If one takes the meaning of the word retire to mean the action or fact of leaving one’s job and ceasing to work, we indeed concede that that is our plan.  We both are ceasing our ‘current’ jobs.  We do, believe, though, that retiring is not a ‘dirty word’.  It is certainly not something which moves us from doing something meaningful to becoming sedentary and secluded.  In fact, we are very excited about the prospects that are both planned and spontaneous. For instance, we have a cruise (our first) planned for later in the summer.  This is definitely a planned event.  We also have interest in keeping a small suitcase packed and ready for those ‘let’s go now’ trips that roll our way. 

We are getting a puppy in the fall.  John is planning to teach and reinforce dog etiquette as well as ‘come’ commands. 

There are so many things to learn:  for John, how to use digital technology more effectively (his new camera and iMac); for me, how to use John’s hand-me-down camera, to paint more freely, to write more fiction.  Opportunities to use skills honed in previous roles will knock on our door and some of those we’ll entertain and others we’ll ignore and even reject. 

We have a huge forest to explore and manage.  We have gardens galore.  We want to get back into cycling. We are anticipating with great interest and yearning time to slow down, certainly.  No more getting up at 5:00 a.m. to fit in track time and aquafit classes.  Time to enjoy a novel from start to finish in ONE day.  Time to pick up and go and visit anyone we want.  Some friends remain in KW Region as well as family (Kathleen) and some neices / nephews.  We’ll want to get to Toronto and NWT to visit children and to Kingston, Alberta, Stratford and St. Marys to see family.  Some friends are ill and we wish to be free to offer support and care.

We require time to savour our trials in the kitchen.  We look forward to interests and hobbies; some shared; some not.  Horse back riding is a shared interest that pulls us.  John wants to wander the creeks near and far from the cottage (where we will live full-time), one fist clutching a tackle box and the other casting his rod.

Truthfully, retirement as a concept can sometimes be viewed as boring, a tad depressing and certainly full of connotations, negative and positive.  I hereby choose to abandon the term retirement for a contemporary construct:  commencement! We are, afterall, cracking open a new book, a collection of chapters in fact, scoping out the dawn, and initiating where we have never been before.   And, as youngsters in our fifties, we can barely wait to get started!

- it helps build relationships

- it allows an understanding of differences and similarities to develop

- it permits families to see their children in meaningful relationships (on both sides of the relationship)

- it builds capacity, understanding, tolerance, patience and other similar virtues

- it builds life-long bonds

- it allows an attitude of ‘differently-abled’ to flourish

Here is a link to a high school Best Buddies experience:  http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/643791–similarities-not-differences-are-what-counts-for-best-buddies

The province of Ontario is going to take a tough stance on bullying.  http://www.therecord.com/news/canada/article/632560–mcguinty-says-anti-bullying-bill-allows-gay-straight-clubs-in-all-public-schools  While the premier agrees that his mandate is school safety, he is not willing to go further such as mandating parenting classes for everyone or teasing out the route causes surrounding the issue.  I’ll be interested to see what the legislation really looks like when all is said and done. Uber-focus on the bully is NOT where I believe we should go.  They are only part of the concern.  There needs to be support for the victim and teaching / consequences for the bystanders (the puppet masters, too).  Further, teachers and all support staff need to really embrace responding to bullying. I’ve often become aware of the ‘ignore it and it’ll go away’ approach which only succeeds in supporting the behaviour.

The issue of GSA clubs is also interesting.  The Catholic school boards have been staunchly anti-GSAs because they believe that having these clubs might somehow facilitate the ‘conversion’ of straight kids into gay ones.  So, because the premier wants these clubs in EVERY school in his province, he might soft-shoe around the issue of the clubs by having them go by another name.  What names do you suggest?  And, does a name really matter?

In Edmonton tonight, ‘occupy marshalls’ have to ensure the health and safety of protesters by going into each tent every fifteen minutes of their ‘occupy compound’ .  Why you ask?  The temperature is dropping to minus twenty-five and city officials are scared someone might die.  And that never looks good on the evening news.

In my region this weekend, there was an protest by some women and profs.  Their issue was with people choosing to have designer genitals.  Wow!  I really am naive. I had not even heard nor contemplated such an option.  I resist waxing my eyebrows so I can’t imagine wanting to surgically modify that part of my body.  I’m not sure why it’s someone’s business what someone chooses to do to their own body, cosmetically or even surgically speaking.  But, for me,  I’m choosing to keep threads away from my excess parts and avoiding roads with placard-carrying folks.  That’s the plan, anyhow.

