4/28/17

At Last

We had such a good time at Mike's send-off yesterday evening. There's the old man now.


It was the first time I'd met the people he works with, although I'd heard about them many times before. It was fun reminiscing about the many places he's worked. As with any party, everyone was talking at once, and it was hard to hear anything. I noticed, however, that when he started talking about technology from early in his career, the room grew quiet and they all listened and laughed. In his field, new technology comes along and old falls by the wayside and is quickly forgotten. A few of the engineers there were younger than our own sons. Some of what he was describing might as well have come from the stone age as far as they were concerned.

Soon, his countdown clock will look like this:


He's going into work this morning, but mainly just to turn in his security badge and his company-provided laptop, and to say his final round of good-byes. Mike knew at a young age what he wanted to do for his career, and it is a career that has been good to him. He's been afforded many opportunities to work with smart people on interesting projects, and even to do some traveling. He has no regrets, but a lot of excitement about what comes next.

It's been hard to concentrate to get very much done. Yesterday, I made the crust for the lemon meringue pie I'll finish off today. The pie is a bit of a production, although it isn't difficult, and so I made the crust yesterday, and I'll fill it today. This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated. The crust is rolled out on graham cracker crumbs instead of the usual flour. This is so that it doesn't get soggy once it's filled with the lemon custard, but it makes it a very easy crust to work with. No sticking whatsoever. I'm not very good at this fluting business, but it looks pretty good.


It's sitting in the refrigerator for now, lined with foil. I'm walking with Sue this morning, but when I get home, I'll bake the crust and get to work on the filling and the meringue.

When that was finished, I sewed the latest Solstice block together. This one ends up at 24-1/2 inches square, so it's a big block. I made mine in colors to celebrate Earth Day.


While I was out walking around the yard yesterday, I noticed another tulip is getting ready to open. 


After the squirrels ate most of the tulip bulbs a few years ago, I despaired of ever being able to grow tulips. They haven't eaten any more of them, and now that some time has passed, the bulbs have multiplied. We end up with quite a few each spring, all blooming at different times. 

Our weather is supposed to take a turn for the better over the coming week, and Mike and I already have a few outings planned. With him retired, our outings are no longer confined to just the weekends. What fun!

We'll probably get home around the same time later this morning, and then we'll just relax for the rest of the day and have a quiet celebration of our good fortune, punctuated by pie. Sometimes quiet celebrations are the best. We started this journey shortly after we were married in 1975 when we moved to Phoenix, Arizona, so that he could attend school. After so many years, and so much water under the bridge, it's good to be right where we are today.

28 comments:

Quilting Babcia said...

Congratulations to Mike! Here's to many delightful adventures ahead.

Nancy said...

Congratulations to Mike on his retirement. I look forward to hearing of your many adventures.

liniecat said...

Many many congratulations to Mike , hope you will both enjoy a new you-time together.
I saw a thing on FB where it suggested sprinkling cinnamon around seedlings to fight off mound that can affect seedlings and to turn away bugs, who don't like cinnamon apparently.
I wonder if squirrels might be deterred by it too?
Just a thought ..
With your squirrels mind you. They may just get the taste for it lol

Rina Mason said...

Congratulations to both of you! His retirement is just the beginning of a new chapter in both of your lives. Enjoy all that's to come.

Patricia said...

Congratulations to you both on this milestone. I loved the toga pix. He was a good looking young man. Still have a few years to go till my hunk retires. Can't wait to hear of more of your adventures. Do you plan on coming to Atlanta? If so maybe we could meet up ;-)

DeeDee said...

Congratulations! You finally made it. Enjoy your time together. And the fluting on that crust looks pretty good to me.

Sally Trude said...

Happy Day! It does seem like this day was so far away and then exploded into the present. I look forward to reading about your new adventure which I hope doesn't include cat hoarding.

gpc said...

Lovely, and sounds like a perfect way to celebrate. Happy for both of you. :)

barbara woods bewtjw@gmail.com said...

congrats Mike , you'll will love being retired

Lynn - JnL4God said...

I'm sure you're already relaxing together - Enjoy and Congrats. Looking forward to hearing about your new adventures.

WoolenSails said...

Bill is like that, he has been at it for over 40 years and every year things change, but he keeps up with it all.
I bet you both have some fun trips planned this year, will be nice not having a time clock.

Debbie

allthingzsewn said...

Yep, he's still a looker. Actually he doesn't look old enough to retire. So happy for you both. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Bev said...

Congratulations to both of you. Best wishes on your travels and I look forward to reading about them.
Bev in NS

Lana said...

Congrats to Mike ......and to you! 🎉👏🏻🍾 I'm sure many new adventures and stories will ensue. And he sure seems like a keeper!

Janarama said...

WOO HOO, congratulations Mike! Now you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. Now get busy on that honey-do list. ;) The next chapter of your lives together has just begun and what fun it will be, especially with all of the traveling you'll be doing. Enjoy!

claudia said...

Congratulations to Mike, but also to the two of you, for the journey that has ended, but more importantly, the journey that is about to begin!

Brown Family said...

Congratulations to both of you. I know you are starting a fun new adventure!

Beth said...

Hooray! Here's to easing into a new chapter. We did that in stages, when John transitioned from spending way too much time on the road to being back home, then to living in the country and traveling, then to him being semi-to-mostly retired, while I went from working full-time to being home full-time as a result of lupus. One thing we've learned is that everyone needs a certain amount of time alone, and that is not the same for each person. Having creative outlets and engaging projects help with that. (Not that you need my advice...It seems like you and Mike are on the same page.)

Dorothy said...

Behind every man that retires, there is a woman who stood behind him all those years and picked up all the pieces AKA taking of home, children,etc etc. My hat is off to both of you. And I am so looking forward to all of the trips with all of the maps from AAA (no GPS for me--I love AAA maps) Hugs and best wishes to all "4" of you, because I know the kitties are going along on these wonderful trips :-)

piecefulwendy said...

Sounds like a fun day yesterday. Your pie crust looks yummy -- is that the recipe that uses vodka? I've not tried it but been tempted. Have a fun day!

Unknown said...

Congratulations to Mike and you on this new chapter of your life - can't wait to read of your new adventures.

Stitches said...

Congratulations to the "old man" on his retirement, it's a "good thing". I hope you have many years of retirement together..Sadly , cancer took my husband before he retired, so enjoy every day!!!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Today is THE day -- congratulations to both of you and may you live long and prosper in this new phase of your lives!

Sally said...

Congratulations to Mike on his retirement. May you have much happiness and many adventures in this new chapter of your lives!

Debbie said...

So happy for you and your husband. What a wonderful time it will be.

I just recently semi-retired (I'm 62) and will start working only 20 hours a week starting next week. I will be off on Fridays and Monday's. I absolutely can't wait. I love sewing and stamping. My husband loves working and his job and wants to work at least six or seven more years.

I really enjoy your blog posts even though I don't comment often. Sometimes I laugh out loud. Would be a treat to meet you someday, but I'm in Alabama.

Have a sweet weekend.


quiltzyx said...

Happy Retirement Mike! Now for even more well-deserved fun & games for you both!! Celebration & pie to boot, can't hardly beat that.

The Solstice block looks great. Guess Sadie didn't rearrange it too much.

Junebug613 said...

Congratulations to Mike! I'm so excited for you both on your next adventure.

Kate said...

Congratulations to Mike and to you. Now you can start on your next set of adventures.