Countdown: R Minus Ten

The next number of posts, if I am able to keep my head above water, will countdown the days to my retirement. I hadn't really thought seriously about retiring this year. It had been the year I was NOT supposed to retire. I was supposed to go one, possibly two, more years to get maximum increases in my state teachers retirement income. The divorce caused me to alter my plans. I have been going into the classroom the last few weekends and have found it surprisingly easy to clean out and throw many things away. What makes this particularly easy is knowing that a person I know, trust and respect is moving into the classroom. I couldn't have wished it on a better person. She has told me to leave things and she'll go through them. I feel I can't do that. I have done most of my year-end testing, although today I discovered one child had eluded me on the math assessment. I will take care of that on Monday. There are final reading screenings to do. It'll all happen. And I have done most of my progress reports and cum files for the office. Thursday evening there was a reception for retirees by the Board of Education and then the Board members presented us each with an engraved paperweight at the beginning of the official Board meeting. I had Laura and the baby come as my guests. Friday morning I was honored at the annual staff appreciation breakfast given by the PTA. They wanted a speech. It's a little tough to sum up thirty seven years in the moment with no warning, but I think I did okay. It was a sweet tribute and I appreciated the kindness and the special recognition. After school a former student had me over for tea and scones (his mother's British), and gave me a necklace (Mum's a jeweler). The approaching R is getting more and more palatable as the time draws nearer.