.

Just Ask

Bozoette wants to see our old-timey family pictures, so here are mine:


1953, so I am the wee one. My sister was about five here; her daughter (Wonderful Niece) looked exactly like this throughout her childhood. How do you like my mother's glasses? And earrings?



1955, sitting on my grandmother's couch. They took a lot of pictures that day, and all of them have that line across the lower left. Could be that at this point my father was developing the pictures himself, which he did for a while in the fifties. The dress my sister is wearing was handmade for her by an elderly family friend, cranberry-colored velvet, with a white eyelet embroidery apron. Each of us in turn wore it until we could barely squeeze into it; my mother had to reinforce the seams all the time until she finally took it away from me because I was nearly nine years old and Hulking out of it.

I'm Not Debbie Downer

Even though I'm writing about something that is unhappy and potentially depressing, I'm not feeling that way at all -- well, sad about the whole thing -- but I guess I'm going to need to keep writing about it because it's what's going on. In some ways, it's not sad at all, but may provide some interesting days to come.

I'm giving serious thought to retiring this year. I may not end up doing it, but if I do, I need to notify my Board of Education by April 30, so that's soon. I'll know more after today; the whole state of New Jersey votes on its local school budgets today. If many budgets pass, it's likely that the governor will be angry -- he's encouraging voters to vote against their local budgets because he's apparently a shithead -- and then there may be retribution in the form of more attacks on the pension system, in which case I will likely retire before they take effect. If budgets fail, it will probably make him happy -- picture Jabba the Hut -- and he may let the other things slide.

Anyway, that's the situation, so I'm thinking somewhat seriously about other work I could do for a few years until Social Security kicks in. I can think of some things that I'd like to do, but the only way to find out if they have openings is to call and ask, and that's still premature. Here's one: I saw an ad for a company that hires "mad scientists" to go around and do little science lessons for elementary age kids. Even I could do that and I think it would be fun, but not too steady, I think. The one I've really settled on (as if it were a real job) is that there's a children's museum very near here that I loved taking kids to when I was a Girl Scout leader and I would love to work there. It's all hands-on and kid-size, aimed at kids maybe four to eight. There's a little supermarket with play food and cash registers, little building sites with HUGE lego-type bricks, all kinds of jobs to pretend to work at, and so on. I don't know how many people they even employ; I'd be happy just to work in an office and schedule stuff.  In fact, that's generally what I think I'd be best at, working in any kind of office doing scheduling, taking messages, and so on. I'd love it to be in a museum or some such place, but I could do it anywhere that would hire me. I'm not even looking for a full-time job, but I'm not quite ready to retire yet, so I think I'd want to do something. I think I could be a very good mad scientist.

In the meantime, I'm just doing what I do, returning stuff to the Gap after school and making fish for dinner. Catfish. I don't know anyone else who likes catfish besides me, so it'll be interesting to see if K goes for it or not.

Well then, I'm going to obsess over some figures I have and try to see again if we can afford to live if I retire. *sigh*

Another Day, Another Career

After a pretty disheartening faculty meeting today, several of us agreed that it really would be a shame to end our decades-long teaching careers by being forced out before our time by a governor who just doesn't get it. I'm not talking about people who show up in the classroom and just coast along. Yes, there are such people, but there are in every profession, in every kind of work. I'm talking about people who are just good at what they do, and experienced. Ach. Don't want to talk about it anymore. Although I am considering what other things I might do next year if I end up having to retire this June, and still need to work.

In other news, I really was very busy at school today, and that after oversleeping. I was running late, so I just grabbed my hearing aids, my watch, etc., and threw them in my bag, and didn't even have a minute to put everything on until 9:30. So that was good.

Yesterday included a gathering at R's house of the various bridesmaids, along with the MOB (me) and the MOG (her), which was a lot of fun, and also a kind of interesting social ritual to watch. There are five bridesmaids, including Wonderful Niece, plus K as the maid of honor, and the MOG, who is the mother of only a single son, was a little overwhelmed by all the girls in the room at once, so it was kind of amusing to watch. I am not exactly a girly girl, but I do have a lot of years of experience with girls of all ages, not to mention growing up without brothers in the house, and I also had the advantage of knowing everybody there ahead of time. But the MOG is also lovely, and has invited us for Mother's Day, so we'll do that when it rolls around.

