I spent five days away from all of the work hours. The first night/day of travel was rather stressful. I worked at school, worked at the vet from 4pm-11pm, drove down to O’Hare and got there around 3am. My flight left at 5am and I got into Phoenix at 8am. Whew.
I have a friend of many years who moved from NYC to Scottsdale. I had a marvelous time. Scottsdale is a great city to visit. They have lots of shopping (which I’m not terribly fond of) and lots of restaurants and bars. I ate some amazing food while I was there. Barrio Queen was a fascinating restaurant with the best enchiladas I’ve ever had. Yummy margaritas too. I also ate at a place called Olive and Ivy. It was a little more expensive, but they had lamb meatballs in taziki sauce that were to die for. They had nice drinks too, but they were also very costly.
I miss traveling as much as I did in the past. I had several very interesting encounters that my friend Russell says this trip was a vision question (I love Russell, but…). I feel that when you travel alone, you open yourself up for interactions with strangers. My first intriguing interaction was on the flight from O’Hare to Phoenix. I sat next to a gentleman who was quite disabled by knee troubles. He was very sweet and we talked about everything, including his girlfriend in Germany over 25 years ago. He told me that he thought I was a very kind soul and he was glad to have had the chance to talk with me. He was a Christian who really believed that you should do good things because of your religion, not judge and be intolerant about things you may not understand or things you have been “told” are bad.
I rented a car in Phoenix, and I had a ball. My first stop by a lunch with someone I worked with at Lerner in NYC eons ago. It was wonderful to catch up, and it was quite serendipitous that she lives about 45 minutes north of Phoenix. She looks so content and so much more relaxed. It was delightful to spend some time with her, and in the sun, nonetheless.
My next stop was my hotel. I had another wonderful interaction with Keith the valet, who later in my trip saved me some money when I mistakenly over-tipped the other valet. (Organize your bills, Lynn). When I checked in, the desk agent told me that someone must like me because I got a great upgrade. Little did I know the room was gigantic and it had a monstrous bath tub!!! My wrap around patio was pretty covered so it was too cool, but I definitely enjoyed the room and the tub and the pool and the sun.
I met several other intriguing people while I was out and about. I went to a mall about 40 miles outside of Phoenix (I needed bath bombs from Lush), and because I turned the wrong way off the escalator, I met a very interesting young lady who did a beautiful henna design on my arm. We had a great chat while she was doing the henna, and I discovered (I already knew when I saw her though) that she suffered from being a highly sensitive person. We talked about the best books to read and the best things to do to help yourself. I know that my life would have been entirely different if I would have learned about why I was so odd when I was 23. We are keeping in touch because it’s good to have a pushy old lady in your life. Her new catch phrase…NOT MY SHIT.
After I returned home from my journey, relaxed and happier than when I left, I jumped right back into work and it felt like I never left. My retirement letter was due by March 1, so I sent that in. All it said was…”It is my intention to retire at the end of the 2017-2018 school year”. I hope that my brevity made a point.
It’s sad to be going out with these feelings of frustration that I have, but it’s also good because it’s forcing me to make the decision I might have put off forever. I have worked at the vet clinic for five months now, and I am astonished how they work very hard to stand up for their employees. Even publicly, they work to make sure everyone feels supported, and it’s not just lip service. They really do act on what they say they will act on, at least in my case they do. No job is perfect, but the first time they had my back, I really felt good.
As of today, I have 60 school days left. I’m suffering from a pretty severe case of senioritis right now. I definitely know how the kids feel, and spring isn’t even here right now. It will be a fantastic relief to not get home at 11:30pm and have to be up by 6am the next morning. I really dislike mornings. I long for the days when I work until 11pm, go to sleep at 4am and get up at noon. Now that’s my kind of schedule…
The Edgy Librarian 