Moss Cottage circa 1936
I found a home for my Cotswold feathers!
A childless cat lady lives here.
Otto & Iris
This old house.
A journal entry from 2017
My charity shop birds from the Cotswolds.
Book-O-Wigs
from my 2017 journal
Here, boy!
See ya, love ya, bye!
I’ve drifted away from digital books and back to book books.
It’s officially official. I’m retiring in 150 more school days. After 28 years full-time in the classroom putting out fires, and sitting through the most asinine weekly professional development meetings I’ve about reached my limit. But wait! There’s more! Maybe it’s worse when you know there’s an end in sight. Those of you who’ve retired from stressful jobs will have to let me know if the days will be speeding up soon.
I have my pension meeting with the state retirement system tomorrow.
Today in the classroom I told the kids about the time machine in the closet. One of my boyz sat in my chair when I was across the room and when I came back I pushed him around for a bit going “whee!” The entire class roared with laughter. I also pretended to see something horrifying outside the windows and everyone looked. Gotcha! I threw a pile of papers to be graded in the trash after school and left school 14 minutes after the dismissal bell rang.
Whee!
I wrote the first paragraph of this post the other night after an agitating PD earlier in the day. The bee left my bonnet and was replaced by giddiness today. Thank goodness nothing lasts forever.
Congratulations! I hope you are able to let all the ridiculousness just waft over your head and enjoy your final year of teaching the kids! My son just began his teaching career last month, I hope he loves it for 28 years, too.
Oh we have all been through those meetings. The more you get close to retirement, the more they will aggravate. But, as Frankie S says, “that’s life.” Thanks for the great post.
love the portrait accordion book(s) you made, so fun! i found the last year, months and weeks to be something i had to remind myself i could anything for ” a year”, “a month” ” a few weeks”! i did a lot of “OMMMMM” too. Hah! best of luck to year in your waning days…
All of those lucky students are so fortunate to have been taught and inspired by you over all of your teaching years. Now you’ll get to spend your time however you want! I hope your retirement years will be absolutely glorious and filled with health, peace, fun, joy, and beauty.
You have a house full of treasures, Mary Ann. You being one of them of course!
I have no retirement stories, but the day after my sister finished high school, our mom found her uniform in the trash!
I say, go MAM!
❤️🍁
Congratulations. Your stress level will lower more and more as you get even closer to the date.
I called it my “whatever…” time as in-
sure we’ll do whatever you want. I was not going to be there for the results so it was very easy to let “them” do whatever.
You have the Everyday is Saturday feeling to look forward to. If you need any tips, let me know!
My line is, “Excellent idea! Let’s do it!” no matter what is proposed. Then of course I just don’t do whatever “it” is, unless I really want to. LOL
I love your updates so much and get excited when they show up in my email box! You have done an incredible job working with the kids and I know that you will have other adventures to enhance your life (and our lives, as long as you keep up blogging)! It’s been a couple of years since I took your online classes and I still love what I learned and made! That’s it…I’m done now!
Thanks so much, Karyl. Warms the cockles of my heart to know these old blog posts are finding their way to people who still enjoy them. Means a lot.
Well, sometime in spring they will begin talking about changes they are implementing for the 25/26 school year, and you will just smile to yourself and know it’s not going to be your problem. The thing I found the most lovely was being able to watch summer end and autumn begin from my back patio, on cool mornings when I normally would have been locked up in the classroom. The feeling you get in August when you realize you don’t have to go back is amazing. Although I do usually get nostalgic around the holidays — all those parties, assemblies and the kids’ excitement was fun. Miss that.
I will miss Friday Dancing to KC and the Sunshine Band, but I’ll just do it by myself without all the kids.
dang bees, but sometimes they may spur one on to better things and not just frustration. i can guess confidently you’ll have no trouble adapting to retirement! v happy for you. let the creative juices flow! enjoy your posts so much. thank you!
Thanks Wendy. Nope, no trouble adapting to a lot less stress.
Whee, is right! So much lightness and giddiness comes with this decision! You will feel lighter and freer from now to the end of this last year, I’m sure of it! Savor and enjoy.
I have no doubt that you’ve been the best of the best teachers for your career. Time for you now.
Sooo happy for you!! It’s life changing to retire, in a very good way! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!!
I am so happy for you!
I can only selfishly hope this means the beginning of more frequent dispatches. I’ve so miss the wit of your writing and seeing the images of the world through your eyes on a frequent basis.
Your posts remind me that not everyone lives “where we live” and how interesting it is for others to have peek at our surroundings and to hear our thoughts.
Do Keep writing MAM. you are a treasured gift to us all.
Thank you so much, Dawnri. I look forward to having more time for dispatches, sketchbookery, and loads more.
Sister!!!
Love that painting of Sharron and highly approve of where you have placed the charity shop birds and feathers from the cotswolds.
The book o wigs is fabulous!!!
Happy Friday.
Sister!!!
You are going to LOVE being retired. For the first year after doing so, when anyone asked, my standard reply was “Retirement, I highly recommend it!”
i loove it! soooo inviting!!
So many great teachers are leaving as bureaucrats take over education from caring teachers. I left the profession years ago when administrators and parents lobbied for “sit down reading groups” in kindergarten. Sad. You can advance literacy without programmed learning!
