I Want to Retire

Okay, this is it. I want to retire. They just did a segment on the Today show about not retiring, but rewiring--putting your "work" energy into other things that are enjoyable. I have known for a long, long time that my heart rests in do-it-yourself projects, crafts, creative endeavors. And right now, with students badgering me already (and classes don't even start until NEXT week!), with my ear stopped up and hurting, and with ice and snow on the ground--oh, boy, am I ready to retire.

Last night I moved things around in the basement so that my arts and crafts area is more collected. Considering that I have been slowly encroaching upon my husband's pool table (which he never uses), I figured it was time to make a spot into mine and mine alone. We moved out the old treadmill that we never tread upon (actually, we stored it under the pool table), and eventually, all the arts and crafts stuff was in one place, and the pool table was accessible again.

Now today the inevitable is upon me. I must clean my home office and get ready for the new semester. What I want to be doing is working on my crafts projects. What I will be doing is making up syllabi. My heart is not in it. And I have a phone interview with this same school on Tuesday for a tenure-track position. (Aside: Doesn't it seem odd that a group of faculty will gather in a room on the third floor of a building, with a speaker phone on the table, to interview me, when I will be downstairs on the first floor of that same building, in my office cubicle--not a very private place--and feeling really weird about it all? I guess they're trying to keep all applicants equal.)

I know that once the semester gets going, I'll be gung ho. I really do love to teach, and I pride myself on teaching well. I love the students, I love making a difference, I love my profession--but right now, I feel lousy. I do hope that esteemed spouse's head cold won't hit me in the next few days. I don't have time for it. Illness will have to wait--until I retire! Dr. S.