May 1 was my retirement party. I was disappointed not many people from the office came. Anita and Cheryl came; Cheryl had asked to help out and brought food and helped in the kitchen. A handful of retirees came. My friend Marianne had called to say she was coming but did not. My friend Ediberto had said he'd come but did not. In fact, prior to my retirement, Anita (who is a manager in the office) said they had not really planned a lunch or anything for me in the Peoria office, knowing my manager had planned a party for me in Springfield that everyone was invited to. And I had told Anita that was fine, because I invited everyone from Peoria to my open house party May 1. To which nobody from the office showed up. (But Anita then decided maybe they should have a lunch with me and invite the office. That is the party I missed (above).) I heard there was about 20 people show up for that. My sister Cindy said she counted 23 people at our open house. In the end, that's about capacity for our duplex and the weather wasn't the best for outdoors. We did try to use the deck, even lighting a fire the chiminea. But it rained lightly off and on. It was comical, really. It would start to rain and people would rush to bring in all the furniture cushions. When it stopped, we'd take them all back out. We must have repeated this process at least 3 times. I think those that were here did enjoy the food and company. Regan and Quinn were here, and Quinn's friend James came by. Regan made cupcakes decorated like beach scenes. Water, beach balls, umbrellas. They were cute and tasty, too.
The following week Jon and I headed up to Chicago to witness Regan and Quinn being sworn in (they both passed their bar exams this spring). Regan's dad and Chi came up from Houston, Quinn's parents were there for the event, also. Jon and I went up a day early to enjoy Chicago. We walked through Old Town and Lincoln Park and imagined how nice it would be to live there. We had a nice dinner with the kids and Quinn's folks at Petterino's - a place I really like. The following weekend, my mom, her dog, Taffy, and sister Cindy went back to Chicago to spend Mother's Day. My mom wanted to see their new (rented) house. Dean and Debbie were still there.
And Jon and I went to Florida this week to spend a few days with his sister and her husband. They recently relocated to Hollywood, Florida because Renee often travels to South America for her job. We had a great time. Went to South Beach, Hollywood Beach, and a couple good restaurants. They have the most fabulous house in a modest area, but near the beach, nevertheless. We came back from that trip wanting to move there.
This is what always happens. Virtually every place we go, we want to move there. There are so many places I'd like to live, it is hard to pick just one. Last night Jon and I sat out on the deck and had a talk about when and where to go. We agreed we'd move April 1, 2011. It appears Florida is our destination, but that is subject to change.
6WBM update: I was at 161 on April 30. After two weeks of eating and drinking whatever I wanted I got up to 166. I resumed 6WBM and was down to 161 again prior to leaving for Florida. I'm at 166 again today - again, I ate and drank everything I wanted to. So I'm re-committing, beginning today, to continue 6WBM until I see my friend Shitty in July, when I travel to Oregon to spend a few days with her.
I'm also going to head to Austin to visit my son, Ryan. He told me to come down some time after July 12. He'll be in Dallas till then doing his summer job - working with a judge there on some project. I'm not sure if Jon will come to Austin with me, or maybe he'll come for a few days and I'll stay longer.
So, the next thing on my agenda is to paint my mom's house. That has already become a challenge. I had told her I planned to start on that project today, that I'd do everything including prep work, etc. I went over there this morning to scope out the project. She has a lot of landscaping in the way, a lot of stuff attached to the back of the house. I wanted to formulate a plan for myself. She, as she typically does, told me she wants me to help her paint the inside of the kitchen window, and go to Penney's with her to pick out shades, and do this, and do that. She already has a LONG LONG list of things she figure's I'll be doing.
Oh, yes, and I forgot to tell you the whole Taffy episode - I'll tell you later. In brief, her dog had a little surgery and I made numerous trips to the vet and to her house to take care of the dog. She said to me, "You retired just in time." I said, "Just in time for what?" "Just in time to take care of me and the dog!"
I did NOT retire to be her caretaker or the dog's. There are things I WANT TO DO FOR MYSELF!
So, at my mom's this morning, when she started off with her lists of projects, I just left. It is overwhelming. First of all, she isn't focused. She's all over the place. And that usually causes me to loose my own focus. I've thought about what I'll have to do to get through this. I just have to focus. And if she comes at me with lists, and "oh, just do this one thing for me" I'll tell her that isn't what I'm there for today. Write her lists down and I'll consider them later. I honestly think she thinks I'm going to spend everyday over there with her doing her chores!
I expressed my frustration to Jon. He's tired of hearing it - this is another ongoing issue. He suggested I go back to my therapist for tools to handle the situation. He suggests we "get out of dodge" as soon as possible.
The painting of the exterior of the house is something I want to do. It needs it. And I'll throw in a little yard work, as far as landscaping. But I'm not NOT not going to be her personal slave. Good Grief! My blood pressure is up just from writing this.
All for now. I need to decompress!
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