Yup. Control freaks with no real classroom experience in such a long time (or never) trying to dictate the way forward.
Enjoy your well deserved retirement, Mary Ann. I’m sure you touched many with your warmth and wit.
Oh, how I remember those days when retirement had been decided — but there was still 1/2 the school year to complete! Even before that first day of retirement arrived, I knew I had been made for retirement! I thought I loved teaching while I was there in the trenches, but not for one day have I looked back! Now I think I was just fooling myself because I knew I had to continue teaching for the health insurance it provided for my family! Anyway, it has been 20 glorious years of retirement, doing my own art instead of trying to inspire my students in their artistic endeavors (I was an art teacher). This is much more rewarding to my soul!
Best wishes to you! I am sorry for the students who will not get to have you as their teacher next year and beyond, because I know your students have been blessed by you! But you have more than paid your dues!!!
One suggestion: count out the appropriate number of playing cards to equal the number of days until your official retirement. At the end of each day, tear up 1 card. Rejoice with each tear! (You can even keep the torn cards to use in a collage, or not. Your choice, because you’ll be retired. Nobody will be telling you what to do!
I do hope blogging will remain a part of your retirement life! Thanks for all the joy your blog inspires! And I love your wig journey. I’m on it too.
What a lovely thoughtful note to read this evening, Sandy. I thank you for it xo
Hallelujah y felicidades, Mary Ann!!! Until my day arrives, I shall live vicariously through you.
Sorry I can’t magically transport you to where I’m headed, Kristi, But your time is coming xo
Congratulations on starting your countdown! Anyone who has lasted that many years in the school system deserves to retire! May the days go quickly! Then…breathe a deep sigh, sleep in late, and drink up your newfound freedom!
yes yes yes yes, Helen. I look forward to letting go of all the classroom responsibility and headaches.
The best part of attending meetings is knowing you don’t have to add your two cents because you won’t be there next year. I happily attended staff meetings knowing they were ticking down after 34 years of teaching. I threw papers away too.
I only wish I was still under the flag of my former administrator who was beloved by so many. We aren’t allowed to add our two cents under any circumstances under the current regime. I just sit and draw what I see. Try to tune it all out.
Hello Mary Ann,
Time to go! I remember the experience well. Although I loved my job (teaching photography), I also knew it was time for a new person to step in. I have loved my new life with time to observe and journal. Thanks for taking me on a tour of Moss cottage, always a joy and fun!! Here’s to moving on to the next phase of life.
Rhonda
I’m ready for the next phase whatever it is…
I was an alcohol, drug, mental health counselor in the trenches for 24 years (no admin. as I wanted to work with clients). I was so stressed that I took early retirement which cost my family’s finances in reduced benefits. I have NEVER regretted it. I found it harder counting days so I switched it to one day at a time and some days my mantra was “you can tolerate this for this day”. Know it was a mind game but it worked. Excited for you!
You made me laugh out loud ! I look forward to every dispatch ! ( and every peek inside the cottage )
Sounds about right. One day at a time. The mind needs to be trained so whatever works!
Hello! Who ever invented retirement was a genius. It keeps getting better the longer you’re retired. So happy that you’re going to be moving on to no more meetings. I’m pretty sure you’re going to be very good at being retired.
I noticed when I was counting down the days that my tolerance level for the bullpucky was very low.
And yes I was out the door as soon as possible.
I started following when you were designing your journals.
I so appreciate you
I love your house, your cats, and your humor.
Aw thanks Lorraine. Always a pleasure to hear from you after all these years xo.
Hi Maryann,
Yes, it is worse when the end is in sight…but it is also better! You don’t follow the rules you hate quite as closely…..I think you get a kind of clarity in the last months before you retire….things that once were oh so important do not seem to matter as much….you plan as best you can for someone else to take over after you are gone….you make plans for your future and then you change those plans and make new ones…it’s a process! I am so so happy for you to begin this next phase of your life! Your students are very lucky to have had you to mentor and care for them. Happy (almost) retirement!
Yes, I’m finding that throughout the day…I can drop it easier and shrug off some of the nonsense. Parents who make excuses for poor behavior – not my problem. Children who don’t do their homework or assignments – okay! I’m loosening the reigns. I’ll drop them soon and put it all on autopilot.
I retired in June, 2008, after 25 years of teaching. What surprised me was how unhappy my fourth graders were about my leaving, like I was deserting them. I am sure when you tell your students you are retiring, they will have the same reaction. It is a bittersweet experience.
One of my boyz, said, “I’m glad we’re your last class because you’ll remember us better.” Sweet.
Oh my! I wish I had been in your class at school.I don’t recall any of my teachers being even vaguely amusing, almost always severe, almost afraid to let the children see they were real people.
Oh Wendy I am sorry for that. A class without lots of laughter and tomfoolery (and some tears) is a missed opportunity in how to be human. How to be REAL. How to accept. How to love.
Hello Wendy
Your comment rang a bell for me. At junior school (UK) I was always top of the class then right through senior school I never had a single one-to-one conversation with a teacher. I suppose I was a small fish in a big pool. I begged to leave at 16, something I regret my parents allowed. It was OK, I did well, but always feel sad, as you seem to be, that teachers’ attitudes can crush young souls. BW Chrissy
I love everything about this!!!