Five Months and Counting

Yesterday, I nerded out in the Back to School section of Walmart. Among other things, I bought an assortment Composition Books, in an array colors, for fifty cents each. (I use them for writing, everything goes on paper first.) I had a great time walking up and down the aisles looking at pens, pencils, markers, folders, binders, glue, staplers, and calculators. Calculators?  Gee, we never got to use calculators in school, it was strictly fingers and toes for me. I wasn’t the only one perusing the merchandise. Much to one mans chagrin, his wife was selecting plastic divider boxes to organize and color code his tackle box. I’m not sure how long I spent wandering the aisles, but I definitely lost track of time. Stationary stores, book stores/library, hardware stores, and garden centers are places where I seem to fall into some sort of time warp.

When I was growing up, buying Back to School stuff was the precursor to a rite of passage. Graduating from pencils to pens, wide ruled to college ruled paper, crayons to perfumes (thank you, Petula Clark) meant we had advanced to the next level.  Dressed in our new clothes and armed with our school supplies, we were prepared to march into the next stage of our young lives with confidence.

Stepping into Phase Three of life is also a rite of passage. In preparation, (besides buying Composition Books) I’ve been scheduling doctors appointments, visiting the Social Security office, studying Medicare, working on my budget, looking into local colleges for classes (writing and photography), getting sucked into the vortex that is Pinterest while looking at gardening ideas, gathering supplies needed to build my raised garden bed, and hauling wood for the winter months, trying to get all my ducks in a row.

Like herding cats

At work, I’ve been deleting old emails and files, clearing personal stuff out of my cubicle and bringing it home. Maybe this seems a bit premature, but I’m excited and anxious to start my new life.  I am looking forward to stepping into the future prepared, knowing  I will be able to handle each new opportunity (even life’s problems create opportunities) this crazy thing we call life brings me.

Onward!