Tag: life

And just like that – a new school year is underway!

August 4, 2026

Publix was quiet this morning as I did my grocery shopping. Seeing the school bus at the traffic light was a reminder to go the back way to my dentist’s office. Only adult patients were in the waiting room when I checked in for my dentist appointment. I returned home, walked Sadie and spoke with C’s mom to see if she would be coming today to sew on her quilt binding. C. doesn’t start school until Wednesday and she’s still quilting her quilt.

Five years ago, I greeted hundreds of elementary school bus riders as they exited the big yellow limousines excited to begin a new school year. Little did I know that year would turn out to be my final year as a public school teacher. I joined my husband in early retirement the following May. The first couple of back-to-school seasons after leaving my job were hard, but now it’s just another day. I always enjoy the first day of school photos posted by friends on social media. It’s an exciting time and I fully understand the enormous amount of work that the school staff does to begin a new school year.

Life is still influenced by the school calendar – only multiple school district and private school calendars nowadays! Therapy dog visits cover 3-4 different school districts and CraftLAB students all attend different private schools. A long-time therapy dog friend reminded me the beauty of volunteering in retirement is that I should plan travel for when it works best for me. Standing weekly visits are important, but it shouldn’t be the reason I pass on a quilt retreat or other trip I really want to take. He’s 100% correct. And I planned two trips for fall semester without looking at the Fulton County Schools calendar! As it turns out, one trip will be before participants in the READ program are fully vetted with all permission slips signed. Election Day falls during the other trip, so our visit wouldn’t happen anyway due to a teacher workday instead of a regular school day. It’s a big election cycle for Georgia, so I’ll make sure to cast my vote during the early voting period.

Photo by Vitaliy Haiduk on Pexels.com

Back to [almost] normal

July 24, 2026

Today, I took the last dose of prednisone. Thank goodness! I’m ready for my sleep cycle to get back to normal. Most evidence of my allergic reaction to the insect repellent is completely gone. There’s still some redness in the areas that reacted the strongest, but it’s slowly fading away. Mosquitos are still biting. I purchased a bottle of Cutter Skinsations with DEET 7% to use when working in the garden. Zero reaction and no mosquito bites either.

Our weather forecast is calling for heavy rain most of the weekend. Sadie and I ran took advantage of this morning’s dry window to run errands. We passed several schools and a teacher supply store on our travels. The parking lots were full. Then, I remembered that local school staff report on Monday for preplanning week. Has it really been five years since I reported for what would become my last preplanning week as a public school librarian? Indeed it has.

Fast forward five years. There’s still some semblance of back-to-school prep that takes place in my life around late July. I take advantage of back-to-school sales to stock up on school supplies, reward trinkets and books we’ll use in the R.E.A.D. program and CraftLAB. This weekend, I’ll be finishing up the final few details for quilt camp. We start Monday at 10:00 a.m. in my basement sewing space. Instructional planning is a lot more fun when it’s on my terms and my schedule!

Not much teaching took place spring semester because life and the quilt show happened. For fall semester, my teaching schedule includes CraftLAB, a monthly sewing group at the Midtown Library and a machine maintenance class at the quilt museum in Carrollton. It feels good to see my teaching calendar active again.

I’m also collaborating with a local indie pet supply store to host a personalize your pet’s stocking workshop in early November. I’ll teach students how to add their pet’s name to a cuffed stocking or create a personalized hang tag using a simple backstitch and embroidery floss. We’ll see what happens locally, if anything, after that. I’d love to find a spot where I can teach classes a couple of times a month. I don’t mind paying a modest fee to use the space, but I have zero interest in opening a full-blown stitch lab in a retail storefront. That ship has long since sailed.

Letting go of things that no longer serve you

July 5, 2026

A significant price increase notice from Adobe started me down the “subscriptions” rabbit hole. As a teacher, I received a substantial educator discount from Adobe, which continued into retirement. I’ve consistently used some of the applications, but not InDesign and Illustrator – the two primary reasons I continued to pay the fee each month. My rate would double at the September renewal. I canceled. For how I use the applications, the juice was simply no longer worth the squeeze. Other, more affordable, options are available.

Next, I addressed the other item bothering me – our dental insurance (not!). After 15 months of dental and vision insurance through my alumni association, I canceled the dental coverage, but kept the vision plan. Why? I view optional individual insurance like this as a prepaid plan for services. My expectation is that premiums paid in and benefits paid out should be about the same at the end of the year. The math didn’t math. Our dental plan paid out in benefits about 25% of the premium amount received, whereas the vision plan actually paid for itself.

I didn’t cancel everything. I actually switched my Cricut Design Space subscription to an annual one to take advantage of a 30% discount. It made “cents” as I frequently use the service.

Lastly, I set my Craft Industry Alliance membership to non-renew at the end of the current term. While not expensive, I don’t really do anything other than read the email newsletters (which are free). I can always rejoin, if FOMO strikes.

The unexpected surprise? I let my Spotify premium membership (which I’d had for YEARS) return to the free plan when my annual subscription ended in April. Why? They allowed ads in the podcasts, which weren’t removable, even with a paid plan. I primarily use Spotify to listen to podcasts. Why would I pay to listen to ads? Know what? All is well. Absolutely zero FOMO.