Post date: Sep 21, 2016 2:10:05 AM
So what have I done lately?? A listicle
We had a wonderful time in Minnesota and Canada, but it is always great to come home. After unpacking the car and dealing with the laundry, dishwasher, plants, mail, newspapers, and grocery shopping, I just about needed a vacation to recover from the vacation. Now that I am retired, I find my days go by rather quickly, especially when working on a project or spending time with Mason. But sometimes it doesn't feel like I have done much in the past month--when I would normally have gone back to school. So, I made a list for some accountability, and also to show myself that retirement has already been productive and fun. Here's what I've done--
I babysat my three-year-old grandson Mason every Monday overnight and all day Tuesday. I’ve gotten braver, taken his car seat and he and I have gone on a few adventures to parks, playgrounds, Walmart, and McDonald’s. He loves staying over, taking baths in the spa bath rub, taking walks with Papa Mike and Grandma, playing in the yard, watching PBS Kids and eating pancakes for breakfast. We figured out that walking a small cute kid around the neighborhood is a great way to meet the neighbors!
Met with Barb, a dear friend, to work on our annual Suckow newsletter.
Right before the trip up north, Barb and I made our annual trip to the Special Collections at the University of Iowa library. We found more information, more photos, and answered more questions about Ruth Suckow, Ferner Nuhn, and Grant Wood, finding some correspondence between them.
Met with a dear friend Carol and started generating ideas to help her launch a new phase of her career, post retirement.
Created an Excel worksheet to track writing projects, due dates, submission dates, and URLs.
Submitted an essay to Chicken Soup of the Soul for a new volume about Dreams.
Submitted an essay to Chicken Soup of the Soul about a new volume about Teachers and Teaching.
Submitted an essay about teaching to an online Education journal.
Submitted a memoir piece for a contest limiting word count to 150 words!
Written an essay about my mother – and gone through a dozen notebooks with her correspondence, notes, and journal entries. I’ve learned a lot of details that I had forgotten or known about before now.
Worked on the revision for my Suckow Chapter and I'm still tweaking it!
Started a volunteer project that is a partnership between UNI and the Western Home: I’ve been paired with an Education student, and we will be meeting weekly for 10 weeks. We had a quick chat by phone and then spent over 2 hours at our first session: he’s a great young man.
Had a great long lunch with Lavonne, a dear friend, also newly retired.
Went to a play at the Waterloo Playhouse with Mike (To Kill a Mocking Bird).
Gathered more information about Iowa authors for a potential online course.
Been invited to join a local committee to plan programs featuring Iowa authors.
Marked up essays and made comments and suggestions for two special people writing that first paper in a college class (Wait until they get my bill--ha ha).
Read a few good books (I will post a list soon).
The past month or so has been a busy one, and I'm feeling productive. Creating this list was a good idea.
Last updated September 21. 2016