Purchases

295 days until retirement.

I am trying to restrain myself to buying only one thing for the Bluffton house per pay check.  I hate my current bedspread in my master bedroom and have been looking for a new one for a long time.  I found one I really liked but when I went to buy it this week they were out of them in the size I wanted.  When I found a new one I liked I decided that it definitely would be my purchase this paycheck.  I don't want to lose another one.  The room will be painted a soft blue green.  Here is the bedspread.

I also bought a couple of pillows.

Of course they will stay in the package until May but at least I have them. 

I have been anxiously waiting my housewarming present to myself - a meditating frog.  I finally contacted the sellers yesterday to tell them it hasn't arrived yet.  It turns out it is back ordered.  I hope it is here before my next visit to Bluffton.  It is a foot high so I am looking for something really cool to sit it on by my front door.

 

The Joys of Long Distance Ownership

296 days until retirement.

I received a frantic call from my SC realtor that my gas and electric was being turned off in Bluffton today.  This was a surprise because I thought I had everything set up.  A call to the Gas and Electric company, as opposed to the electric company, revealed there had never been an account at my address.  Another call to the realtor provided me with the information that I needed to call again because the company had been known to miss accounts.  By now it was 5:15.  I did call again on the odd chance that they were open until 6.  This time they found an account for my house and the gas was scheduled to be turned off tomorrow.  I didn't even know I had anything running on gas.  It turns out that I have a gas furnace.  Sooo, now I have gas that I didn't know I needed. Wow, what a flurry of activity.

That's kind of the way this retirement thing is going.  Lots of stuff happening and then nothing.  Right now I am in the middle of a nothing period.  I want to go down again but there is no reason for it except that I want to be there.  There is absolutely nothing in the house except an air bed, a couch, love seat and recliner, the odd lamp or two and a couple of folding chairs.  I know Dan got my key and the list of things I want to have done before I move in but I haven't heard back from him.  He is doing me a big favor even looking at the house so I don't want to bug him.  I wonder how long I need to wait so it doesn't qualify as nagging?  I think daily contact would be considered to be too much!

In the mean time we inch along to the beginning of my last academic year.  I finally have all of the classes covered.  That was beginning to worry me.  I think I have the Student Handbook revision completed.  It needs one last look from Nan and Shanese.  I haven't been able to finish the syllabi for my courses because the class roster keeps changing.  We have orientation on Monday, the 22nd, for the new students.  That will be our first look at the class.   

303 days until retirement.  How did that number go down so quickly you might ask.  I was looking at the State Teacher's Retirement System newsletter.  It said that you have to work until the last day of your contract.  Since I had no idea when that was I asked Human Resources at Sinclair.  It turns out that the last day of my contract is graduation day.  So my new retirement date is May 9, 2014.  I'll take a week to finish up everything.

Last week Becky and I took a trip down to Sun City.  I wanted to take possession of my new house.  If I had been down there on vacation I would have been upset.  There were thunderstorms every day.  I managed to get lost both in Bluffton and in Sun City.  I had a map of Sun City but didn't keep it in the car.  We finally got a map for the Bluffton area.  For some reason the GPS on my phone wouldn't reset.  It kept trying to route me from Miamisburg.

We dodged rain drops and got a lot done.  We took down an air bed that I could leave there so I would have some where to sleep.  We got that set up and put up the shower curtain in the guest bath.  We had a couple of lamps we put together so we could have light in the bedrooms.  I had my new resident orientation.  I am now officially a resident of Sun City.  Most of the people I met while I was there were originally from Ohio.  That was a little weird.

I also had the locks changed and bought some furniture.  I went to this outlet store that my friend Kathi told me about.  I got an awesome deal.  They have beautiful furniture with all kinds of styles.  I wasn't planning on going so conservative but I love the color and the rounded arms.  The sofa is a queen sleeper.  The recliner is amazing it is so comfortable.

The color of the love seat is the true color of the furniture.  I was worried about my TV amoire because it is so dark and the furniture is so light.  It just happened that the coral in the cushions matches the furniture really well. After the furniture was delivered we were able to match paint chips and pick the color for the rooms in the front of the house.  It is a soft pale yellow.

We came back a day early because it was raining so much and we were bored.  The next time I go down I think I will take the TV in my bedroom and VCR and DVD players.  I don't want to order cable yet because I won't be down there much until May.  Other than that I think the majority of stuff I will take down will be kitchen stuff.  I know I can organize and put that stuff away.

Back on the work front I have the fall courses pretty much set up.  I still need an instructor for the second half of the developmental lab.  It is weird to think about teaching the classes for the last time.  I am working on cleaning out my office.  I would be doing that anyway for the accreditation site visit in September.  I am just being a little more thorough about it.