It's after 9:30 and I'm still sitting upright, so that's a real long day for me (although I did hit the snooze a bunch of times between 5:30 and 6:00 this morning.) Time to recline now, I think.

Scenic New Jersey

First, let me say that I started this entry twice yesterday, but the inferior quality of the wi-fi/3GH service at Ellis Island made me lose them both. Our immigrant ancestors had to put up with so much.

The easiest place to find in new Jersey has got to be Liberty State Park. There are signs for it up and down the Turnpike, and I've been there several times before. But of course yesterday I missed the exit and didn't even realize it for awhile -- Wait - wasn't it supposed to be before the airport? -- and then it took me about an hour of re-navigation just to get back to where I should have been in the first place. Fortunately for me, I have a compulsively early problem, so although I missed the tour I wanted to take, I wasn't late for the workshop I was going to.

First, the ferry.



It seems that I am not so much designed to walk around on a boat. And yes, it was an overcast day, but it never really rained, although there was a howling wind off and on all day.

Much of the Ellis Island buildings have been renovated in recent years, certainly a great deal since I was last there, maybe twenty years ago.


As soon as I entered the building, I couldn't help but feel that this little guy was there with me, walking through the halls and peering over the balconies as he did 104 years ago. He was much on my mind all day.

Before the workshop started, I had time to see some of the exhibits on the main floor. This flag/photo display was really neat. As you moved, the picture changed.






This display of luggage reminded me of my grandmother.


And then I found this picture of her in the gift shop!


(Yes, it's me, of course. Digital photography gives those old-timey picture places a whole new slant. I didn't have to do anything but have my picture taken, and it was digitally mixed with my selected old picture out of hundreds available. Cool.)

And I had a few minutes to use the ladies room, where there were only two stall for a very crowded with tourists Saturday. Again, life was not easy for our immigrant ancestors.


Lunch was supplied for us by the workshop, and served on the balcony overlooking the great hall. Again, the spirit of my little boy Grampa was right there with me, especially when I saw the display of what it had looked like in his day.




After the workshop, R and I walked around a bit, and went outside to see the wall, where people have had the names of their immigrant ancestors engraved in tribute.


I know that the FIL's grandfather's name is here somewhere, and, sucker than I am, I couldn't leave without leaving a bit of Grampa there as well. I debated over how to do it (and how much it cost) and ultimately left a one-line tribute to him and his older brother: Joe and Sam Robin, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Waiting for the ferry back to New Jersey (even though Ellis Island is in New Jersey - don't get me started), I snapped this of my firstborn and me, windblown.


It was a really nice day, and I finally got this done, and now I'm off to R's for a bridesmaid/moms meeting.

I Am Not Dead Yet

as they sing in Spamalot. I am not dead yet. I just have a massive case of writer's block. You know, you skip a day, you have more to write, you skip eleven days, it kind of gets overwhelming. I did start entries several times last week, mostly at work, but then I got busy and never got back to them. I've been on vacation this week, and here it is, Friday night around 6:30, so I guess that vacation is officially over. I had a wonderful week, very relaxing, although I don't think I had five minutes of down time. I never took a nap, and I sleep better when I don't have to get up to an alarm.

Looks like that may become full time for me. After going over all the numbers recently, I decided that I could retire in three years instead of four. Now it appears that our governor, whom K refers to as Il Duce, would like 30,000 older teachers to retire this year, and he's proposing changes to the pension system to encourage this to happen. So I am very much in a state of not knowing what will happen with all that, whether September will see me back in school, or retired on less pension than I'd planned on. If that's the case, I suppose I can get a part-time job of some sort, if necessary. It all remains to be seen. Ironic, of course, that I'm enjoying school this year more than I have for a long time.

I haven't been completely absent from the interwebs; I've been reading everyone faithfully, although leaving comments only sporadically. It's nice to be able to go underground and not lose all your friends, in a manner of speaking.

My health issues continue and multiply, although a combination of the warmer weather, better drugs, and massage therapy have really helped the pain a lot. I've officially lost 10% of what my weight was when I started all this in December. Even so, I didn't spend the whole vacation going to doctors, as I often do; I actually did a lot of shopping/returning, and cooking. Yes, cooking! How else could I lose the weight?

