Rancor

The rancor and hostility is getting to me. From the political to the blogs, it seems that there are very few kind words left in the vocabulary of some posters on blogs and forums. Heck, people I know are attacking each other on Facebook! I do not have to agree with someone to show some respect toward them. Sometimes that show of respect is to say nothing. Is it the political season that has people on edge? Is this the season for the one line zingers? It seems that it is not safe to ask a question or state an opinion without worrying about the coming attacks, either directly or in the form of the most vile YouTube video that can be found. Rumor is passed as fact and grudges are held. Sad. End of rant.

Left of Moderate

I admit it, I am to the left of moderate although I seldom vote a "straight ticket". I voted for Barack Obama last time and it looks like I will do so again. I might actually have been able to vote for Mitt Romney if he voiced the same opinions he did several years ago. I even voted for Ronald Reagan. I guess I would be called an "issues voter".

I have reached the age for Social Security and Medicare, so guess what, I earned them and I need them. I support a woman's right to choose although my personal choice is to birth a child and think adoption is a wonderful choice. It is not an easy choice, but one that I believe should be between the woman and her doctor. I believe that contraceptives should be available, either to prevent pregnancy or treat disorders such as PCOS. I believe that Planned Parenthood provides important services to improve women's health. I have had medical tests done there.

I believe the "Citizen's United" decision was a mistake. I am impressed by Ben & Jerry of ice cream fame and their "Get the Dough Out of Politics" campaign.

I believe that the country needs tax reform now, not later.

I believe that trickle down economy has not trickled anywhere because of the "dams" that were built to keep the wealth within the "1%". I believe in the old adage "you have to spend money to make money". Spend money on road repair, rail development where it is logical, bridge replacement, etc.

My definition of "separation of church and state" does not include government legislating religious values. I support "gay marriage' (oh, how I hate that phrase) or civil unions and the rights that they give the partners, including the right to adopt.

Each of these beliefs can be argued against, but these are deeply held beliefs and I see no way that I will change them. I will not argue politics. It serves no purpose. People to the right of moderate believe their beliefs as strongly as I believe mine.

No name calling or insults.

This Is The Year That Was

2011 started out just fine. As usual, I was comfortably in the house while the ball dropped in Times Square. When vacation ended, I went back to work, again as usual. Well, not as usual. I didn't want to go back. The handwriting was on the wall for me. I looked forward to every day off and every weekend, frustration was simmering. Had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in Brown County, Indiana where we celebrated my grandson, Evren's second birthday. The pot boiled over on June 10th when I decided at 8:10 AM that it would be my last day. With four hours of personal time, the day ended at 12 Noon for me. I turned in my keys & phone and retirement began.

Ten days later, my second grandson, Milo, was born. I have made the drive to north of Detroit twice since then. Early in August, we had a family reunion. It was there that I was told that I would be a grandma for the fourth time. I was called aside and shown a picture of a sonogram on my son's cell phone. Tears and congratulations followed.

September came and went. October saw my granddaughter Angie's 6th birthday, my 67th birthday and the second trip to the Detroit area. In November, I became a statistic with the occurrence of a home invasion. I wasn't hurt and things can be replaced. I was more pissed than anything. I have to admit to being somewhat paranoid for a time. Two by fours braced the doors for awhile. Door alarms were purchased and installed.

I have started volunteering at the animal shelter (PAWS) and am thinking about a couple of other volunteer opportunities. Money is tight, but I am not going without anything I need or really want and am grateful that so far I don't have to work. I am enjoying retirement. I have picked up a crochet hook for the first time in years and nearly always have a project going.

It took several months for me to stop waking up early as if I had to get ready for work, but that has passed and now I can easily sleep in!

As Christmas draws to a close, I reflect on just how much I have to be grateful for, and it is a lot. I have settled into a "life of leisure" and look forward to the birth of my fourth grandchild (another girl, by the way). I truly count my blessings as I look forward to 2012. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Why Did I Wait So Long

There is a little store front not far from home. I have driven past it numerous times but never stopped. It is now on my list of places to check out now and then. Second Time Around Consignment Shop is located just south of the corner of Prospect and McClure. It is cluttered with all sorts of things! I found several items to add to a couple of my collections and saw numerous items of interest that I didn't need. It was a fun visit.

