Thanksgiving week came at the right time.

It’s Wednesday and I woke up early this morning feeling ready to take on the day. I think the last time that happened was during summer break. I’ve enjoyed four days of sleep, naps, walks with Sadie, good food, supplements, water and puttering around the house. And some sewing!

So has being away from the nastiness lurking inside the a/c vents at school:

That black stuff would be mold or mildew in the vents. I’ve been breathing this yuck since we went back to school. Headaches, constant congestion, sneezing and extreme fatigue by Friday. Not like me. I am highly allergic to penicillin – very similar to mildew and mold. I changed my diet, got sleep, took meds, didn’t take meds, cut caffeine, eliminated everything I could think of to try to figure out why I was so tired all the time. I noticed that I felt much better after a 3 day weekend, but my symptoms returned after a day or two back at work.

Then I looked up and saw the nastiness on the vents.

It probably didn’t bother me as much earlier in the school year because a) I wore a mask most of the time and 2) I wasn’t sitting at the circulation desk all day. They pulled my library assistant to cover kindergarten classes for two months, which is why I sat at the circulation desk. Now that she’s back, we’ll see if my symptoms ease. I’ll also make a concerted effort to mask up when I’m outside of my office (on a different a/c system).

Admin and maintenance are aware of the issue. We’ll see if it got resolved over Thanksgiving Break.

15 work days until Christmas Break.

Then 92 contract days left until the end of school!

The countdown is on!

Our flight plan was filed and has been dutifully followed. We have two stops left on our journey…one in late March for one passenger to disembark (hubby) and the final destination will be reached in early June (me).

How do you like the flying metaphor our financial advisor used to describe this part of our journey towards retirement? 🙂

We had our periodic catch-up call this past week with our financial advisor to review our progress and talk about next steps as we move away from full-time employment to whatever’s next. The year long break we plan to take may turn into full-on retirement or we may decide to go back to work. Either way, it’ll be OUR choice.

We haven’t always had a financial advisor. Our first one was a disaster and turned us off of “professional money management” for many years. We did meet with a Dave Ramsey ELP who was very helpful at guiding us to develop a holistic view of our finances.The thing is, when most of your assets are tied up in employer sponsored retirement accounts, most financial advisors may not make time for you. They key in on investable assets or money outside your 401(k).

How to get advice in this situation? Take advantage of financial education offered by your employer or local credit union. We met with financial reps introduced to us through hubby’s work, my work and our credit union. That’s how we found our current financial advisor. We’ve worked with him for the past six years. His advice has been invaluable as we navigate all the moving parts involved in a successful transition to the next phase of our lives.

Resources we found helpful along our journey:

http://www.daveramsey.com (Basic financial principles that really work)
http://www.wesmoss.com (Retire Sooner podcast & books – really helpful to think through early retirement)
http://www.moneyguy.com (Common sense advice on a host of financial topics)

My mom always used this expression when something finally happened after repeated requests, but it was too late to change her course of action.

Those words went through my mind today as I co-taught a lesson that my coworker decided to use as her opportunity to be be formally observed. (I’d already completed my mandatory observation.) We hit this one out of the park! The administrator stayed the entire time and came back a few minutes later to ask questions of the kids about what they’d done and learned. It was pretty clear that she was impressed by what she’d seen. Finally, the administrator who’s really running the show sees the impact I can have on student learning if given the opportunity to do so! Perhaps some things will change like I’ve repeatedly requested, but it’s a day late and dollar short.

I had a very frank conversation with my library supervisor this afternoon about the lack of support. She offered encouragement, listened and relayed similar concerns raised by some of my colleagues elsewhere in the district. She also shared that she expects a much higher than normal exodus at the end of the school year and steps she’s taking to mitigate that for my particular job classification. That’s all well and good, but again, it’s a day late and a dollar short. Where was the support when I reached out earlier?

There’s definitely a difference in work ethic between Gen X and Get Z. Employers are really going to miss us when the last of the Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers decide they’re tired of working so hard to support those who prefer to sit home or put in little effort, but want all of the reward.