I've settled on the third dress, the knee-length one with the short jacket. It looked the best on me. I've ordered the matching bag, and I got shoes, so bring on the wedding.

Do I sound depressed? I think I do, but I am not, I am very, very not. I'm actually in a kind of advanced state of contentment these days, despite all the craziness in the governor's office and whatnot. If anything, I suppose it's that I'm concerned for many people, both on the interwebs and in 3D over here.

I'm going to a workshop tomorrow at Ellis Island, which should be very, very nice except for the rain and the ferry, and on Sunday, R is hosting a gathering of her bridal party and is including the moms. I'm hoping for a little better weather on Sunday because ... drumroll ... not only am I cooking, I bought a skirt! I actually bought two skirts -- keeping both, both denim -- that I'd like to wear, if I can. If not, I'll wear one to school the next nice day. No one will recognize me.

Oh, I forgot. I took a picture of myself last week while I was having my hair colored. I looked in the mirror and started to laugh, so I had to take a picture of it for all of you to see. Don't be scared.


So you can see why I laughed. I didn't get a good picture when I got home (when my hair still looked really good), but here's the real me the next day:


Somewhat less frightening, I would hope. I have never quite figured out how to make my smile look un-paralyzed in pictures.

Feels good to be back.

Just Because

I'm actually going to lunch in about ten minutes, but I thought I'd get started here anyway. I feel like I'm still recovering from Easter yesterday. We went out, since it's hard for the MIL to put together a meal that's up to her own standard -- she was very, very good at this kind of thing -- and we had a 3:30 seating. We left the restaurant around six, and then went back to their house, and actually didn't get to leave there until 8:00! There was traffic, and we didn't get home until just after 10:00, so I missed out on my usual hours of decompression before attempting to fall asleep. Which came to me after 1:00, I think, and then the alarm at 5:30. In between, I kept waking up and having crazy dreams. So I'm beat today.

I have next week off, and I'm starting to think about some things to do. On Wednesday, I have a haircut and a routine visit to Resnick (the GI doc), but generally I have no plans. The SnL, who is currently between work projects, suggested that maybe we hang out one day. Is he the sweetest thing or what? Every time he says something like that, I think, "Oh, and this lovely man is going to be the father of my grandchildren! Excellent!" I'm thinking of playing hooky this Friday, too, and calling in sick. Not that I need an extra day of vacation, I don't, but I have nothing scheduled and it will be a dull, incredibly long day and I'd just rather not be here.

The Hubs was just pumping crazy juice through his veins last night, both at dinner and on the ride home. He was otherwise most pleasant and conversational, but at one point at the table he said something about it being his goal never to buy another thing for himself for the rest of his life. I looked at him, and said "Tell that to your mother" who was sitting on his other side, so he did, and she said "What?" And he looked at the two of us, as if surprised that we should think this was odd. So I told him that his mother thinks that I am a saint on earth for a) marrying him and b) still being married to him for 32 years and counting, to which she agreed. On the way home, he said he would never give a dime to a doctor again as long as he lives. (Hasn't been to a doctor in 30 years, btw.) I should not set up my pension disbursement so that he continues to have medical coverage if I predecease him, it would be a waste of money. I can keep him covered while I'm alive, if it makes him happy. Sometimes I think I am the only thing that keeps him tethered to the earth, and if I go first, he'll happily become a hobo and live off the land and never see anyone he knows again. He is, to quote Paul Simon, a most peculiar man.

But I take happy pills, so I'm just fine with all of it. I'm not spaced out, either, I'm just way better at picking my battles than I used to be. In fact, I'm feeling pretty content right now. We have that big scary meeting after school, but some of it's been explained better to me, so I'm not as concerned for the jobs of certain people as I was. And I've already had two bottles of water today, that's 40 ounces, so one more to go and I'm good, although I'll probably have more than that.

Two minutes to the bell and I actually finished this!

Easter

The third day in a lovely three-day weekend. In about a half hour, the Hubs and I will be venturing south down the Turnpike and the Parkway to his folks for Easter dinner. K has already left and his hanging out with R and the SnL, who live about halfway between here and there.

Three days of exceptionally beautiful weather. Everything is blooming and budding, which is early, as is Easter; I hope we don't get a frost that kills it all off. Even the trees have started to bud, which will mean allergy eyes for me, but it is beautiful out there.