I went home and rounded up a few items from the basement to take back to the shop and try to sell on consignment. I refuse to invest the time to have a garage sale, so this is a viable option.

If you haven't been to Second Time Around, it is certainly worth a visit. They have been in business on that corner for 20 years.

Garbage

So, the City of Peoria is considering raising the "garbage fee" to $14.00 a month. It is not a lot of money and I have not complained about the $6.00 fee, even though I do not like paying it, but this is ridiculous! If taxes (I believe the fee is a tax) need to be raised, I would rather see a small increase in property tax than increasing the garbage fee. Raising the garbage fee seems like the coward's way out. "Gee, people won't vote for me if I vote to raise taxes". Well, I for one, won't vote for any councilperson who votes to raise the garbage fee. With a small increase in property tax folks in $200,000 houses and roll out three toters of garbage each week would be paying their fair share.

I don't want to be forced to buy a particular toter either. I have one that is the perfect size for my single-person household. The huge ones from PDC will not fit between my vehicle and the house. Some of us who live in the older neighborhoods have very narrow driveways. I had one of their brown toters to begin with, it did not fit without moving a vehicle. The old green one from Waste Management was shaped a little differently and would barely fit, but it did.

To sum it up, I will be looking at how the votes go on these issues. Those votes (along with the museum and the "wonderful development" will help determine how I vote in the next council elections.

And Life Goes On

It has been almost two months that I have been retired. Although I quit without official notice, I have been telling people for the last couple of years that when the time came, I would toss my keys on someone's desk and be done. That is exactly what I did! There is a real sense of sadness when it comes to my former place of employment. For the most part, I loved my job, but the "social worker" part of me had difficulty finding a balance with the "business" part of me. It was always difficult to hear public perception of my place of employment and not being able to defend it with reality. Truth often has nothing to do with reality as people on the outside see it! Some of the publicity since my retirement has been true, some has been half-truth, some has been conjecture and some has been downright false. But, that's the way it is. I can't change it. All I can say is that I have no regrets in retiring. I spent over nineteen years in their employ and I decided to leave "my way". I am not good at good-bye scenes.

Before I decided to leave, I had frequent thoughts of a woman I used to work with. She retired and came back to work, retired again. Shortly after that, she became very ill and passed away. I did not want to follow those footsteps!

I will be sixty-seven in a couple of months. I am healthy and have things I want to do, places I want to go and people I want to see. This was truly brought home this weekend when I attended a family reunion. This was the first one in probably 25 years. Attendance was small, but that didn't matter. Family was together! Maybe there will be more that will be able to come next year. We looked at family history and old photographs. We talked old times and future time. We laughed! We loved!

My son, my daughter, their spouses and their kids - does life get any better. It very well may, but for now, I am content. No regrets and the future looks bright. I am one happy Grandma!

The Deed Is Done

Anyone who knows me or has read this blog, knows that I either think about a decision for a long time or I make one in the blink of an eye. In this case, I did both! I have been mulling it over for several years. Yesterday, I decided to move forward. This morning I checked to see if I had any personal days left. I had 8 hours of personal time left. At that point, the decision was complete. I took 4 hours of personal time and entered the world of a retiree at 12:01 P.M. I turned in my cell phone, my fob for the doors, left my keys behind and said my farewells to a few people. No potluck or plaque on a clock for me.

Had more than enough available in the Home Equity loan to pay off the car and have a very manageable payment. So now, my Soul is paid for! Will have to take a couple of months to see how I do - living on Social Security. I don't have expensive tastes, but I am used to getting something if I really want it. May need to think about a "stress-free" part-time job for the "I want, but don't need" things. That would be OK.

I have lots of projects to keep me busy and new things to learn! Excited to begin this next phase of this adventure called life. Yippee!