New retirees have an official retirement date, but the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia (TRS) doesn’t consider one officially retired until after receipt of one’s first pension check. This will happen by mid-August.
I’m not worried about the money, because I knew there would be a two week delay after my official retirement date for the first pension payment.
The issue is I can’t get the health insurance premiums adjusted to the correct retiree amount now due until TRS notifies SHBP/ADP (company contracted to manage health insurance billing) of my retiree status. This is done via an electronic data file update that is uploaded twice a week.
Every time I contact TRS, I get a different answer as to when SHBP/ADP will be notified of my retiree status. Two weeks ago, I was informed they would be notified on 8/1. Today, I was told it would be after receipt of my first pension payment. I don’t know what to believe anymore. There’s a system update happening this weekend and most premium bills are generated by the 7th of the month. Perhaps I’ll get lucky and things will update in the next few days.
I’m thankful for the anticipated retirement benefit and thankful for the health insurance. I’ll be equally as thankful to save $1700/month in insurance premiums.
Hard to believe, but our local public schools start back later this week. Classes for my hybrid homeschool group resume 8/19 and I’ll be teaching “Travel Stories” – exploring maps & geography through picture books. I’ve had a lot of fun researching read-alouds and activities for this class. The number of students in each class will decide how many “craft” activities I can do with them. I’m hoping for a sewing unit with my 4th & 5th graders!
CraftLAB and private lessons resume in late August. Most of my students are now middle school age – which is great. They’re more independent and our projects are definitely driven by their interests. I do require a community service project – which is to make a pillowcase for Ryan’s Case for Smiles or a placemat for Meals on Wheels. My guild makes up the pillowcase kits and I provide materials for the placemats. If you are in Smyrna, Vinings, or NW Atlanta, you are invited to reach out about lessons. I have limited openings for students in third grade & up. After school sessions are available.
I’m on email lists for just about every fabric shop, quilt shop, sewing machine dealer and maker studio in the area. Not much has been advertised in the way of fall kid/teen classes just yet. Here’s what I have found:
If you’re in Loganville, Monroe or Watkinsville and homeschool, Sew Sew Studio in Bogart has a reasonably priced 6 session course available for homeschool students. Everything is included in the class fee.
If you live in the Suwanee and Duluth areas, several stitch schools have recently launched. Google “sewing classes Gwinnett” to find them.
For those closer in to the city, Fabricate Studios (Howell Mill Rd/Chattahoochee Industrial area) and Topstitch Sewing Studio (newly reopened in Decatur) also offer kid and teen classes at times to suit working families (after school and weekend classes).
If you live in Cobb County, the local library system offers free sewing classes at the Switzer and Northwest Regional library branches several times per year. These classes, designed for teens and adults, are led by volunteers from the American Sewing Guild and other experienced sewists. Feedback on classes offered through the library has been very positive.
Cottontail Quilts and Tiny Stitches offered youth sewing classes over the summer. The Stitcher School sponsored summer sewing camps at Covenant Church (located near Campbell Middle School). So far, I’ve not seen or heard about any plans for fall sewing classes.
There is one more option: if you have a sewing machine, rudimentary sewing knowledge and patience, you CAN teach your child (plus a friend or two) how to sew. Classes can be expensive. Classes can be offered at times that don’t work with your schedule. Classes may be too far to justify the drive in Atlanta’s notorious traffic.
Show your child how to use the machine. Start them stitching on notebook paper without thread in the machine (or search for free printable cute sewing practice pages online). Beginner projects like a pillowcase, pocket tissue holder, bookmark, drawstring bag or simple tote bag are confidence builders for newbie stitchers. A small investment of time spent researching tutorials/projects for kids on Pinterest and YouTube will be well worth it. The money you’ll save by teaching the basics can go toward your child taking more advanced classes to learn skills you’re not comfortable teaching or for attending sewing camps.
I live in Georgia – one of the swing states that both sides are hitting hard with political ads and other rhetoric. I can’t watch a YouTube video about quilting without some PAC solicitation ad popping up. It’s rather annoying.
Not only did I get redrawn into all new voting districts for this election cycle, but my local county commission also decided they didn’t like the map drawn by the state, so they drew their own. Of course, litigation ensued. Candidates for the spring primaries were qualified based on the commission maps, not the ones drawn by the state. This past week, the judge decided the commissioners were in the wrong and ordered a redo of the impacted races using the state drawn maps. I’m affected, but I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be voting because we’ve been told those races will be delayed until after the November elections. Huh?
Candidates in any race from local to national have to meet qualifying deadlines. Now that Biden has dropped out of the race, how does this impact things moving forward? I didn’t think blanket candidate substitutions were allowed. Each candidate must qualify individually. There was some chatter across all media outlets about this right after Biden’s announcement, but I’ve heard nothing else since. Even when a replacement candidate is officially nominated in a couple of weeks, what happens next? Something similar to what I’ll be experiencing with the local elections?
I don’t fit the desired demographics for either party, so I’m just watching to see how things play out. I will do my civic duty and vote when I’m supposed to (whenever that may be). Meanwhile, I’m trying hard to stay away all the craziness for the next several weeks.
Come Stitch With Me 