I've been doing errands, tidying up, things like that. On Friday, K was at work and the Hubs took some long walks -- more to follow on that -- so I had some rare alone time in the house, and yesterday was much the same. Ahhhh. I didn't sing along with Beatles or do anything that particularly needed being alone, but I do talk to myself out loud more when there's no one else here. Gotta watch that, eh?

So in a month or so, the Hubs is planning to join a group that is taking a 50 mile walk along old (no longer used) railroad routes, from somewhere in New Jersey into Penn Station in Manhattan. I think its cause is really just the promotion of walking, which certainly he does as much and whenever he can. So he's kind of in training. He takes his normal ten mile or so walk every Saturday and Sunday morning, and squeezes in another five to ten miles, maybe more, whenever he can. As long as he has his cell phone and enough water with him, it's all fine by me. Everybody does something.

No particular news here yet. I believe the ILs are putting all the works in motion to begin their relocation to the fabulous assisted living place closer to us; we'll hear more today. (She told R that our after dinner activity is to put dibs on all the things in her house she can't take with her to the new place. The new apartment is two bedroom, two bath, but not big enough for a house of furniture.)

K got the contract for her September job, and will bring it in to the school tomorrow, signed, and presumably pick up all the other paperwork she needs to do, like health plan enrollment forms and tax stuff.

Tomorrow after school, we're having a meeting of all the district staff -- something like 300 people, I think -- to find out what the budget cuts are going to be due to the governor's withdrawing of nearly all state aid from the local school districts. I've already seen the budget presentation; it was posted on line the other day after the Superintendent showed it to parents and the general public Wednesday night. It's not good. I'm sure that I will be fine; it turns out that even if they cut out my position, which is unlikely, I could claim seniority in the English department, although I have no desire at this point in my life to teach ninth grade English. But they're cutting many faculty positions in the district, as many as possible due to retirements and resignations, but there will be cuts beyond that. New Jersey is a scary place to be these days. I'm hoping that my niece, whom we'll be seeing later today, isn't being cut from her system. She's been there three years and they like her, but it's possible.

Okay, so possible depression after tomorrow, but y'know, que sera, sera.

No Pictures Today

Which makes it easier to post. But it is a very lovely day here today, new month, new weather pattern. There's a very blue sky with almost no clouds, bright sun, and an expected temp of 72, although it's about 11:00 and so far only 53 degrees. We had a fire drill anyway, and it was wonderful just to be out in the crisp air.

I hit a very good number on the scale today. It may go up, but today I saw 150, which means I have lost 15 pounds. Now, ten years ago, if I had seen 150 on a scale, I would have needed in-hospital psychiatric care, but now, it just looks beautiful to me. My actual goal is still five pounds away, but I'm not unhappy with this at all, and it means I can try on all the dresses that will start arriving tomorrow. I won't have them tailored yet, and probably not for a while, but I can get a good idea. As it turns out, I have not lost a single ounce in the chestal area; the bra that fits me now is even bigger than the one I wore before. *sigh*

I'm drinking my water like a good girl, and I've found a massage therapy place that actually helps me a great deal, so I'm going there again today. In general, I'm not feeling too bad. I've even finally figured out after all these years how to stand up straight and walk straight, without being hunched over. My mother would be so proud, and wouldn't have to yell at me anymore about my posture.

There's no school tomorrow for Good Friday, something I knew, of course, but which I couldn't quite grasp all week. I brought in yogurt and apples -- lunch -- for a five day week, and will be taking tomorrow's lunch home with me at the end of the day. (I have a big note on my desk so I won't forget.) It will be just wonderful to sleep until I happen to wake up, even if it's 7:00, it's still better than 5:30.

As of today, lots of the kids are wearing summery clothes, although nothing too revealing yet. (When it actually gets hot, that happens.) And for some reason, lots and lots of kids are wearing school sports jerseys today; I don't know what's up with that. There are many kids every day wearing a whole lot of school-related clothing, whether it's sweatpants or basketball sweatshirts or whatnot, but today, I'm seeing what appear to be football jerseys, but not all of them the same. Odd. Maybe they're actually lacrosse jerseys and there's a big game today, but I have no idea. That's not my thing, baby.

Okay, so, more water, and then it's about an hour to lunch.