It's an anniversary kind of time.
Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of my marriage to Ken Pritchett. I am still rather amazed that two such different people do so well together. We have worked for a long time on making things work as we have changed over the years.
It was also the 1st anniversary of my retirement from the State of Texas. It's been a very stretching year, as I have learned what the work for STRIPES Parking Lot Service entails. I learn new things all. the. time. Working with my spouse is another learning curve, as is being away from the university setting which I had loved since 1983.
Looking back on the past year, I've been spending a lot of time thinking of my parents in San Angelo and a good bit of time going there, being there, coming back. It's 270 miles each way. Their health has deteriorated in the past year, which is reasonable, given that they are 85 and 81. My retirement's biggest gift has really been in this area of my life. I am able to go urgently or regularly. I am able to spend time with them for dire matters and quotidian ones. And, I continue to work for STRIPES while I do it. I carry the company cell phone, equipped with a call recorder, and my laptop. Calls that come in while I'm on the road or busy are easily handled once I'm settled for the night.
The daily work of STRIPES is very busy, but loose. I can run errands as needed. Yoga and personal appointments have priority and I work around them. I haven't kept a calendar since about last October. I started one in retirement, but I just didn't need it and quit.
However: There has always been the plan that sometime this summer I would start keeping my 3-year-old granddaughter a couple of days a week. (and you need to see a picture of her, I know:
Well, the day is coming! On June 12 we will begin our time together. And somehow, as that time drew near, I started to feel unmoored and a little panicked. So I went to Time and Date and printed out some nifty free calendar pages and filled them in. From June through December of this year.
Of course - none of us know what will happen in the 7 months ahead! But I needed desperately to feel a modicum of control over some area of life. Because there are so many areas that feel wildly out of control - all of the above, and the larger world, too.
I'm glad to look at the calendar and see some "just for me" things scheduled this month. Camping with Spooky Rach and Co., the Episcopal Women's Caucus meeting, and learning to quilt (with a group of friends to keep me accountable) will help. I continue to visit my Hospice patients, and I see my Enneagram-wise spiritual director monthly.
I'm trying to do some writing every day, prelude to an evening Examen. I think that, along with the calendar, will help me stay in the road. Keep me attentive to productive doing.
How are things going for you?
