It's finally come to pass

work, that is. I'm done! Today was an amazing day, rushing around, cleaning up my files, putting the final touches on my desk before I walk out for the last time. Regrets? none. Sadness? never. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing all day. Kinda giddy in fact.

My co-workers planned a luncheon party at the 2 Rivers Restaurant on Murray St. Very nice, great appetizers and food. I thought I was going to explode! I can't say enough about all my good "work" friends - they are like family.

I continued my day with a cup of iced coffee and sat in City Hall Park for awhile until it was time to meet a friend at 3:30. I haven't been to Times Square in ages, and it was nuts. No wonder I rarely go there anymore. We spent some time catching up on news, then I walked down to meet another friend at Rudy's on 44th and 9th. A classic dive bar. Had a few beers, then finally headed home.

I had to make a reservation to rent a car for a month because the internet is going down tomorrow morning for about a week, so you won't see me around until it's back up. I'll Tweet and update Facebook from my phone until then.

Tomorrow will be spent finishing up packing. The movers will be here first thing Monday morning. I am exhausted right now. I need a good night's rest to get ready for the weekend.

I'll be back sometime next week. Thanks to all my friends and co-workers for their good wishes. They are treasured.

Last Day Tomorrow

Well, it's finally here. Tomorrow is my final day at work. I'll party with my office friends, then go off to meet other friends throughout the day. I promise I won't get teary-eyed. The end of a chapter, my work life, is over, but I rarely look back. I would go crazy if I did. I've got so much to look forward to - fulltime business, shows, wedding orders, and internet sales. I'm incredibly lucky to be able to retire in my mid-50s when I'm still active and able to pursue my many varied interests.
Someone mentioned to me the other day how my life has been so well-planned and organized. When I look back, I realized it's kind of true. When I first decided to move to NYC in 2000 so Carla could pursue her education in music and acting, events just clicked right along. I took us nearly a year to get here with only a slight pause after 9/11. My plan was to see her through college, then move on. Well, she has, and I am. Timing is perfect with the housing market and low interest rates. In the past 10 years, money manages to fall into my lap when I need it the most. Funny how fortunate I've been.
This morning I took my camera along and took pictures all the way to work, until it died, that is. I wanted to remember walking to the train, the visions I see when I get off, and my daily walk through downtown Manhattan to the Federal Building where I work. Who does that?? After 7 years living here, I am still in awe of the city. I never tired of it and there will be times I will most certainly miss the hustle and bustle. It will be nice to visit since Carla will still be here going to grad school at Juilliard. I plan to be here for every performance and recital. I may also return to do large craft shows to sell candles and fragrance products. It all depends on the upstate scene.

So how unique is it to see the Empire State Building everyone morning as soon as you get off the train? It's still impressive to me. How I will miss this.

Oh I have to go back to work tomorrow

So this is the 4th day of packing for the Big Move. Got up early this morning, had 2 cups of java and was raring to go. I took down 2 wheely cartfuls of stuff I'm getting rid of plus some posters and pictures. I'm sure they're gone by now.


I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow. But I have a lot to do there, getting ready to retire. I want to finish up a few cases I have left, pack and ship out my personal belongings, then just drift away the rest of the week. My personnel folder has been retrieved and I'm ready to submit my retirement paperwork.


I've always looked forward to moving. The months before I moved to NYC I thought I would jump out of my skin in anticipation. This time is different. I'm not only moving to my dream house, I'm also entering into the final phase of my life, quitting my job and living by my schedule and no one else's. I will rise early to greet the day, not because I have to, but because I want to. Each new day will present its challenges. If I get snowed in, I won't care. I'll eat beans if I have to.


Anyways, here are some updated pics of my packing accomplishments today. I also did major paperwork, paid bills, and took care of some orders that need to be shipped out this week.

Another day, another box, or 2

I was up early this morning. Packing all day, but I went out to get a pack of hot dogs and buns to celebrate the holiday. Then after a fresh cup of coffee, back to work. I packed an entire box of yarn - odd cones for my knitting machine and skeins for scarves, hats and whatever. I also took two wheely carts of stuff down to the trash room and it disappeared immediately. I have another cart full of patterns, yarn, posters and shoes to take down tomorrow.