Also, just so I am honest here…writing is really not challenging when you compare it to other situations or conditions.  Take ALS for instance.  My story is dedicated to:  MS, sufferer of this horrific afflication.

In June, 2012, I will be closing a chapter and turning to a new one as my spouse and I retire (aka quit our day jobs).  It is a year of ‘lasts’ for us, especially for me as I am in an industry that is by nature cyclical.  September is always a ‘new beginning’ for teachers and the youth we teach.  As an administrator it is my first time with many of the students enrolled in our alternative program.  So, this year, with September’s ‘beginning’ atmosphere, I also have the confusion of it being a ’last’. 

Of course, because people are starting to learn of my plans, the good natured teasing begins.  And, truth be told, I’m enjoying the ‘lasts’ as much as the firsts back in 1979 when my path in my chosen career in education began.  There is a joviality to be sure but there is also a savouring similar to that final glass of wine at the end of a fine holiday, a bittersweetness that allows one to pause, enjoy, savour and miss.

Working with children is the BEST career.  I’ve always believed that because those of us privileged enough to be in this career have an opportunity to touch the future.  Despite some of the political tensions in the profession during the Mike Harris years, I endeavoured to try to take home the ‘positives’ each night.  As it turns out, two of three of our children have chosen education as a field of choice in their professional lives.  I would have been proud of ANY avocation they would have chosen but I believe this is one they will savour for the rest of their lives. 

So all you educators out there:  Go forth and teach and be proud of your influence each and every day.  I lift my remaining morning coffee cups up to you in a toast.

Recently, I read a terrifically informative article about a rarely spoken about topic:  boys believing they are in the wrong body and girls wishing they were boys. I cannot imagine too many fates more horrifying than looking at yourself every day realizing your life is a lie.  To follow the link, click on:  http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/08/12/when-boys-would-rather-not-be-boys/

B.C. doctors are quite progressive in assisting teenagers trapped in the wrong body.  I don’t agree that this is sometimes a fad as one Ontario doctor in the article suggested.  How naive.  Would a depressed girl jump on the “I wish I were a boy” badwagon easily?  Come on!  Granted, this is an area where parents need to be super supportive and everyone needs to walk through the steps with knowledge.  A worthy topic.

Why bother collecting seeds?  For me, I love sharing something beautiful with others.  Also, it’s a way to introduce unusual plants from one garden into someone else’s.  Further,  it ensures that that particular strain of plant is reproduced beyond the original plant, especially in the case of rarer specimens.  Finally, sharing plants, whether by seed, cuttings or digging out parts of the plant ensures health of the original bed.  When things get too crowded, the plants in the garden can sometimes get smothered.  Removing over crowded plants helps to ensure that nutrients, water and air can get into the garden. 

My pitchfork is ready.  Anyone need any hostas?  Lamb’s ears?  Daisies?  I’m game.

I just finished (on my Kobo Reader) his book, The Night Shift.  My one regret is that I couldn’t mark up the pages with post its and highlighting.  But it was a great read nevertheless.

It is fairly similar to a lot of what he chats about on his radio show. I didn’t realize that he works pretty crazy hours…some as an emergency room doctor and some as a CBC journalist and now writer of books.  I aprpeciate his courage to interview experts on really tough topics like doctor ineptitude and burn-out, to name a couple.  I look forward to listening to his podcasts when I happen to miss his half-an-hour show.  He also has a blog on the CBC website and if you have set your login up, you can comment on some of his topics.  http://www.cbc.ca/whitecoat/

We are so fortunate to be able to afford little trips here and there.  Immersing in a new culture, surrounded by another language, permits us to appreciate and learn from others.  We are also looking forward to ‘chilling’ on patios, taking long hikes and capturing some moments by collecting a snapshot history which I’ll later upload to my FB page.  I also enjoy collecting little tidbits from the trip like menus, buttons, magnets and the like to include in a book format scrapbook.  Again, it goes to my love of books.  Sure, I could take my laptop to the City Cafe where I have coffee clutches with my aqua buddies or I could bring an old-fashioned scrapbook and let them drool over the exciting events captured in the photo journey.  All right, not ‘exciting’ but hey, kind of fun, right?

Currently our oldest child is travelling with her beau in Tahiti region.  Again, to keep that trip to themselves would be criminal.  What they are doing is uploading their ‘diary’ and photos so others can enjoy it with them.  It’s not quite like being there but darned close!