My local school district (and former employer) finally let the dogs back in the schoolhouse! Big Girl and I are joining some fellow CAREing Paws teams at Lost Mountain Middle School at the end of the month.

I posted this on FB, along with a picture of Sadie and me after our most recent visit to a high school in a neighboring district. Now, Sadie and I have received a flurry of invitations to visit former colleagues at their respective schools. Two of my colleagues at a former school won “mystery reader of their choice” in a school fundraising contest. They asked if I would bring the dog and read stories to their classes. This will definitely be a fun visit next week!

Therapy dog activities are finally picking up. We have visits to two colleges already scheduled for April & May. I have at least 5 visits to schedule to different facilities since receiving invitations from former co-workers. I’m excited. This has been the missing piece in my retirement activity puzzle. I have a strong feeling the school based READ program will move forward in the fall.

What about that reading teacher job? I decided against applying for the part-time position in a neighboring school district. The work’s fine. The expectation is a 5 day workweek, even for part-time. No thanks. Should I ever need to return to work, I’d rather have a full-time salary if I’m going to give up my freedom 5 days per week. After conferring with our financial advisor yesterday, there is no need for either one of us to return to work unless we want to.

I did apply to renew my teaching certificate for another 5 years. The Professional Standards Commission determined that I have to jump through one additional hoop to get my certificate renewed. Let’s see how quickly my former school district can verify my professional development activities from 2018-2022.

In addition to private sewing lessons, I host a monthly CraftLAB for a small group of ‘tween stitchy friends. These kiddos either live in my neighborhood or are children of friends and former co-workers. Our sessions last about 60-75 minutes and projects are usually make & take. Some are sewing, some are STEAM related and some are seasonal crafts. I keep a folder of ideas clipped from magazines or freebies I find online. We also look at some kid-specific sewing books such as those from Sewing School. Their current favorite sources of projects are Get Set, Sew from Jane Bull or projects from Curious Jane magazine. Sometimes the kids simply tell me what they want to make. My job is to figure out how to make it, then write the steps/directions so a 5th grader can be successful with the project.

CraftLAB serves the same purpose as the weekly Stitching Stallions sewing club at school did. It allows me to test out ideas and fine-tune projects. I also learn what does/doesn’t work with the kids. This helps inform future classes and lessons that are taught outside of CraftLAB. The journal project was suggested by a private student. She selected the type of journal she wanted to make. I found a free tutorial on YouTube that I used as base to develop the directions. My CraftLAB kiddos saw her journal and wanted to make one for themselves. I tweaked those directions and the journal construction worked much better. I imagine this could also turn into a future kid’s class at the SQTM. Tip: If you want to get this journal done in 90 minutes, then kit everything – including cutting pieces and fusing the interfacing ahead of class. Figure out a solution to help kids keep a consistent 1/2″ seam allowance in advance. I found a sliding guide foot worked best OR a seam guide that runs the length of the machine bed. If you run a weekly after-school sewing class or homeschool group, you can easily extend this project over 3 sessions. Prepare paper patterns from freezer paper and allow students to cut everything out by hand. Yes, the kids will complain, but they need to learn this skill. Or allow them to use Cricut Design Space to create the master cut files for each piece and cut everything out using a Cricut machine. If you fuse the interfacing to the back of the fabric ahead of time, you can use basically any Cricut machine that will cut bonded fabric. This incorporates a STEAM component that they absolutely love.

P.S. The hexie flowers were made by me. I needed one more photo to complete the pic collage in this post. Look for one of these on the front pocket of my forthcoming journal cover!

Hard to believe it’s been almost a year since hubby put corporate life behind him. This time last year, he was making his “farewell tour” and we were trying to figure out if we could make it work financially if I joined him when my teaching contract ended in May. We decided to go for it and make any necessary adjustments as we went along. Many adjustments yes, but ZERO regrets.

Some financial pundits said 2022 was definitely not a year to retire. Perhaps not, but when is it ever the “ideal” time to retire? It was the right decision for us. Watching the stock market gyrations over the past year has been hard. And now we have the banking collapse unfolding before our very eyes…it’s always something. What do you do? We keep the faith, review our budget and tune out the noise as best we can. Read that last sentence again if you need to.

No one could have predicted the high inflation we’ve experienced or the continued supply chain and labor woes. Groceries, home maintenance and car repair costs are WAY up. Our whole house painting cost 40% more than quotes obtained pre-COVID. I’m sure we were charged a premium to replace the gas valve in our upstairs HVAC unit, but this company actually had the part when others didn’t. My SUV required expensive repairs this past year. Normally, we would fix a car and trade it once repairs reached this amount. Not this time. Hanging on to it for at least another year. We’ll rent a car if we need to travel any lengthy distances.

Health insurance/medical is our largest monthly expense. We are paying unsubsidized (COBRA) insurance rates until my pension begins. (Interesting fact: in GA, if you have 8 years of service credit working for the state and you leave employment, you can keep SHBP coverage for as long as you’re willing to pay for it – even after COBRA continuation coverage is ends.) Many teachers use this to fill in the insurance gap between their last day of employment and when their pension begins. If you don’t keep this insurance in place, it does not follow you into retirement. Insurance rates drop to active employee/retiree rates once pension checks begin. I’d still be working if this unsubsidized coverage option wasn’t available to us. Healthcare Exchange Plans were not an option for us as MD Anderson – where hubs goes for treatment – does not accept any of those plans. FWIW – quoted rates for us on Healthcare.gov rival COBRA rates, but with significantly higher out-of-pocket expenses.

Random observation: Does it seem to you that the medical, dental and pharmaceutical professions are now trying to make up for revenue lost during COVID? Have you noticed the uptick in medical & pharmacy related ads? Are your dentists and doctors trying to upsell services or call you back for more screenings/tests than usual? Our dentist retired and sold the practice. First visit with the new dentist was routine. At the second visit, we were both told we need Invisalign for our bottom teeth. I have a chipped front tooth that needs repair and the dentist stated he will not do the work until after I complete Invisalign treatment. Guess I’ll be finding a new dentist. In December, I was called back for additional imaging and an ultrasound after an abnormal mammogram. Self-pay rate: less than $500.00. Negotiated rate: $1,136.00. (Plus my monthly insurance premium) Very thankful it turned out to be a benign cyst but the price differential leaves me wondering, “Now why do I have insurance? ”

What about returning to work? I’m actually open to working part-time 2-3 days per week. Anything more than this would impact my volunteer and quilting activities. A former colleague suggested I look at a part-time reading teacher opportunity in a neighboring school district. I did and reached out to a friend who works there. It sounds like a great opportunity to learn, help kids read and be part of a new initiative. The downside is the hours appear to be spread M-F. To me, this is equivalent to a FT job commitment, but with part-time salary. Not exactly what I’m seeking.

Another former colleague offered a more intriguing proposition: Offer CraftLAB after school one afternoon per week at her school. 10-12 sessions per semester, lasting about 50 minutes each. Everything is run through the PTA. Kids are required to go to ASP if parents don’t pick up at the end of class. PTA gets a percentage of the class fees as “space rental” – usually no more than 10-20%. This definitely grabbed my attention and is something I thought I would be able to do when I started my biz several years ago.

Stay tuned.