I feel as if I have to get everything done this weekend, but in fact I have next weekend to finish up packing last minute items. We also need to take down the 4 ceiling fans we put up when we moved here. I need to stop by EtsyLabs on Monday to pack up the knitting machine I lent to them for the long term until I want it back. What a pain in the butt. I have no car, so I'll have to hire a car service to drive me back with it.

Well, off to sleep soon, up early again tomorrow. Busy day and busy week ahead. Soon it will be all over, no rush, not deadlines to finish before going back to work, day job that is... Once this next week is over and the move complete, I can work at my own pace. First think, kill those vines before they take over my house!

Packing

So I have a long weekend and started packing yesterday. The boxes arrived on Wednesday and already I can see I will need quite a few more. We have pretty much finished the living and dining rooms and the kitchen. I just started in my bedroom packing fabric and yarn, but just ran out of steam. It seems like we pack and pack and pack some more, and not make any progress!
I'm using my wheely cart to load up and take downstairs. In our building, anything you put down by the elevator disappears in minutes! The other day I took down a big bag of paperbacks. Today I took down fabric, clothes, shoes, books, dried stuff.. and I bet it's gone already.


This morning I also washed every curtain and drapery in the house and took down the hardware. I don't know if I can use it all in my new place, but it's possible I can use some of it.





I am tired. I have 2 more days to pack before I start my final week at work. I have lots of last minute tasks to do there, such as file my claim for retirement! I have the paperwork done, just have to turn it in. I need to pack up my personal belongings and ship it home, shred shred and more shredding, and throw out extraneous files and instructions. I also want to clear up any cases I have left so I don't leave any behind for someone else to deal with.



So I will play around here for a little while, then off to bed early to get ready for another fun-filled day tomorrow!

I bought a house

I am tired but exhilerated today. After signing a contract on a house in early April, the closing was today and I am now the proud owner of my dream house in upstate New York. I haven't seen it since early April and the trees and flowers had yet to bloom. Today I see that the deck and picnic pavillion have been absorbed by vines growing everywhere! The greenery is awesome and alive, like a haunted castle. The landscaping in the front yard is blooming and filled with color.

I am closing down business for the next few weeks as I pack and move in July 13. I hope to be up and running by August 1. I will be retiring from my day job and pursuing business fulltime! I'm so excited, you have no idea.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Thoughts on MJ

I was at home on Thursday June 25 when I was online and starting reading that Michael Jackson was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest. I knew then that he wouldn't make it. It was shocking, but not unexpected. I had read he was in poor health, but what was surprising is the aspect of drugs. It's always drugs, isn't it? Even when the celebrity has not been known to be a drug user, which I thought Michael was not. My mistaken impression was that he was into healthy living. Who knew? I didn't. But it is disappointing that drugs are usually at the forefront of a celebrity death it seems.

When will people start intervening? When will the payoff take a back burner and a person's health take precedence? Why don't friends and family take action? Does money really buy everything these days?

I make no judgements on his life. He was a great entertainer and will always be remembered for that. I believe he was not a pedophile, but only God and he knows for sure. I do believe he was a child who never grew up, who never had a childhood, and lived as an innocent child even as a man. Even with all the legal safeguards in place for child celebrities, I believe that childhood is robbed. He never had a chance to be a child, a teenager, and grow normally into an adult. He was used and manipulated his entire life. If blame is to be placed, I place it at the feet of his family, most especially his parents who lost control of his celebrity status and failed to intervene.

His was a sad life, but he gave it all to us. I hope he finds peace now.

It's Happening

So it looks like I'm leaving NYC after all. After months of anguish, the house I bid on is finally coming to a close on Tuesday June 30. It's been one hassle after another, with the poorest communication I've ever had with the bank. Every time I called for status, I was told they needed something else. They never called me to keep me updated on what evidence was required - it was always a result of me calling them. I'm not going into detail, but we had to put the mortgage in my name only, needed a water test 1 day after the last one expired, more bank statements, no commitment letter... You get the picture. Although the market is at its lowest in years, financing is extremely tight. But above all, we prevailed, and the house of our dreams will be ours in 3 days.

I'm looking forward to waking up and deciding my plan for the day. One day, I might wake up and say I want to sew, another work in the garden or yard, or make candles for a wedding order. And if I get snowed in during winter, I won't care. As long as the propane tank is full, I can wait out any storm. I can hunker down and peruse seed catalogs for the spring, read mysteries, crochet, or just take the day off and putter around in the kitchen. Although my main business is soy candles and home fragrance, I'd like to set up a new torch and re-acquaint myself with lampwork beadmaking too.

