Work and Remembering Work

48 at 7:30 am, overcast and showers.

Rain again this morning, what's new? Imagine if all this rain had been snow. We'd have been covered up. I have to admit, though, that the weather has been a big help to us getting some things done. Yesterday, for example, we had to unload the van. On Saturday we packed up most of the booth we're closing in Marietta, and all those totes and other things were still in the van.

Before unloading we had to make space to store the things we're bringing home. The workroom needed a good cleaning out, which we started on Sunday and pretty much finished up yesterday. No one else would be able to tell we'd done a thing! The room is piled with furniture to be worked on. Our goal is to do as much of it as we can this year, and whatever is left at the end of the year is going to a thrift or the burn pile, depending on condition.

We did make enough space to store the totes and odds and ends from the booth, thank goodness. The only big thing left to move is this huge walnut cabinet, which I am bringing home to keep. We will need our son's help to move it as it is really heavy.

This means that another piece of furniture--the antique oak secretary--will be leaving after it gets re-done with paint. It's very dark and has some flaws which didn't bother me, but would be hard to sell as is, so paint will brighten it up and hopefully make it attractive to a buyer.

All this moving, sorting, and cleaning is heavy work, and the past two nights we've felt it! Nothing feels as good as a hot shower after a hard day. We have learned to treat ourselves kindly after such a day: a nice snack tray of cheeses, crackers,and cucumber slices last night, with some wine for me and brandy for him. A fire in the fireplace and a funny movie and we were set to relax and recover.




Little treats like that are good for a person, aren't they. It's recognition that we did good work, a pat on our own backs and a little celebration of a task completed. I have learned to make time for celebrating these small victories--just makes life more pleasant. When I was working as facilities manager for the library system, I moved from project to project with little time to stop, reflect and enjoy the accomplishments made. Big renovation projects, elevator repairs, training staff on security techniques and blood-borne pathogen cleanup, manuals for each location on their utilities locations, shut-offs, etc (which had never been written before, surprisingly), writing RFPs for a cooling tower, new bookmobile, roofs, etc, overseeing the annual huge used book sale--so many projects in the three years before I burned out and retired.

The problem then was that all of these things needed to be done quickly--the renovations of all our buildings to meet ADA requirements had deadlines that had to be met to avoid a lawsuit, for example. There were constant emergencies--snow removal, security issues, roof leaks, floods, you name it--that had to be handled along with the projects. When I look back on those years, I do feel a sense of accomplishment, but at the time what I felt most was stress.

I have never regretted retiring early, although had I stayed a few more years we'd be a lot better off financially now. But I learned to relax again and my overall health improved even though I'm getting older. Some things are more important that money.

Today I will get back to my painting project, make a trip to town and generally take things a little slower than we have for the past few weeks. I have two performances coming up at the end of the week, so my mind is slowly turning to the other hat I wear, so to speak. I am looking forward to a weekend in the mountains and to telling tales and singing ballads again.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.