I have a feeling I'm going to be busier than I've ever been. I want to wake up early each day and on warm days take my first cup of coffee out on the balcony off my bedroom and breath in the fresh country air as I plan my day. I want to smell the scent of fresh cut grass, something I haven't smelled in the years I've live in Manhattan. I want to listen to the silence. No noisy cars and car alarms, loud music, fire sirens, parties in the building......just silence of the country. Birds, breezes..

Will I still have enough time to fulfill all my dreams? Probably not. But I'm going to try.

She touched my heart

As I contemplate retiring within the next few weeks, I am thinking back on some of my special adventures. I do home visits for my job a few times a year, and I spent 3 days in the Catskills on one of my more memorable trips. This one is just unforgettable.

One of my clients lives so far out in the country, I couldn't see her house from the road. I had to park on the road and literally climb down to her house deep in the woods.

She is 71 years old.
She has no running water. She goes down to the creek for water and buys water for drinking and cooking.
Most of her electric outlets don't work, so she just doesn't use them.
She heats with a wood stove and in the winter the temperature never goes above 55. She scavenges wood all winter and closes off the upstairs. The state only pays for some of her wood.
There's a tree on her property about to fall on her house and no one wants to do anything about it. She can't afford to have it cut down.
Her house is damp and full of mold and she has to clean it constantly.
Her son & daughter live out west.
Wild animals come up to her house, so she can't let her cats out, ever.
Her stove is broken, so she uses a hotplate.
The door to her fridge fell off one night, but she put it back on.
She needs to go up on her roof to fix it, but she has enough sense not to do it herself.
She has no phone, not even a cell.
Her mailbox is at the top of the hill on the road.

You think she has it bad?

She doesn't. She won't hear of moving. She said when she leaves, it will be in a black bag. As hard as living is for her, she loves her home because growing up, she never had any roots and moved 15 times before she was 8 (depression years). She helped build this house with her ex-husband, has built a greenhouse herself on the side of the house and has a gorgeous collection of green growing things. She has a patio full of pots and flowers everywhere. She has 3 feral cats who love her. She has more energy than I do. She's not afraid (well, a little because of the tree that might fall on her house).

I want to adopt her.

It's also amazing that she survives on about $700/mo. I really wish I could contact a local church or agency to go out and help fix up the place for her. I felt like hugging her when I left. I'll be checking on her remotely, though. Someday when I retire, I want to live in the woods like her, but on level ground with a 4WD with a plow.

I also visited a house with 10 people, various friends and relatives, dad in jail, and about to foreclose on their home. She'll be ok though, I'm pretty sure.

I see a lot, and as bad as I think my situation is, I always feel grateful. It kind of puts things in perspective for me.
Her name is Olive, how cool is that? She's as feisty and cranky as anything, yet had a great sense of humor and smile. I want to buy her an LifeAlert. I'm frightened that something will happen and no one will know. Off-duty, I'd love to visit her again.
I've been doing this for almost 30 years mostly in an office, and the home visits for the past 3 years, which have been the most fullfilling years of my career. Mostly I see welfare rats taking advantage of the system, but I understand they're doing whatever they need to do to survive, and I bend the rules even for them. I fill out forms asking about their daily activities, and it makes me sick when all they can think of is watching TV. I mean, your life is all about watching TV? Someone else does all the cooking, cleaning and laundry for you? I know you're disabled, but so is Stephen Hawking. I know, not everyone can be productive in the usual sense, but some people don't even exercise their minds. I see a lot of disabled people here trying to make a go of it. They're trying, for chrissakes. Some people just don't even try.

And here is this 71 YO lady who should be enjoying her retirement years, living hand to mouth and loving her life! Who needs a million bucks!

So my youngest graduated

So this has been a busy and exciting weekend. Carla graduated with her Bachelor's degree in music from Manhattan School of Music. These 4 years just flew by. All the recitals, the shows, and now, the graduation - the end of an era. I am so proud, as any parent would be.

Not only did graduation take place yesterday, but she had a show last night and tonight. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=91901418376&ref=nf She was amazing, with her knack for comedy. I wish you could have seen the show. Such talent, it always amazes me, those student. I wish the best to all of them as they certainly so richly deserve a bright future in music. Looking forward